Date:         Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:05:45 -0800
Reply-To:     Rich Bennington <rich.bennington@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rich Bennington <rich.bennington@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Michelin Tire Experiences
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>Date:    Sat, 9 Dec 2006 09:28:24 -0600
>From:    Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@MTS.NET>
>Subject: Re: Michelin Tire Experiences
>
>If Mark and Kim like em, then that makes me feel a lot more comfortable
>with them.
>
>Also, Costco is great because they offer a road hazard warranty which I
>don't believe most other retailers do for LT tires.  I have picked up nails
>and taken advantage of that road hazard.
>
>Mark, in terms of pressure, is that for a Vanagon or Westfalia, or does it
>matter?  I have a Westfalia with the 14 inch rims.
>
>Thanks
>Jeff

Those tires have a load rating of 90/93!  That means 93 is the most load,
1435 lbs, at 50PSI.  If you look at vanagon.com under info/tires, it says
the 87 vanagon syncro was supposed to have a minimum load index of 97, and
that later vanagons were specifying minimum load index of 99!  You won't
even get this at vanagon recommended pressure.

The Michelin that meets this for the 14" rim is the Agilis, and is the one
recommended by Michelin and Tire Rack for this application.

Because of the narrow tire, small size (14") rim, and heavy van, the
sidewalls must be re-enforced.  There aren't a lot of tires that still do
this, which is why some go to 15" wheels.

This has been discussed over and over again -- there are those that think
it's ok to run lower rated tires, and those that think you should follow the
manufacturer's recommendation.  But no-one should buy new tires without at
least reading the material at:
http://www.vanagon.com

Rich