Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 15:06:12 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Michelin Tire Experiences
In-Reply-To: <000f01c71afb$fbc8e8f0$6500a8c0@notebook>
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Rich Bennington wrote:
> <
> From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
> Subject: Re: Michelin Tire Experiences
>
> Before my current set of Michelin XCA's. I had the experience of Other
> Michelin tire sets. One on a vanagon, two on Jeep Wagoneers, and the third
> set on a VW Loaf. I had tread separations on every one of them Starts off as
> a roughness in the ride then it just gets worse, then comes the separations.
> You could look over the tire as it turns slowly on a balance machine ans see
> the uneven-ness in the tire. .On the Jeeps it drove me crazy. Can't count
> how many balance jobs and 4-wheel alignments I had trying to stop it. before
> figuring it out. When New they did fine. After some time on the road they
> went bad.
>
> It will be interesting to see what my current set of Michelins - XCA's - do
> in time. So far so good.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>
>
> Just for reference, John, I went to Tire Rack -- Michelin XCAs are NOT
> listed for vanagons. The only Michelin listed is the Agilis, in 185R14s.
>
> Regards,
> Rich
>
>
Yep. Not surprised. There's lots of tires not listed for the Vanagon
but perform well and do not compromise safety. The tires I have are
Michelin XCA 205-75 R14 Load Range D, 65 PSI Cold. Tread - 2 Ply
polyester Belts, & 3 ply Steel Belts, Sidewall -2 ply polyester belts.
Vanagons are notoriouly unstable and skittish in crosswinds and truck
turbulance on the highway. I chose this tire because I wanted a tire
that had really stiff sidewalls and would be stable in winds on the
road. My machine on these tires tracks like it's on rails. They are
slightly taller than the "70" tires, but that diference I have found
corrects the built - in speedometer error in all Vanagons. Clocked
against another known accurate speedometer, my speedo with the Michelin
XCA's underneath is, as Marissa Tormei said in the movie "My Cousin
Vinny" - 'dead-on balls accurate"! Couldn't ask for better.
These tires are from Michelins Commercial Truck Tire line, and like many
truck tires, they have one small flaw. They don't have the greatest
traction on wet pavement. They are a truck tire, and they do depend on
the extra heavy weight of the truck to help in their contact to the ground.
Good tire, generally, but unfortuately, Michilin apparently doesn't make
them any more.
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
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