Date:         Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:00:37 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject:      Was: Tires, not the whole thread..Now...Problem solved
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Thanks to all who replied, mostly off the list..because "Tires" is probably Verbooten by now, or at least too well chewed over to be discussed on the open list.
   Found  a whole lot of advice and the reveiws. I Decided to try something different than the Wildcats that were so squirley in the wind...
   I called em over there at the Les Schwabb tire store and explained my whole situation, the guy said.."No Problem, come on over and we'll do whatever it takes". 
 I went over  (I say "over" because I live right on the Columbia River, Washington side,  and all the good stores are across the river, over in Oregon..No sales tax there, either..)  armed with all the load numbers from Larry Chase and an idea that I probably wanted some of the Hancooks that get such a good  rap in the Roadhaus reveiws..They had some in stock, but the manager, who I was dealing with, said the Hancooks would not be coming to Schwabb in our size any longer...dunno if that means they are not making our size any more or if the tire guy was telling me the whole story. He then showed me some Nankangs, which I had done some research (net) on.  Good reveiws on them, but not a lot a data..  He had the two brands, side by side in the rack, and talked me into the Nakangs as being virtually the same tire as the Hancooks.  Mainly I "bit"  because he showed me in the Schwabb computer that there were only 18 Hancooks in all their stores and their warehouse, and they weren't getting any more..He said..

  .The Nankangs, called Light Truck Radials...(pretty imaginative name, eh?)  are 8 ply with a load rating of 1870 lbs at 64psi.  I had a Hankook and a Nankang and a Wildcat radial out of the rack and on the ground, jumping on them, pulling at the sidewalls, etc...The Hankook and the Nankang 'felt" about the same, with the Nankang being a little stiffer and heavier, while the wildcats felt like it had pasta sidewalls...
  So anyhow, for $70 bucks (I had 3500 'scared driver' miles on the Wildcats, so that wear was kinda pro-rated into the deal) they put on the Nankangs and I am a happy Van guy now..They actually are fun and easy to drive on, even here in The Gorge, where wind is "the thing"..Windsurfing Capitol of the US, don'tcha know..

  Amazing how a tire set with all the same numbers as the tires I originally replaced could be such dogs..Also, I'm very pleased with Les Schwabb's customer service and how they handled this..Most shops woulda just said "TS, dude, you bought em, you own em.."  And most would have sold me the Hancooks I asked for, knowing if I ever had an issue and needed one on warrantee, they would all be gone and I'd have had to use a missmatch or replace all four tires...

  Dunno how this new brand will hold up, but they are warranted, and I do trust L.S. and every town where I usually travel has a LS shop..  

  Thanks for all the replies everyone.
  Don Hanson