Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 10:18:57 -0700
Reply-To: David Kao <dtkao0205@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Kao <dtkao0205@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Tires!
In-Reply-To: <BAY125-F182001D017AAC086893ECA03E0@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
--- Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> wrote:
> The rim size itself does not determine the outside diameter of the tire and
> if you try hard enough, you can find 14" tires that are too large to use.
>
> What are your ultimate goals? Do you want to have a matched spare and where
> do you want to store it? Do you want truck tires or performance or touring
> tires? This will affect the sizes available.
>
> The original factory tire sizes were 185/80-14 or 205/70-14. The 185s were
> ~25.5 inch diameter. The 205/70 slightly less. Without too much effort, you
> can get a 27" X 215 wide tire into the tire carrier. This gives your
> 215/70-15. The 7" wheels will allow up to a 235 or 245. You will have to be
> careful about sliding door and front fender clearance if you go this wide.
>
> You do need to ensure that the tires can carry 44 psi so you can balance the
> front/rear inflation pressures. A 225/65-15 tire will make for outstanding
> ride and handling.
>
> Dennis
My goal of using alloys is to reduce weight. Stock steel rims are very heavy.
Lighter rims/tires bounce easier upon pot holes (less energy involved). This
should make the ride smoother. Lighter also translates into better gas mileage.
Another benefit with bigger (not wider) wheels is higher cruising spped at a
same engine RPM. Maybe just slightly higher. The engine has to be strong though.
I am thinking about 215/15. This seems to be more popular. And of course alloys
look really nice.
I have owned two Vanaons (one of them a westy) somehow I have never run into
using a spare tire so far. SO I will just carry a regular 14" spare under the
front end. If I ever need it I will use it for getting out emergency only.
I will make sure the rear pair of tires are the same.
As one posted here, Costco does not sell tires for Vanagons any more. Their
prices for tires are no longer competitive either anyway. So I have to look
for other source for tires. For some reason Costco now has extremely limited
choices of tires, especially for trucks, SUVs and Vanagons.
David
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