Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 23:30:20 -0400
Reply-To: John Reddick <SVYOLO@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Reddick <SVYOLO@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Tires - oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have finally been able to drive, for a couple of hundred miles each,
most or all of the "recommended" tires for the Vanagon. I have owned
several sets myself, including Michelin MXT's, XCA's, Goodyear A/T TA's, all
in 14 inch. I have driven Continental Vanco's, Agilis, Hankooks as well. I
have driven, and owned, several sets of cheap 14" passenger tires. I think
the A/T TA's, on a passenger syncro, were my favorite. The MXT's had
awesome steering feel. The XCA's were the most solid feeling by far, but
needed dry sandpaper for a driving surface as their tread was worthless on
anything else. The Agilis and Hankooks ride very well, but handling is a
bit vague, albeit safe.
What is the best choice? If cost is the primary issue, Busdespots price
on the Hankooks is really hard to beat, and they do ride very smooth. If
cost is not overriding, forget them all. I have driven an equal number of
Vanagon's with 15 or 16 inch wheels, with a huge assortment of tires. All
of them, every single one, was vastly superior to any 14 inch tire on a
Vanagon. It is the cheapest bang-for-the-buck upgrade you can ever put on a
Vanagon.
More importantly, if you grenade a tire somewhere, the local tire store
will have something, maybe even a cheap used tire, that is safe. 14"
inchers in reinforced sidewalls are special order only at most places. Try
blowing 2 tires 200 miles north of Fairbanks like me. If I had 15"ers, I
would have been back on the road, safely, in under an hour. Instead, I spent
2 weeks in vain trying to find something suitable, and ended up limping 1000
miles south until I found a Canadian Tire with Michelin XCA's in stock.
I know this post will cause lots of disagreement, angst, and hateful
responses. I am lucky that I get to drive a lot of vans with different
equipment. I will never own a Vanagon with 14 inch wheels for any length of
time. Actually, lightweight 2wd passenger vans do OK, just OK, with some 14
inch tires. By the time you get to a Westy, or worse yet a Syncro Westy, 15
inch is the minimum.
John
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