Date:         Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:33:12 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Tires - Why oh why NOT?
In-Reply-To:  <5ebe10a0903141653r5375435cp1004604c14c33849@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> Or you could do like I did.  BF Goodrich 185r14,  D ply, 1680
> or so lbs at 60 psi always rotated and balanced on time and
> ALWAYS properly inflated.  I had 3 tires fail within 6 month
> with separated belts.


You make a good point. Minimum load capacity specs only tell you which tires
you should rule out, not which tires are best. There are still variations in
quality among those tires that meet VW specs. The Hankook RA08's are by far
my favorite. (I used them for 10 years personally before I started selling
them. In fact I actually sought Hankook out to carry them because I was so
impressed with them.) But there are certainly other good choices that I
don't carry. That said, there are also plenty of bad ones. Many load range D
tires were designed as delivery truck tires and ride/handle like it. And
others are just plain junk. There is also the issue of old stock, which has
been mentioned on this list before. Tires have a shelf life; they are prone
to sidewall cracking, etc. as they age. Vanagon-appropriate tires tend to be
slow movers (they fit few other vehicles), and depending on where you buy
them, your tires may already be several years old when sold to you as new.
There is info in the archives on checking the date codes on tires.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com