Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:53:14 -0400
Reply-To: Chris S <szpejankowski@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Chris S <szpejankowski@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Tires - Why oh why NOT?
In-Reply-To: <408687.92968.qm@web51011.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
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.
All 3 tires failed completely within about 30 miles once the belt
started letting go. A less astute driver might have never felt the
initial belt failure and had a stupid accident when the tire went
completely.
What is your point?
On 3/14/09, levi hawkins <b1levi@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Or, you could just go with passenger tires, like this guy did:
>
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=346550
>
> Looks like BFGoodrich 205 70r14, max load 1433, max pressure 35lbs.
> It seems one of the back tires split, causing the van to swerve to the
> right, putting too much stress on the front left which then blew out, (see
> the photo), and flipping the van onto the drivers side.
>
> --- On Sat, 3/14/09, The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM> wrote:
> From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
> Subject: Re: Tires - Why oh why NOT?
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Saturday, March 14, 2009, 7:02 AM
>
> Chris S., quoting long glowing GoWesty ad for Michelin HydroEdge 15" car
> tires, concludes...
>
>> Yes, 14'' passenger tires are deadly on a fully loaded Westy.
>> I'm not talking about 14'' tires. Again, I quote "...
> they
>> provide WAY better handling and safety."
>
>
> GoWesty's claim directly contradict both Volkswagen and the U.S. D.O.T. As
> per VW, using 15" or even 16" tires does NOT eliminate the need for
> an
> extra-load tire. The Eurovan, for example, has about the same GVWR as the
> Vanagon and came factory equipped with 15" and 16" tires. Yet VW
> specified
> ONLY extra-load tires in both 15" and 16" sizes. The same applies to
> the
> current model T5 van, and even to earlier Buses that came equipped with
> 15"
> tires (and weighed less than Vanagons). In fact NEVER has Volkswagen
> recommended passenger-car rated tires for their vans, no matter whether
> 14",
> 15", or 16". If you do the math regarding D.O.T. safety requirements
> for
> Vanagon tires, as explained at http://busdepot.com/details/tires.jsp,
> you'll
> see that federal regulations also prohibit the use of standard-load
> passenger car tires - regardless of size - on VW vans.
>
> Volkswagen did not just randomly come up with the minimum specs for tires on
> the Vanagon. Such specs are based on solid engineering and testing. The fact
> that they continuously tweaked recommended inflation over the years
> indicates that they also revisited the issue periodically - but over 40
> years, NEVER ONCE waivered from their insistance that extra-load tires must
> be used.
>
> So, you can rely on Volkswagen's own engineering, or the unproven advice of
> a retailer who has a vested interest in your ignoring factory safety
> recommendations (they want to sell you their wheels/tires, which don't meet
> VW specs). Given that it is possible to buy appropriately rated Vanagon
> tires in all sizes, why on earth would you take this risk? Might as well
> stop wearing your seatbelt too. If Volkswagen turns out to be right after
> all, it will be during evasive maneuvers (when most of the weight is
> transferred to one wheel) when you will find out. In other words you'll
> find
> out the hard way as your van flips over. But at least while you see your
> loved ones being crushed or ejected from your Vanagon, you'll have the
> comfort of knowing you saved a few bucks on tires.
>
> - Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> www.busdepot.com
>
>
>
>
>
--
Sent from my mobile device
Chris S.
Disclaimer: "Death and serious injury may occur"
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