Date:         Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:26:06 -0400
Reply-To:     Greg Potts <greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Greg Potts <greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA>
Subject:      Re: How old is your spare?
Comments: To: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <71d9cdf91003221915r35e188a2v131d89544127b0ba@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hi Jake,

Holding air is only the minimum spec for a spare, and in practice it
means basically nothing.

Last trip I made to Everybus I was in my parents van when we wound up
blowing the P/S rear tire due to road debris. The spare was probably the
original to the van, or at least it was one of the original tires. Over
the years it had been severely dried out by the hot air flowing off the
radiator.

Back on the highway it lasted about 90 minutes before total tread
separation. Just my luck it was my turn behind the wheel when it went.
That was pretty exciting at 60 MPH towing a trailer. We wound up
plugging the holes in the original tire and continued the rest of the
trip without incident, and my parents bought a full set of Continental
Vanco-8s at Mark Dearing's shop on the way home.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
Toronto, Ontario Canada
1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
www.busesofthecorn.com
www.pottsfamily.ca



Jake de Villiers wrote:
> I've been thinking about that lately.  I have the spare tire and the carrier
> out of Dixie on account of installing a new rad to go with the new motor,
> and Ive been reminded that its the original Michelin ZX or whatever.
>
> Still holding air!
>
> On Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 5:57 PM, Al Knoll <anasasi@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Before touring season is in full swing, maybe it's time to check that
>> spare.  If it's much older than 6 years it might be time to start a new
>> spare tire thread.
>>
>> Pensionerd.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
>
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
>
> Crescent Beach, BC
>
> www.thebassspa.com
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
>