Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 16:11:35 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: vanagon Digest - 12 May 2010 to 13 May 2010 - Special issue
(#2010-451)
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTin9YtwFQ7Ss1yivrH6G1ISSita3BNvfpt33aPBA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
Hi,
only Kal Tire will have nokian. They have the exclusive distributor
rights in Canada.
This may be out of date, and the rumours of Michelin Agilis
availability in NA seem to indicate they are NLA, but I got set of
Agilis 81 (185) locally a few years ago to replace the 61's I was
running.
They are a very strong tire, good in dry and wet pavement, but not in
mud or snow.
You might have luck with a local distributor of Continental tires, I
can't recall the tire name, but they did/do have a vanagon suitable
tire.
alistair
On 13-May-10, at 3:50 PM, Rolf Lockwood wrote:
On Thu, May 13, 2010 Jeff Palmer wrote...
> From: Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@MTS.NET>
> Subject: Tires in Canada
>
> Now that my Michelin LTX's have succumbed to sidewall cracking, I
> find =
> out that Michelin doesn't make a tire for my 85 anymore. Where do =
> Canadians get tires? I've looked at busdepot's list and others and =
> can't find any of those locally, and shipping from the US is more
> than =
> the tire itself (or pretty darn close).
>
> Any suggestions for tire vendors in Canada, online or otherwise?
>
> Thanks
> Jeff in Winnipeg=
>
> ------------------------------
It's not so difficult, though the choices are few.
I've just been through this and my '90 Westy will soon have a set of
Continental Vanco 2 tires, successor to the Vanco 8s I've been riding
on. It's the right original size and the right load rating -- 185R14C,
102-100Q. From what Conti says, it's a much improved version of the OE
tire/Vanco 8 with better wet-surface performance. I'll report when
I've got some miles on.
They're not imported into Canada for some reason but Continental
dealers can order them. And German Supply does have them, I believe.
OK Tire can get them, I believe, but you can also find a Kumho dealer
like OK and order the '857'. It's described on tirerack.com as a
'trailer' tire but that's not the whole story. It's fine for
van/light-commercial use use too, according to Kumho. Comes in both
185 and 195R14 with 8-ply sidewalls and thus the right load rating.
As others have said, the Nokian C is available too. Any serious tire
dealer could order them for you. Go to Kal Tire locally, maybe?
Rolf in Toronto