Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:01:42 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Tires again!
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As I like to say ..
regarding the proposed D or 8PR load rating 185 R14 C ...
get them in C load rating if you can find any.
the tire sticker says C load rating..or LT's.
those are fine and nice..
nice nimble feeling handling, good ride, fine steering response..
either LT's or C load rating ........in 14's.
I think mainly only 8PR's are sold these days.
fine on the rear, horrible on the front in my opinion.
if in 14's ..I'd look for LT"s or C load rating.
my michelin agilles 205/65 R15 C's .........very pleased with them.
fine straight line tracking, good ride, responsive steering and nimble
hanling.
they should be good at 150 each new too !
a summer/rain tire .
not a winter tire, or a truck tire.
But love 'em for normal dry and wet road use.
I don't even use my brakes much anyway.
big descents I do in a lower gear being easy on the brakes.
and they stop adequately under normal conditions if they are working
properly.
One place 'more brakes' is important is in towing.
I've glazed out pads from braking while towing ...
I also use low or semi-mettalic front pads.
I have not found they eat up brake rotors ...but then I don't use my brakes
that much anyway.
minor tips..
avoid excessive light braking ....that contributes to brake squeal.
Us the brakes medium hard intentionally now and then..
like to about 60 % of ability ..that helps keep them working better.
Brake fluid should never be left in for say ...5 years....
that's really bad for the entire system.
2 years. ..that's how often brake fluid should be changed.
If I 'do anything' on a wheel/brake/bearing area on my persnal vans..
I changed the BF to that wheel at least.
and ...be careful with aftermarket brake kits.
on some ..the parking brake will not hold the van on a steep city hill.
and be careful about unsupported hose ends.. ( at front calipers )
on all vehicles, where the hose joins a pipe ..
there must be a bracket there to support the pipe, so flopping of the hose
with suspension movement doesn't put flex action on the pipe ..eventually
the pipe will have to brake from metal fatigue.
There is wire-tying the hose to the upright to help prevent that ..and that
helps ...
but it's not technically legal in terms of vehicle standards by SAE or
whomever.
I just like it really 'right' ..and thus safe.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2011 2:27 PM
Subject: Re: Tires again!
> My experience with Michelins have not been good either. Tread
> separation occured long before the tread was worn down. Happened on
> three sets of Michelins. They were all 205/70R14's. The fourth set were
> 205/75R14's. They were more like a commercial truck tire and they were
> good. Even when near flat, there was enough stiffness in the sidewall to
> get you down the road if you drove slow. Excellent tire, but the tread
> was the pits. Easy to slide on a wet spot. When on a true truck, the
> load of the truck would make the tire less like to slide. Good tire, but
> not the best for the regular Vanagon. Might have been OK for the Westies
> with greater weight. But the tire disappeared from the market as a 14R.
> In shopping for tires lately, I can see tht in the not two distant
> future I'm going to be moving up to at least R15's which will mean
> changing to bigger rims - kinda expensive when you own three vans. But -
> advantages are a greater choice in tires, option to put on a big brake
> kit - which requires the larger rim to fit. I have a '91 Carat that I'm
> restoring and I want to go the route with it. Bigger rims and tires, big
> brake kit, rear disk brakes. Some say not necessary - but it's just me.
>
> Good luck on the tire hunt.
>
> John
>
> John Rodgers
> Clayartist and Moldmaker
> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> Chelsea, AL
> Http://www.moldhaus.com
>
>
> On 7/25/2011 1:54 PM, ralph meyermann wrote:
>> On my shoe string budget im opting for the 8 ply tires to have that added
>> sense of security although all tires can fail.
>>
>> On Jul 25, 2011 1:49 PM, "David"<dlwilhite@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> I've been using the Altimax for more than a year on my Westy with no
>> problems so far. I even tow a Pop Up camper with gear for a family of 5,
>> so
>> I know I'm pushing limits and the tires have performed well so far.
>>
>> I will say that in my Westys life I've had three different Michelin
>> tires
>> (supposed to be the best) fail due to belt separation. Two happened
>> within
>> 200 miles of each other and one happened on a different set. FWIW, all
>> tire
>> failures have occurred on the front axles, never in the rear.
>>
>> I had some of the Yokohomas, but they had too short of a life span
>> (~30,000mi) and didn't seem as stable as my current Altimax 205/70 R14.
>> The
>> most stable tires I've had were some Cooper LT tires, but I didn't like
>> their wet weather performance and they didn't last long either (~30000
>> mi).
>>
>> Not an expert by any means, just stating my experiences.
>>
>> David Wilhite
>> 84' Westy
>> Middle TN
>>
>>
>> On Jul 25, 2011, at 12:39, ralph meyermann<ralphmeyermann@GMAIL.COM>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Yea I've got an 82 ...
>>> Chelsea, ALHttp://www.moldhaus.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/25/2011 11:32 AM, ralph meyermann wrote:
>>>> I've found a local tire dealer th...
>>
