Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 23:26:37 -0800
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: Vanagon weights was [WetWesties] RV coverage for BCAA, AAA etc
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I wouldn't ..
the reason for more pressure in the rear than in the front is handling
balance.
if people will notice...ALL rear wheel drive vehicles use 'more' tire/wheel
in the rear...
motorcycles, modern Ferrari's and Porsche's ..
corvettes, drag racers, Formula 1 cars where the tires are not mandated to
certain sizes etc.
And I want ask this ..
not being a Trucker, but rather a racer.....one who drives cars and
motorcycles in a sporting manner where appropriate, for nearly 50 years of
driving I have always tuned tire pressures for HANDLING ..
not weight.
so tell me this ..say you figure out a tire with a max load rating of say
1,700 lbs that has a say 65 psi max tire pressure rating ..
and you figure out that that tire has say 75 % of the rated weight for the
tire, on it ..
then you set the tire pressure at 75 % of max load rating ............???
I never heard of that in my entire driving career..
and cars and driving are My Thing ..I have driven easily a million miles ..
even double that . One million miles is only 10 100,000's ...
and many of us have driven 100,000 miles a few times.
so tell me ..
take a 65 psi max pressure tire..
naturally you are going to run more pressure for a heavier load and higher
speeds ..
if even says that in various owner manuals..
and ...a 65 psi max tire pressure tire is not happy at say 44 psi when say
3/4 of the actual weight on the tire and 3/4 of the max tp rating is say
.....50 psi ..
you're saying 44 psi is not sufficient ?
I almost never run anything at 44 psi cold.
I have started out many heavily loaded major trips with a lot of tire
pressure ..
and an hour or two into the trip the tires are feeling really hard and harsh
..
I let some air out ...about 5 psi ..
and immediately the van is nicer to drive.
btw ..about 8PR tires, which are the common 185 R 14C tires sold these
days..
it says right on the Van Tire Sticker ....6PR tires !
and ..every time I try 8PR's front and rear I can't stand the harshness in
the front ..
if I lower the front tire pressure ...steering response goes down ..
'turn in' is less crisp for sure.
A woman customer just scored a whole set of 185R14 C 8PR's ...I saw here
today ..
asked how they were compared to the old tires she had ,which were not 8PR's
..
she said 'harsh in the front' I might want to put my old ones back on the
front..
anyway ..
vanagons are not trucks.
they have the Exact Same Suspension system that 70's era Mercedes cars and
sports cars have ..
and those are incredibly good handling cars..
so good you can't believe it sometimes ..a good Benz can carve through a
curve that's full of potholes at 60 mph .......and the car just 'goes where
you point it' ......magically .
Vangons have the exact same suspension that my 78 450SLC has ..
the are not trucks.
if they were trucks, they'd have a solid rear axle and truck-like features
like that.
no matter how much weight I have in a vanagon ..I probably will never run
the same tire pressures front and rear. And I am extremely experienced in
dynamic vehicle driving ........and damn good on ice and snow too .
and I have raced cars and motorcycles and have been driving since 1962. And
driving and cars are my 'thing.'
I do recommend to do what VW says about tires and tire pressures on
vanagons.
Heck...
even late Sycro's ...
I have been challenged on this ..and I have looked at the tire sticker again
..
and I swear, it says 6PR's on the front 8PR's on the rear ..
exactly what I am saying ..
'more' tire/wheel in the rear ..whether via tire pressures, stiffness, wheel
width ...etc. etc. etc.
It's how you get them to not be under boat-like pigs.
it's all fun though !
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, December 09, 2011 5:20 PM
Subject: Re: Vanagon weights was [WetWesties] RV coverage for BCAA, AAA etc
> OK. Yes move some of those tools back. With this weight distribution you
> probably want to use the same tire inflation pressures front/rear.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Gary Bawden
> Sent: Friday, December 09, 2011 4:43 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Vanagon weights was [WetWesties] RV coverage for BCAA, AAA
> etc
>
> Dennis,
>
> No, that's what I read on the roadside scale (unattended), so was able to
> roll up and stop the FA on the scale, then went forward, weighed the
> entire
> unit, then forward again and weighed the rear axle separately, just as I
> used to do for trucks. Wrote 'em down and stuck it in my little black
> book,
> which I took out and referenced.
>
> The heavy front was surprising to me, too - - for subsequent trips I may
> redistribute some of my stuff. Had 3 milk crates full of power tools, plus
> my (heavy) box of mechanic tools, all just behind the front seat. Probably
> make the dog sit farther back, too! :^)
>
> Gary
>
> On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 1:33 PM, Dennis Haynes
> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Any chance front - rear weight is reversed?
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>>
>> Sent from my Windows Phone
>> ________________________________
>> From: Gary Bawden
>> Sent: 12/9/2011 1:43 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Vanagon weights was [WetWesties] RV coverage for BCAA, AAA etc
>>
>> I weighed my '85 sunroof GL with my new 1.9 TD conversion, a nearly-full
>> tank of fuel, an Add-A-Room shelter, 2 people, one medium dog, and all
>> camping gear and got this:
>>
>> Front axle: 2600 lbs.
>> Rear axle: 2050 lbs.
>> Total wgt: 4650 lbs.
>>
>> Guess I've never figured out how to travel light!
>>
>> Gary
>>
>> Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 22:00:20 -0700
>> > From: Robert Stevens <mtbiker62@GMAIL.COM>
>> > Subject: Re: [WetWesties] RV coverage for BCAA, AAA etc
>> >
>> > On Dec 8, 2011, at 7:58 PM, Ellen in Oregon wrote:
>> >
>> > > What does a regular flat top vanagon weigh, no stove, no fridge, no =
>> > furnace, no storage, etc.? Just curious.
>> >
>> > Good reference link for that.
>> >
>> > http://www.vanagon.com/info/years/1980/index.htm
>> >
>> > bob=
>> >
>> >
>>
