Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:23:24 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Interesting Tire Info-Tire Rack
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Of the tire suppliers out there Tire Rack is probably one of the best for providing relevant information and support for tire selection and application. Last fall I ordered a set of winter tires for one of my Vanagons, 215/70-14 Firestone Winter Force. They actually called me and I had to confirm in writing that I understood this tire had to be inflated to a minimum of 41 psi even for the front to be used on that vehicle before they shipped them. Someone had to do their homework for that.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Dave Mcneely
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 1:58 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Interesting Tire Info
Mark, what I can blame people for is not paying attention to legitimate information that describes the tire and its uses, including Kumho web pages and references to them by folks who have investigated the tire. Karl was fine with the tire only after his conversation with his engineering buddy. Fine. Good for him for wanting to be sure. But when the tire is marketed worldwide for van, bus, and truck applications, including in the U.S. though mentioned secondarily here to its trailer application because of size only, why would people be so silly as to rely only on Tire Rack?
Just wonderin'. mcneely
You are sure right about being able to get 14 inch tires becoming increasingly difficult. It is becoming increasingly difficult to get 15 inch wheels on a new vehicle. Are we only supposed to drive on brand new pavement, not yet broken in by having holes knocked in it? There is precious little of that, either, so I guess we just have to beat up our tires and rims because there isn't enough side wall to keep from banging the wheels into things.
---- mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote:
> The Kumho 857 was first mentioned on the lists many years before you
> arrived here. I have no trouble believing it to be a good tire but you
> can hardly blame people for considering it a "trailer tire" when
> credible sources including the manufacturer market it that way. Karl M.
> was the one who stood up for the tire and has defended Kumhos at
> various times and places as he apparently has some personal connection
> there. If the 857 wasn't so expensive I might have tried it myself. My
> experiences with Commercial Load D tires on Vanagons have not been
> that satisfactory but I haven't tried the most expensive ones such as
> Nokian either. The selection of 14" tires gets narrower all the time
> and we need to know which of those that are available will give the
> best results. Thanks for sharing you experience with this tire.
>
> Mark
>
>
> Dave Mcneely wrote:
> > The Kumho 857 has been discussed on this list on several occasions. I believe I was the first to bring it up. I bought Kumho 857s for my 1991 Vanagon GL Campmobile in April 2009 immediately after I bought the van and investigated the tires available for it. I have the tires in the 195R14 size.
> >
> > When I first mentioned using these tires on this list, several list members immediately objected because of the Tire Rack statement.
--
David McNeely
