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Date:         Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:29:11 -0400
Reply-To:     Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: ok, now a tire question
Comments: To: mcneely4@COX.NET
In-Reply-To:  <20140612115746.KNDYS.716386.imail@eastrmwml108>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

As Ron noted the original tires were Michelin MXL's. They had a 97 load index, 1580 pounds. At the lower limit yes but definitely an upgrade ride and handling wise. My Syncro Westy came with them on the alloy wheels. That set outlasted the first water pump with one of them having a tread separation on I95 in Florida with my poor wife driving. That was at ~59K miles. Of course I then wanted a new set of 5 tires and ended up going with Bridgestone Potenza's jumping up to a 215/70-14, (96 load index, 1554 pounds). That set went 70K including surviving a trip to Alaska. We even did the Haul Road up to Prudhoe Bay. That was back in 1993. After that I jumped to the 16" wheel running 215/65-16 so I could get the spare into the carrier. That lousy bigger is better syndrome.

Dennis

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Dave Mcneely Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 11:58 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: ok, now a tire question

Dennis, your reply confuses me. The 205/70-14XL that came on the vans was the General Alti-Max, iirc. That tire was barely within spec, and lots of people reported problems with it deforming and not having good handling characteristics, at least according to threads on the Samba and the Vanagon mailing list.

Do you have any specific recommendation of 205/70-XL tires?

The Kumho 857 tires that I have now have shown excellent handling characteristics, and are well within spec. Like the Hankook RA08, they are listed on web sites in other countries as being for vans and transporters but in this country they are marketed for trailers (same as the Hankook), probably because the size has such limited application otherwise. I would buy another set of Kumhos, except they are quite pricey, and only ran for about 35k miles. I have run them on back country roads, very rocky, muddy, sandy, steep. No traction problems. Though I would not consider them suitable for snow or ice conditions, I did drive from Dallas to Edmond, OK (OKC area) via a roundabout route following the Christmas blizzard of 2009 with no problems. ---- Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote: > That Nexen is a horrible tire, probably best suited to trailer use. > Either choice is still a low performance tire. I would still go with one of the 205/70-14XL alternatives just as the factory did 87 and later. > ---- Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote: > That Nexen is a horrible tire, probably best suited to trailer use. Either choice is still a low performance tire. I would still go with one of the 205/70-14XL alternatives just as the factory did 87 and later. > > Dennis > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On > Behalf Of Dave Mcneely > Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 9:49 PM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: ok, now a tire question > > Any reasons to choose one over the other: Nexen SV820 or Hankook RA08? Nexen is a little less expensive, but not dramatically so. BTW, both are available at WalMart, if ordered online. Only Nexen if you go to the store. Hankook but not Nexen is available at Discount Tire. I do prefer to do business with Discount over WalMart. Thanks, mcneely

-- David McNeely


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