Date:         Sat, 18 Apr 2015 09:40:13 -0600
Reply-To:     Steve Williams <steve@WILLIAMSITCONSULTING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Williams <steve@WILLIAMSITCONSULTING.COM>
Subject:      Tires & Rims in (Western) Canada - Calgary
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed

Hi,

Yes, more tire questions!

I currently have tires on 14 inch steel rims on my 1991 Westfalia. They
need replacing and after having read the email list, multiple vendor
sites, and the (lack of) availability for 14 inch tires, I am leaning
towards getting 15 inch rims.  Part of my concern would be tire
replacement when travelling... I don't want to have to wait weeks for
someone to order in a specific 14 inch tire!  I feel the chances of
getting a 15 inch replacement on the road are much better.

I feel that an All Season would be best for me as I don't drive in the
winter, but fall in the Rockies can have unexpected snow storms & I've
been caught more than once.

I haven't priced out ordering from the US, but with the current exchange
rate, shipping, GST, etc it seems like a fairly expensive option.  If I
absolutely have to, I will order out of the US because I feel that tires
are "cheap insurance" and a very important piece of safety equipment on
my vehicles.

I would like to keep as close to stock size as possible as I do park in
my garage and I have minimal clearance to get through the garage door.

Kal Tire carries Nokian, but their computer shows them totally out of
stock (with no ETA) on the WRC (Van) tire in the 205/65/R15 size that
I'm leaning towards.  Load Rating, Load Range & Diameter & "All Season"
rating are kind of my deciding points.

It's not a crisis as I won't have "Ruby" on the road until mid-June, but
I'm trying to plan ahead.  Ordering a 14" Nokian through Kal Tire came
up with a bill over $1000 for them installed & balanced (shipping from
US warehouse).  The kicker was the 4 week delivery period!  If I destroy
tires somewhere, I can't wait 4 weeks for a tire to show up!.

Of course, I need 15 inch rims as well.  What have other people done in
Canada for tires & Rims?   I don't have the patience to try to find
something used on Kijiji or Craigslist.

I saw on the Van-Cafe website that they tried to get together a pallet
shipment last xmas to ship to Calgary, but it didn't quite come together
in the end.  That might be one option... if we could revive that?

Cheers,
Steve Williams
1991 Westfalia "Ruby"
Calgary, Canada