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Date:         Tue, 21 Nov 2017 15:59:48 +0000
Reply-To:     Vincent Dow <ianvincentdow@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Vincent Dow <ianvincentdow@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Tire emergency in Oklahoma City
Comments: To: Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <CAB2RwfiUbnyJXvWhu-Rkb_KTrV_CEYmTt8q5sWbmC2_0md_66g@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Hello friends, Y'all are nice! It's very touching to get valuable help back from a request to the community.

Made it to LA last night. (And that's what matters)

As for tires, it's a weird story: very typical thing to happen to me.

On Saturday (day after the big puncture) was driving along on a new/used 185, @ passenger-side rear.

(I should have just moved the big 195s to the back, and The 185s in the front - as so many have said. But the guys at the tire shop who sold it were impatient, and my head was kind of spinning / as I wondered if I wanted one of my rears up front.

(I was not thinking well, after Friday night: there is some difficult stuff happening with a family member)

And we were quite raw-nervef after the tire stuff on the freeway.

So we see a discount tire shop, as well as a Hibbons Tire on the freeway west of Oklahoma City. D.C. would have taken a few days to get me new c/d rated vanagon tires, but Hibbons salesman said he had some even STRONGER 195s he could sell me. Of course I said : do it. $129 for two new rears, installed - that day ? Heck yeah. It was a long wait, but we got em.

Only after 30 minutes of driving did I notice my RPMs were noticeably lower...

Yeah (embarrassment here) id bought two new trailer tires. But, we were up and running.

It took me half an hour to finally mention it to Kathleen. I was thinking thinking - mad at myself.

The new trailer tires are: PRIME WELL 195/70 R14

The existing ones are: WESTLAKE 195R14C

Don't know how I missed it! But they are shorter and narrower! The RPM difference was not too significant, as I have a .17 4th gear. We were doing 65 mph at 3200 rpm which is fine, thought the taller Westlakes (also bought as a compromise when I couldn't get standard 185s in Quebec) gave me 70mph at 3200 rpm which I loved, and my Subaru ej22 can do it all day.

Anyhow, the trailer tires got us here to LA.

Now I'm thinking: I want to get rid of the 14" rims. They look goofy, and they so limit choices. I think I'll look into 16" wheels. My girlfriend memorized the tire-size calculator, so we should be able to find a rim/tire combination.

I like the look of black- mags on a vanagon. For the next few months here in Los Sngeles, will move the little tires forward, and the taller ones back. It will give me the dragster look.

Maybe I'll like it so much I never go back!

Bigger issue at the moment is passing smog and getting tags! Ah vanagon life.

Best to all, Vinnie

On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 10:22 PM Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:

> For sure. And for my the Hancock tire install on my '88, good user > experience with Discount in Bellingham. > > They have a lot of outlets so service can run the gamut I guess. > > Neil. > > On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 3:56 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Well, my experience with them has been good, including with road hazard > > damage. Last time, Bridgestone tire (on my Prius), puncture with a > screw. > > About 10K miles on the tire iirc. Different Discount shop from where I > > bought the tire. Replaced the tire, no mileage charge. they will match > > prices, including online prices. > > > > mcneely > > > > On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 1:28 PM, Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > If you buy a set of new tires from Discount Tires and pay extra for their > >> 'free replacement' warranty, keep track of mileage and dates. ..... > >> > > > > > .... Mostly just a warning about how one might evoke the > >> > > warranty they paid for. > >> > >> Just my .02 > >> > >> Neil. > >> > > > > -- > Neil n > > Blog: Vanagons, Westfalia, general <http://tubaneil.blogspot.ca> > > 1988 Westy Images <https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/New1988Westy> > > 1981 Westfalia "Jaco" Images, technical <http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/> > > Vanagon-Bus VAG Gas Engine Swap Group <http://tinyurl.com/khalbay> >


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