Date:         Sun, 30 Apr 1995 00:03:14 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <schwarze@superc.nosc.mil>
Subject:      '73 Safare Update - Tires

Volks,
	Wendesday I started calling around trying to find a pair of tires
for the back of Da Boat.  My wants were the following:

Larger than 195/75/14
Aggressive tread
Stiff Sidewall
Cheap

I couldn't find anything that satisfied all of the above.  A few months
ago I bought two of the Sears Trailhandler 195/75/14 6-ply C-rated tires.
Put them on the back, replacing a pair of Michelin 215/70/14 MXL's and 
the handling has been worse than horrible ever since.  Any little cross-
wind and I had to turn the wheel to correct. 

So, my plan was to move the Trailhandlers to the front, and get some
larger tires for the rear.  Auto Parts Club had some pretty nice tires
in 205/75/14, with a nice, aggressive tread similar to the Trailhandlers.
They were $52 each, and would have run me $126 for a pair, out the door.
The only reservation I had about them was that they were more "rounded"
than street tires, and the sidewalls were not very stiff.  They were only
4-ply.

So, I called all of the big name tire places, and none of them seem to 
have anything like I want.  I call this place I have never heard of (but
they had 3 locations in San Diego) and they said they had all kinds of
good tires, and since they were real near where I work, I decided to run
over there during lunch.  I looked around and found a tire with a really
stiff sidewall.  Why is it so stiff?  Oh, it's HR rated!  205/70/14.  How
much?  Two mounted and balanced with tax for $96.  Sold!  They didn't 
have the aggressive tread (these were street tires) but I figured I would
be spending most of my time on the pavement anyway, and the price was
definately right.  These were 4 ply tires, but the sidewalls on these
pups were stiffer than any I had seen so far, even the 8-ply reinforced
tires that people told me I had to have for my bus.  Oh, these tires
were an off-brand that I have never heard of, made in Indonesia.  For
some reason that doesn't bother me.

Friday, I took all four wheels off, sanded and masked them, and gave them
a fresh coat of Krylon gloss white.  They be looking mighty spiffy!  Too
bad the rest of the bus is so ugly.  How do they handle?  Lousy.  It's a
VW bus, after all.  But considering that before I got them the handling 
was worse than horrible,  I am happy.  In fact, I think the bus is more
stable on the road now than it ever has been since I got it.  But then this
is the first time it has had new tires (I always got used before).

-David

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David Schwarze                     '73 VW Safare Custom Camper  (Da Boat)
SAIC Comsystems, San Diego Calif.  '73 Capri GT 2800            (Da Beast)
e-mail:  schwarze@nosc.mil         '87 Mustang Lx 5.0           (Da Sleeper)
http://papaya.nosc.mil/~schwarze   '93 Weber WG-50              (Da Piano)
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