Date:         Tue, 09 May 1995 17:09:56
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jcunning@snow.win.net (John H. Cunningham)
Subject:      Re: Speaking of Vanagon Shocks

I got 40,000 miles on the OEM Michilen 205-70-14s and the
WheelWerks in Salt Lake sold me a set of Pirelli P300's (smae
size). They all wore out at 20,000 miles, and the wear was even. I
replaced them with Michilen MXL's. But the rear was out of
alignment and they wore badly on the inside, and need to be
replaced at 20,000. 

 
>From: ja@decws3.coe.wvu.edu (John Anderson)
>
>> Lee, Not to be negative, but how long have you had the P44's, a
>> friend had a set on his '79 Dodge Challenger, bought them at
>> SAMS (discount warehouse place) they had a "40,000" mile treadwear
>> warranty, and he paid a bit more but felt great he was getting
>> Pirelli's instead of cheapo Generals, at 15,000 miles they were
>> totaly gone treadwise, might have lasted another couple thousand,
>> he went back to SAMS and complained they said everyone had these
>> problems and they were not reccomending them.  They gave him a
>> generous prorating (more than he deserved) he got a set of General
>> XP2000's and with 10,000 miles they look brand new.  I note the
>> wear on the P44's was even across the tires, on all 4 and not due
>> to alignment problems, etc.  Frankly I am steering clear of Pirelli
>> in general as a friend had bad luck with P6's on a CRX.  On the
>> subject are the non-reinforced P44's a wise choice anyway, though
>> since they are S rated probably do have stiffer sidewalls.  Plus I
>
>I have had good success with the P44s on my rabbit truck.  I used a set of
>175/70-13 for over 60K miles before taking them off.  They still had about
>1/4 thread left on them.  I took them off only to use a set of Dunlops on
>alloy wheels.  After about 30K miles I wore those down so I got another set 
>of P44s.  The old P44s make a good set of rain autocross tires.  I was
>surprised how well they handled.  I also got the P44s from Sam's also.
>
>The XP2000s are pretty good also. I have a set on my GTI that are 4 1/2 years
>old and they still look good.  They are holding up well even with a year of
>autocrossing on them.  I have heard that the P6s aren't as good as they used
>to be.
>
>Jonathan
>jdove@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu
>
>