Date:         Tue, 9 May 1995 16:34:00 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         lthompson@viper.frco.com (Lee Thompson)
Subject:      Re: Speaking of Vanagon Shocks

John Anderson writes:
>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 [...]

Thanks for the reply.  I got the P44's at SAMs too.  I lost one due
to an incorrect toe setting and the other which seemed to wear even
but didn't make it that long either.  I haven't thought about it, but 
maybe these puppies are NOT lasting that long.  They were pretty darn
cheap (~$45) considering what I pay for other components of these VW's
and concidering I paid something like $27 for tires on my bicycle 
(grant it, they were pretty nice bike tires) and I spend 
around $100/tire for my Datsun 240Z.  Anyway, they handle better
than the Michelins and seem pretty indestructable on unpaved roads.  
Traction has always been a much bigger issue for me than treadwear.  
Tires are cheaper than accidents.

I think the previous owner of my Van put unreinforced Michelins on
the Van and thats probably why the failed early.  My next set of
tires will not be P44's, but won't be Michelins either.  I've had
some white knuckle experiences with Michelins on sports cars in
the rain that made me loose bladder control...  =:-0

Maybe the answer is to avoid European rubber...

C ya L8er

Lee Thompson
Austin, TX
Reply-To: "Lee Thompson" <lthompson@fisher.com>