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Date:         Wed, 17 Apr 1996 12:15:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      RE: Another Tire Q

>I need new tires for my '72 Safare. Primarily for this 3000 mile trip. >What make/model tire should I purchase that works well on later model busi?

This question has been hammered and hammered and HAMMERED on this list, both recently and in the past. If you check the archives, you'll find a wealth of discussion about tires for type-2's of all stripes.

My own personal conclusion, based partly on the pretty-good passenger car tires I have on the V6anagon, is that I would get reinforced or Load-C tires as VW recommends, if I had it to do over. 185 or 195 width. Passenger-car tires don't have the load-carrying capacity that most reinforced or Load-C (or D) tires do.

But the biggest reason IMHO, is high-speed handling (over 40 is high speed for a VW bus), whether heavily loaded or not. I've found out the hard way that I need a lot more pressure in the rears than the fronts, to keep the van from squirrelling all over the freeway. A check of the sticker inside the left front door jamb confirms that VW thinks so too. But most passenger-car tires have a max pressure of around 35 psi, which doesn't allow much room for a wide differential between front and rear. I have to play with the pressures very carefully, to get the V6anagon to handle like a real car on the freeway, and I run the rears slightly overinflated, which is probably not a good idea.

I have heard from others on this list, that the reinforced and high-load tires also give you less steering effort and lower rolling resistance.

A fellow at Discount Tire here in San Diego, recommended a Yokohama reinforced tire in the 185 width, claiming that they see a lot fewer warranty returns of this tire. If true, that's a good point, but keep in mind that the suggestion came from a salesman working on commission. I've never tried those, or any other reinforced tire-- they may be excellent for all I know. Caveat emptor, y'know?

Free advice, and worth every penny... ______________________________________________________________________ _ ______________ ______//________ Steve Maher smaher@gi.com //__][__||____\\ /o _ | -| _ \ San Diego, CA 75461,1717 (o _-| _ o| `-(_)=======(_)---' '(_)-------(_)-' '66 Mustang Coupevertible '89 Son Sherwin '80 VW V6anagon

http://www.lookup.com/homepages/76242/home.html

"Lord, give me serenity to accept what I cannot change, the strength to change that which I can, and the the firepower to make the difference." ----------------------------------------------------------------------


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