Date:         Fri, 22 Nov 1996 15:39:52 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         bayer@sybase.com (David Bayer)
Subject:      Tires clearing the trailing arm?

>| Big tires on a 2wd, though, will cause problems with chains. The trailing arm
>| of the rear suspension on a Vanagon is very close to the tire even with
>| the standard tires.  If you live in a place (like I do) where chains are
>| often *required* (the cops give tickets here) then you probably want to go
>| back to little tires in the winter.

	Is the clearance between the sidewall of the tire and the trailing
arm is the problem? Could it be remedied by getting 15" rims with a 1" inch
or so positive offset (I think positive offsets move the center of the wheel
away from the center of the car). How this effects other aspects of wheel
related things, I do not know...
	My syncro had 195/75R14s which according to the tire rack's size chart,
are have a radius a little under 13 inches in length - the 215/75R15 has
another inch on its radius. Even with that extra inch, the trailing arm looks
like it will clear the tread portion, so I assume the problem is between the
sidewall and the trailing arm...

	As an aside, can anyone with a set of the BFGoodrich All-Terrian
27x8.50R14s tell me the max load off the sidewall? I use the van to move
very close to a ton of gear each weekend and I am wondering if these tires
will be able to bounce over dirt forest service roads with the same gear...
Thanks

dave