Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (December 1996)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Wed, 18 Dec 96 19:10:29 EST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jag@cs.rochester.edu
Subject:      Basement bargain bus tires!?!

Oh no not another tire post! ... Well I hope this one brings up a new tire alternative. I've been in the market for a set of new sneakers for a while now. Attempts to find the praised Yoko's Y370 in LT's failed. Sears is the only Yokohama dealer around here not yet put out of business by the Tire rack, and Sears won't special order these. At the around $80 other listmembers have paid they are also a bit hard on my student budget.

A cheaper Yoko alternative would be the Y356 at $54/tire for 185R14 C-load rating by mail order from Tire rack. However Pep Boys has a 1600 lbs load rating 205-70 R14 at $34/tire which in many respects looks appealing:

Name "Futura metric" 205-70 R14

+ Load rating is ok (>1500lbs) + Can be inflated to 44psi (I run 45 front and 50 rear on current Sears trailhandlers LT 195/75 R14) + Threadwear rating DOT 340, 55 000 miles warranty + All weather radial type thead good for traction in the winter. (The Y356 has "highway rib")

But also some possible downsides:

- Only a P tire, not LT or reinforced. Bob (I think) noted that on the inuvik trip it was mostly the P tires that got flats.

- With wider and more aggressive thread and at 44psi instead of 50 it is likely to have more rolling resistance than the Y356. (Matters in for my diesel. At 60 mph 30 hp is needed to overcome drag. Nearly half of that is tire friction. The rolling resistance of tires can vary by a factor of almost 2. (See article in Road and Track in their tire series)

So what do you think about these? Anybody has experience with them? Perhaps on another car? Since they are rated for 44psi pressure they ought to have slightly better sidewalls than a 35psi tire, right? Futura is Pep Boys in house brand. The salesman claims they are manufactured by Kelly. We put another Futura tire (the "2000", a 80 000 miles "touring tire") on SO's car (pl*mouth reliant), and those are doing fine. I can't use the same on the bus, because the "2000" is only inflatable to the standard 35psi, and doesn't have the load rating I need for the bus)

Martin (and '82 diesel westy, excited about possible christmas presents)


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.