Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 13:02:20 -0700
Reply-To: Malcolm Holser <mholser@ADOBE.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Malcolm Holser <mholser@ADOBE.COM>
Subject: Tires...again
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I should be slapped upside the head a few times, writing stuff without
going out
and looking!
This is a sample of one (me) and tires on my four Vanagons. I am quite
pleased
with all the tires I've run lately. Currently:
1986 Vanagon GL (2wd) Michelin X P215/70R14 M+S These are 215s, not 205s,
which
is why they work well, although they rob you of 5% of your accelleration and
cause a 5% low speedometer reading (like mine is that accurate anyway...).
This
vans door placard shows 185x14 at 39/48lbs, pressure and 205/70 reinforced at
30/40lbs. pressure. No "P" series tires are appropriate at these
pressures. The
X radial has a 1660lb load rating per tire. I run mine at 30/36lbs.
1986 Transporter Kombi Syncro Michelin MTX LT195/75R14 M+S. Great tires,
but a
little small on this vehicle. Gearing gives great (for a Vanagon)
acceleration
but winds out terribly at higher speeds. The Kombi doorjamb placard lists
three
tires and pressures, unlike the GL. The two from the GL are listed, with
slightly
different pressures (40/48 and 36/43). Notice that the pressures are
higher for
the commercial version, as would make sense. Then they list a
non-reinforced P
series tire -- the P205/70R14, and pressures of 33/36lbs. 36lbs is
normally the
highest pressure allowed for most P-series tires. Again, this is on the
sticker
on the door-post. A little strange that the US-spec Vanagon fails to list
this
as an option. It also does not list the 195s that I run. Oh, well. I run
mine
at 40/48 on this guy. Rides terrible -- like a truck. The Kombi's springs
are
really stiff, too, and the thing rattles and echoes like a big tin box (big
suprise there, eh?). The sticker does not call out the 205/70 as a "P", but
rather lists the variations as "205/70R14 6PR/8PR reinforced" at the higher
pressures and "205/70R14" at the lower pressures. The "LT" designation seems
to have replaced the "6PR", and "P" replaced the old 2 or 4 "ply rating" --
I think because no tires actually still use a bunch of plies.
1986 Transporter Doublecab Syncro Uniroyal Laredo LT215/75R15 M+S. Great
tires
and wheels (Audi Turbos, modified) but these were nicer on the Kombi where
they
originally lived, as it is geared lower. They rob too much power from the
truck.
The truck's door sticker is the same as the Kombi -- it too lists a P205/70
at 33/36lbs. This truck came with the Michelin's, and I traded with the
Kombi.
I have also run Yokohama's on the Kombi with good results, like others
maintain.
The Yokis are probably the best bet, but are locally hard to come by. This is
a concern on a syncro, as it is hard to match a tire while travelling. The DC
was missing its VC when I got it, and the one I put in is very mild. The
Kombi,
on the other hand, has a VC-from-hell -- it locks at the slightest whim, and
squeals tires in any reasonalby tight turn. Odd that these should vary so
much --
it is not broken, just far stiffer than the other VC. Anybody else out there
with multiple syncros?
1980 Vanagon Westfalia Uniroyal Laredo LT195/75R14 M+S, running at 42/50lbs,
slightly higher than the sticker wants, but I overload the silly Westy all the
time.
In any event, *some* Vanagon door stickers list passenger tires as
appropriate.
Oddly for me, these are the two commercial ones -- where you'd expect the
truck
tires all the more. The pressures listed on the 185's spec'd are higher on
the truck, as I'd expect. It is still my *personal* opinion that these P
series
should be alright on any Vanagon, but I tend to go with the LT's. The 215/70
is wider, and should have no problems since it should be run at a lower
pressure
anyway. It is pushing the maximum width tire allowed on the relatively narrow
Vanagon rims.
Yes, I think you should run LT tires. Good insurance. If your van came with
P205s or P215s, I *personally* would not panic. Others will disagree, but it
appears tha VW listed a non-reinforced tire at 36lbs for the very-buff Syncro
Doublecab Transporter truck, and your wimpy Vanagon ought to be able to
survive
with them, too.
I know I'll get flamed -- there are horror stories of tires disintegrating
while
driving, and this is a really scary prospect. So use your own judgement, my
opinions are my own, based on flimsy evidence, and I'm a computer geek, not a
tire designer.
Malcolm H.
any other sticker info out there? Perhaps we should get together a page of
all the variations, and get Coyote to put it on vanagon.com.
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