Date:         Sun, 25 Oct 1998 17:15:22 -0800
Reply-To:     Ari Ollikainen <Ari@OLTECO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Ari Ollikainen <Ari@OLTECO.COM>
Subject:      Re: 16" tires
Comments: To: Blue Eyes <lvlearn@MCI2000.COM>, vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

At 6:33 AM 10/25/98, Blue Eyes wrote:

>
>So an empty Westy Vanagon weights 4900 pounds, or about 2225 kg.  Then
>families pack it with gear, lash the boat on the roof, and all get in.  The
>center of gravity is higher than those autos you cited, and the stress on the
>sidewalls when turning close to the limit of what the vehicle will go is not
>equivalent to those cars either.

        NO...the GrossVehicleWeightRating, GWVR, of a Vanagon Campmobile
        (86-91) is 5160lb. That's GROSS...meaning with everything in it,
        built-ins, fluids, passengers, and gear.

        The ready to drive (unladen) wight is most likely around 3700-3900lb.

        I'm very happy with the performance and handling of my 205/70R14rf 99s
        Michelin MXTs.

        Supportive of Per's observation, however, our '93 MercuryVillager
        mini-van is shod with Goodyear EagleGA 215/70R15 97H tires as
        part of the factory "handling kit". These tires are 3ply sidewall,
        "standard load", with 1620lb max load at 44psi cold. The GWVR of the
        Villager is 5465lb. When the (heavy) rains come, I intend to replace
        them with whatever MXT equivalent is available...

>Were you only running them empty and
>straight, I'd find your argument much more compelling.

        Wonder how much some of the tires Per mentioned cost?


      OLTECO                    Ari Ollikainen
      P.O. BOX 3688             Networking Technology and Architecture
      Stanford, CA              Ari@OLTECO.com
      94309-3688                415.517.3519