The size that I wanted was 205/70-15 on a 7" wide = wheel. I could not find this size in light truck tires, seems most 15" tires = are the 245/75's etc. monster meats aimed at Range Rovers and Toyota Land Cruisers. I started the process by asking Discount Tire = Direct http://www.discounttiredirect.com/ about the Mercedes Replica wheels that they sell. Intitially = they came back saying that they had done this on a Vanagon before, and in fact = showed these wheels on their website as a Vanagon application. When I = pushed them for details, I heard from a manager that they had figured out that lugs = nuts and studs would not work correctly. Within a couple of hours the = Vanagon app.disappeared from their website. Heard again from them. = They could get a TSW (better than oem quality, made in South Africa!!) = 5 hole Mercedes replica wheel that would work. 15x7, 5x113 bolt = circle, 23 mm ET, correct strength rating to carry Vanagon loads. I said = OK. Now for tires, this got interesting. I learned that on passenger = car tires the weight capacity is found in the tire sizing info ie: 205/70-15 = 95V. The key is the "95". Most car tires are either 92 or 93 (I think a = key for these numbers is in the archives). D.T. said that the only tire that = they could recommend to me in that size was a Michelin "Energy" MXV4. = The "V" rating was not suggested for speed capability (obviously), but because a = V speed rating also means greater carcass strength. These tires are = intended for the big Mercedes and BMW's that have to be as heavy as my Vanagon. = Made sense to me. Not particularly cheap at $105 ea.

The mounted wheels and tires arrived, and I began to = install. Had to take care of a couple of things. The small = bolts holding the rear brake drums had to go, and the speedo cable on the l/f = hub had to be filed to shorten it a bit. My oem nuts and studs (had = original alloys before), fit the seats in the wheels perfectly. They are a = bit short though, and I will replace. What a transformation. Ride = quality is amazing, handling amazing, wind stability vastly improved. The = apparent gear ratio increase is exactly what I was looking for. Cruising = with fast traffic now keeps RPM's under 4k. Went through a measured mile, = and found that my formerly optimistic speedo is now spot on. The wheels are = very well made, similar in basic design to the originals, with gorgeous = silver epoxy paint.