Has anyone tried Bridgestone 613's on
their Westy (with alloy wheels)? They
come as 205/75 R14 and should fit. They
have a reinforced sidewall.

Here's a summary of my efforts to find tires
for my Westy now that my second set of
Michelin MXL's (205/70 R14) has worn out and
we know there are none left. I looked at all of
the vanagon.com info, called the Tire Rack,
spoke with a manager at Michelin,
did some internet searches, spoke to two
local dealerships and spoke with VW
Customer Service 5 times yesterday. What
a pain in the ass. Here's a summary of
the results:

1. The dealerships can't help

2. Tire Rack suggests Michelin Agilis 185/14
but there are none available. VW Customer
Service says not to use that size tire
on the alloy wheels.

3. Michelin has no replacements of any type.
They suggested looking at Nokian tires.
Nokian (Swedish?) has the correct size
but no reinforced sidewalls.

4. VW Customer Service didn't initially
think it was their responsibility to help
me find tires. After convincing them that it
was, they did some research for possible
replacements and suggested either going with
a 215/65 R14 or a 225/65 R14. I've since
found that neither size exists. After
reporting that to them they suggested that
I might have to buy new wheels. Not a
suggestion I'm very receptive to.

5. I have a great local tire shop and I
asked one of the owners for help. He checked
with all of his contacts and came up with
a Bridgestone model 613 which is a 205/75 R14.
He had never heard of the tire and ordered
one for us to look at today. It will fit the
wheel and has reinforced sidewalls. Not sure if
it's a passenger, light truck or tractor(!)
tire. If anyone has heard of or used this
tire I'd be very interested in hearing about
it. The cost is $530US for 4 tires including
tax, mounting, etc.

Thanks for listening to my rambling!  :)

Jeff
'87 Westy
Chapel Hill, NC