Itinerant Air-Cooled

Here's what I want, which doesn't seem to exist except as wax wheels...uh, I mean Hankook RA08s:

185 14
M+S
8-ply

Actually, I don't even really care about the width, as long as they don't rub. And I don't care about the height, as long as I don't have to do math to figure my actual speed. But they hafta be M+S and 8-ply.

Suggestions?

The BFG 195's are damn fine tires, but pretty aggressive tread. Just put 2 on the rear last week.
There are plenty here in Stumptown that run them on their Buses.

hambone wrote:The BFG 195's are damn fine tires, but pretty aggressive tread. Just put 2 on the rear last week.
There are plenty here in Stumptown that run them on their Buses.

So what's the skinny on how the difference in height (the BFGs work out to just over 25.5" for the total wheel diameter vs. 25.9" for the stock size tires, if my math can be trusted) affects the speedo readout? I'm not a freak about it but I'd like to have a decent idea of how fast I'm going; a lot of miles around here are unavoidably Interstate miles.
Also, the semi-cautionary tone of "but pretty aggressive tread" has me wondering. Noisy? I can live with that unless it's unholy. Do they drop your miles per gallon? What's the downside to an agressive tread? Pitching rocks at the guy behind you? Bad steering? Do they bully more passive tires during recess?

By my math the speedometer should read ~0.5-1.0% slow with the BFGs. After 2.5 years of daily-driving with them I'm starting to hear them roar a bit under my butt under certain driving conditions, but OTOH my engine is quieter than most and in any case the wind & road noise drowns what tire noise there is most of the time.

They do tend to hold gravel a bit more than a less aggressive "street" tread, and those rocks can & do get pitched sometimes. There's probably a bit of a hit to the mileage because they're fairly heavy tires -- IIRC they're about 33# each. Load range D, max load 1710lbs @ 65psi. Steering on mine with the BFG's has been great, it was rolling rock-steady on I-84 and 197 to/from Maupin a couple weeks ago at 65-70-75-80mph, even with some Gorge wind starting up Sunday morning on the trip home.

Tread:
(first picture I could find)

I really like the Maxxis 751s on Chloe, available at Les Schwab. They have a pleasant mild howl, they are troupers off road, I put the raised lettering in the inside:

I love my Thunderer's, also from Les Schwab. 185R14 8PR.



Oops. Just read the M + S requirement. These may not have an aggressive enough tread for you.

Thunderer! Is that even a word?

I'm surerer it is.


neal

Reminds me of a kid saying cinnamonamon


Id also suggest the Maxxis at Les Shwab or the BFG's for your requirements.

you can fix your speedo afterward, if it's off

with the 27x8.5R14 Maxxis my speedo was dead on the number where the BFG's read about 4 MPH too fast, which is good as you feel like your going faster than you are and avoid speeding tickets. =)

If you want real SNOW tyres (studdable, even), consider the Nokian Hakkapeliitta C, available from Van-Cafe, or, perhaps a bit closer to home for you: Kal Tire in Canada. They are available in the rare 185R14 size in load range D, perfect for our vehicles.

If you go to Kal Tire you might have a bit of trouble having them find exactly the right tire, unless the guy manning their computer really knows his Hakkas. For some reason Nokian has an amazingly confusing variety of similarly-named tires, which don't really transfer well to the cryptic inventory system Kal-Tire uses.

I have a pair of these that I purchased from Kal-Tire in BC. If you decide to go this route, maybe I can find the receipt with the exact Kal-Tire inventory-crypto-gibberish that will result in the correct tire getting delivered.

Expensive? Yup. Worth it? Yup. Those Finns know a thing or two about mud and snow.

SlowLane wrote:Those Finns know a thing or two about mud and snow.

If I coulda fit tires in my carry-on I might've brought some home from Helsinki last month.

Question: Is it stupid or otherwise inadvised to use snow tires year-round?
ETA: Aparently it is a bad idea, as the rubber used can go soft in the heat, making for "slippy" handling and quicker wearing.

whc03grady wrote:Question: Is it stupid or otherwise inadvised to use snow tires year-round?
ETA: Apparently it is a bad idea, as the rubber used can go soft in the heat, making for "slippy" handling and quicker wearing.

Well, if you live in a part of the world that actually has seasons (like Montana), the ideal is to have a full set of summer tires and a full set of winter tires, instead of compromising with "all-season" tires year-round.

Yes, it's an increase in up-front cost, but if you keep the vehicle long enough, each set of tires wear at half the rate that a single set will wear, so in the long term the actual cost per mile evens out.

As for using snow tires in summer: the reason I have a pair of winter Hakkas is that when I went up north to bring my van down here, I decided to replace the Yokohamas-with-plenty-of-tread-but-well-past-their-due-date with four fresh summer Hakkas. Kal-Tire's byzantine inventory system, however, delivered two summer and two winter Hakkas to the local store. Time was pressing, so I just had them mount the winter tires on the back and went on a prayer that they wouldn't melt on the trip to sunny California. End result? No problem. The snow tires held up to some pretty scorching summer temperatures with nary a quibble. I'm sure that in the long term they would wear out quicker than a summer tire, since they use a softer compound, but they don't simply disintegrate.

SlowLane wrote:The snow tires held up to some pretty scorching summer temperatures with nary a quibble. I'm sure that in the long term they would wear out quicker than a summer tire, since they use a softer compound, but they don't simply disintegrate.

Lazy-a$$ here refused to dismount his Michelin X-Ice tires on the Lexus for three years of snow and hot Florida/Georgia summer cruising. They are down to maybe 25% after 20,000 miles, so yes, they do wear rapidly, but they have been such good well-mannered round tires. Keep inflation pressures up! Winter tires seem to run hotter. Cheap winter tires may have a lower speed rating too, stay within!
Colin

I don't know, I hate finding tires.
What's the deal with these anyway? Obviously we've got an alignment issue but are these likely to fly apart on me in the next 3000 miles?




Both pictures are of the front pass. tire, looking toward the back of the vehicle. Right is inner. Wear on the front driver's is similar, if not identical.