Itinerant Air-Cooled

I got flat in my 66 beetle. One tire, but it looked useless.
I went to see what type the other tires were and noticed they were cracked from age.
I've owned the beetle for 9 years, put maybe 8000 miles on it. The tires might be double that in age.
I discovered it has gotten a bit harder to get tires for our beetles also.
But, the closest local shop I prefer to use was able to get them at pretty much the same price when mounted, new valve stems, balanced and installed.
Then we discover his machine can't balance the wide 5 rims.
Oh well. He took five bucks off each tire. I don't really use that as a highway vehicle anyway.
Figured I'd let yo know, one more thing to think about when getting tires installed is if the place can balance tires with the wide 5 rims.

If I had a car or bus with wide 5s any more, I would invest in one of these to have and to hold on to. Used to be a lot of places had the ability, but not so many anymore.....

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=373915

Schwab can do the 5's in th NW at least.

Discount Tire mounted and balanced my wide-fives... at least they said they did. At least they put weights on them.

I am pleased that there were few minors in the tire place. I believe that people under 18 shouldn't work under those conditions.

static wrote:I am pleased that there were few minors in the tire place. I believe that people under 18 shouldn't work under those conditions.

My choice of a title is lacking.

Thanks all. I wasn't sure how widely known this was, or if it is an isolated thing.
The tire shop I used is a small shop. One owner, not a chain, not a franchise. (what I usually seek out) I wasn't sure if it was just because I used a little hole in the wall.

I may have to keep that plate in mind Randy.
So far it seem okay unbalanced.
As usual, I need to let some air of the tires. Tire shops go nuts. I feel every bump in the road. They probably have about double the psi than what is recommended. I usually go about 5 psi over the VW spec.

It seems like most shops just air them up to the "max pressure" rating on the tire itself. Dummies!

steve74baywin wrote: ...I may have to keep that plate in mind Randy...

I got a wide five adapter plate at a VW junkyard. Works well enough for me. I mount and balance my own tires though.

You could jsut take them over to Hippie's place in Des Moines and he will mount/balance them up for free. Watch out for his dogs though, they will make you pet them

On all my beetles I always kept them right at what VW suggested or I felt every bump in the road and felt like I was steering in the air.

I want to say that was about 16-17 F and 24/26 rear. Really precious little has changed in the way radial tires are made today as opposed to the way they were made years ago. Some of the tread compounds are a little different, but that is about it.

^^^ I work for beer.

Ditto on the Beetle tire pressure. I think I ran the '64 at about those pressures, Randy, or else it rode hard and steered funny too. VW knew what they should be.

Hippie wrote:^^^ I work for beer.

Ditto on the Beetle tire pressure. I think I ran the '64 at about those pressures, Randy, or else it rode hard and steered funny too. VW knew what they should be.

Inflation pressure recommendations are a direct reflection of the weight on the tire.
Sometimes, manufacturers will play a little too hard to get handling tuned by tire pressures (lower inflation pressures promote breakaway), and this I will override. I run the Squareback front tires a good 5 psi over factory recommendations and still have very good tire wear across the foot prints.
Colin

Wow. Learn new stuff when I venture to different threads. I have always did what the idiot tire guy does. Sez 44psi on front tire, 50psi on rear... Guess what they are set at? Yup, 44n50. In case you were wondering, I don't steer, I hang on for dear life! Maybe I shall lower the pressures and go for a putt today.

WOW! Major difference. Turned em down a bit to 30 lbs all the way around and the drive is actually a pleasure. I was thinking the problem lay in my suspension. Thanks.

Should be higher in the back than the front.


neal

can't you just use an old drum to balance them? I guess that the drum could throw off the weight though... but i thought i had heard of something like that being done before. Only wide 5 I have is my thing, and I got my tires at Coker tire in Chattanooga. They are known for making weird tires tho