Looking for some tires.

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Randy in Maine
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Randy in Maine » Thu May 31, 2012 6:36 pm

Actually the Hankooks are headquartered in South Korea and have been making tires since 1941. "Hankook" actually means "Korean" in the Korean language, but also has manufacturing facilities in Korea, China, Indonesia, and Hungary like most other tire manufacturers. They are known for doing joint ventures with Michelin.

But the Continental Vancos are inded good and very serviceable tires. You chose wisely.
79 VW Bus

Lanval
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Lanval » Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:36 am

the miz wrote:...for what it is worth at this point in the thread, I put a set of Conti Vanco 2's on my "new" '82 Westy, and like them so far.
What size?

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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Lanval » Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:46 am

Follow up to our earlier discussion:

The new wheels/tires are on, but I have not meaningfully driven on them ~ only a little circle around the parking lot. Htere are however, to rather obvious things:

1. The power steering on the Vanagon has always been a bit iffy; when Colin first drove the Van with the PS functional, he commented that "there is a little too much assist". This created a somewhat twitchy steering on the narrow tires, which made driving on the freeway a little less pleasant. the larger wheels/wider tires seems to have settled that issue; the steering wheel no longer feels as if it were bouncing around, and instead had a rather firm feel.

2. This change seems to have the counter-effect of making the vanagon feel less nimble. I drove a 73 transporter for several years as my first car, and the vanagon has never felt as nimble as that older bus, and this shift in wheel/tire seems to have moved the vanagon further towards a modern, stable feel, at the expense of the nimbler feel. My old 73 transporter was nicknamed "The Rallye Bus" by my friends, for my habit of driving off-road up in Blue-Gene. That was possible because the suspension was lighter, and on smaller wheeels/tires.

I'll take pix tomorrow (well, later today, now) and let you know how the drive feels. The van also needs an alignment; how much should that cost?

Best,

Michael L (falling asleep with Endless Summer playing in the background, and another 82 degree day on tap...)

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the miz
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by the miz » Fri Jun 01, 2012 5:13 am

Lanval wrote:What size?
185 14
1982 Westy- Vana White

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satchmo
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by satchmo » Fri Jun 01, 2012 7:44 am

Lanval wrote: The van also needs an alignment; how much should that cost?

Best,

Michael L (falling asleep with Endless Summer playing in the background, and another 82 degree day on tap...)
I had alignment done on my previously owned Vanagon twice. I think it was around $80 for the four wheel alignment at Les Schwab. They did a great job, but be prepared with the alignment specs from your manual since the shops don't see these vehicles often and you don't want them guessing about the correct parameters.

Beach Boys are playing here too.

Tim
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by immitation, which is easiest;
and third, by experience, which is bitterest. -Confucius

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Amskeptic
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:14 am

Lanval wrote:Follow up to our earlier discussion:

The new wheels/tires are on, but I have not meaningfully driven on them ~ only a little circle around the parking lot. Htere are however, to rather obvious things:

1. The power steering on the Vanagon has always been a bit iffy; when Colin first drove the Van with the PS functional, he commented that "there is a little too much assist". This crated a somewhat twitchy steering on the narrow tires, which made driving on the freeway a little less pleasant. the larger wheels/wider tires seems to have settled that issue; the steering wheel no longer feels as if it were bouncing around, and instead had a rather firm feel.

2. This change seems to have the counter-effect of making the vanagon feel less nimble. I drove a 73 transporter for several years as my first car, and the vanagon has never felt as nimble as that older bus, and this shift in wheel/tire seems to have moved the vanagon further towards a modern, stable feel, at the expense of the nimbler feel. My old 73 transporter was nicknamed "The Rallye Bus" by my friends, for my habit of driving off-road up in Blue-Gene. That was possible because the suspension was lighter, and on smaller wheeels/tires.

I'll take pix tomorrow (well, later today, now) and let you know how the drive feels. The van also needs an alignment; how much should that cost?

Best,

Michael L (falling asleep with Endless Summer playing in the background, and another 82 degree day on tap...)
Play with tire pressures. For lighter touch, up a few, for more stable planted, down a couple. Keep rears higher than fronts at the same ratio as originally recommended pressures.

I am enjoying the big Maxxis tires from airkooldchris on Chloe. They howl at mid speeds, but are nicely behaved. Look forward to some off-road challenges out west . . .
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Lanval » Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:08 am

OK, drove a couple of hours around town yesterday, and thought I would give the butt-dyno report:

The increased size has had a minor effect on start off speed, but given the OEM standard, it's not enough to worry about. The later VW engines aren't as torque-filled as the earlier engines (according to Colin; I couldn't make such a statement myself) so it behooves one to rev the engine a little at the green light to or risk a stall.

The tires track much better than the earlier tires I had, and cornering is much firmer; there is no sense of "wandering" or sidewall flex, creating the ability to turn sharper with more confidence. I expect that freeway cornering will likewise be more pleasant. However; turning more sharply has revealed the inadequacies of the suspension; more body lean, and the sense that the poor old suspension is too worn out to allow the body to easily follow the tires around the corner.

Overall the tires performed outstandingly; there is a caveat I guess, though. I was running Capitol tires before in the stock size, and that is a cheap but correctly rated tire. I can't help but wonder if a better tire, correctly rated would have diminished the experiential difference... would a Vredstein or Continental have been better to begin with? I have to assume so, and thus offer that to the readership.

Nonetheless, my conclusion is absolute. The larger size wheel/tire combo offers several improvements (including a MUCH wider selection of tires that fit the proper rating, and at a more reasonable price ~ the 185/70 14 tires NEVER go on sale, or so it seems to me; and we can't all be bumming tires of AirkooledChris though believe me, that would be an awesome excuse to spend a long weekend up at the beach, the redwoods and in the Ukiah wine region!). The tire performance is exceptional in every sense, and there seems to me to be no loss in the move to the larger wheel/tire.

***********************

On a side note: I have been fixing various little things that have gone unresolved because of my schedule. Many of them are minor electrical things, so I had the battery unhooked. I put the ground back on to test some stuff, and never went back to tighten it up. While driving around I noticed some weird electrical stuff going on, so I pulled into NAPA (where I was headed, and which DID NOT have the part I need for my 2005 Volvo; they told me to go to the dealer... how do those guys stay in business?!) and checked it out.

While driving, the ground had come off the battery, so it turns out that you don't actually need the battery when the system is running... which I didn't know. Replacing the ground and a quick tightening got power back, but I couldn't start the engine. It would turn over and over (the poor little starter was working like crazy) but no fire. Could there STILL be something wrong with the ground?

I took it off again, put it back on and tightened the shit out of it. Engine starts immediately. I bought the ground strap recently at Pep Boys because the OEM one was frayed at the body connection, so only about half the strap was actually connected to the body. This weirdness reminded of the quality parts issue, so next order from Van Cafe (I assume they have a wing of their office dedicated to me) I will get the correct ground strap for the battery and call it good.

On the plus side:

* The driver's door now activates the overhead light
* The heater levers are now lighted at night
* Water tank is replaced and holding water; new water pump installed now faucet works

Next up:
Auxiliary battery + 6 line fuse box; auxiliary 12v outlets in rear of vehicle
Propane/Stove
Pop Top Seal
Front Carpet (involves fixing two rust spots ~ not my forte')
* New Shocks, front suspension revival (some polyurethane bushings; probably will be done professionally)

Colin's visit:
R&R exhaust manifolds
R&R new gas tank

Bye,

ML

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khargis
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by khargis » Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:26 am

Hey folks. Does anyone know what size snow chain fits on the maxxis 751 27 x 8.5 x r14 LT? I am having trouble finding any chain that is marked with those numbers? Is there an equivalent? Thank you, kris
'slow n' steady'

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Amskeptic
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Dec 30, 2014 11:08 am

khargis wrote:Hey folks. Does anyone know what size snow chain fits on the maxxis 751's 27 x 8.5 x r14 size? I am having trouble finding any chain that is marked with those numbers? Is there an equivalent? Thank you, kris
Metric equivalent is 205 - 80 - 14.

The outer diameter is the important one.
The chains don't care what diameter the rim is, and they are forgiving of different widths.

I hate chains. I had a chain almost beat my Vanagon to death when it lost a link on I-80 at 23* below 0.

Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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asiab3
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by asiab3 » Tue Dec 30, 2014 12:50 pm

I have found many human road-blocks to be gullible; they tell you chains or 4wd are mandatory. I have not found one who batted an eye when I told them my bus was all-wheel-drive.

Of course, use good judgement and know your vehicle.
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Amskeptic
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Dec 31, 2014 9:02 am

asiab3 wrote:I have found many human road-blocks to be gullible; they tell you chains or 4wd are mandatory. I have not found one who batted an eye when I told them my bus was all-wheel-drive.

Of course, use good judgement and know your vehicle.
Robbie
Oh man oh man, I wish I had known you in the winter of 1991. That would have worked!
I almost froze my fingers off trying to unwrap that cheap chain garbage from the trailing arm. The steel brake line had been polished shiny/denty . . .
Colin

upper left shot was outside of Reno NV before my 33 hour driving marathon to Chicago
Image
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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khargis
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by khargis » Wed Dec 31, 2014 9:25 am

Thank you. not a fan of the chains either. I ended up purchasing some, but did not use them, "bad danger' was trucking' along just fine.
"Slow n steady"
'slow n' steady'

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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Jivermo » Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:19 am

Let me resurrect this gem of a post. I need 4 tires for my '78 Westy, and I can't find any 185R70/14's here in Miami, LT, C or D. I know Colin is satisfied with his Maxxis 751's, but there is no Les Schwab within 500 miles of Miami. It appears I'm going to order the Hankook's from Bus Depot, or some Yokohama Y356's, but I see negative feedback for both of these-notably fast wear, and lack of grip for the Hankook. I had the 356's on the Westy when I did my 4000 mile road trip in 2013, but they are now developing sidewall cracks (2 of them). I've been careful about inflation, but they came with the bus and i don't really know their age. Since the last post on this was a year ago, I wanted to see if there was any updated feedback on some quality tires for our vehicles.

Image

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khargis
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by khargis » Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:13 am

Hey there Jivermo. I am also quite happy with the Maxxis. I would imagine you could order those yeah? Or maybe a road trip for tires! Be well.
'slow n' steady'

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Randy in Maine
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Re: Looking for some tires.

Post by Randy in Maine » Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:47 am

Try these guys....call them and see if they can order what you want. Likely any tire dealer could do that also.

4 Wheel Parts
3383 NW 167th
Miami Gardens, FL

(786)267-6550
79 VW Bus

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