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Looking for some tires.

Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 11:42 am
by tractoman
Any opinions on Hankook RA08's vs. Continental Vanco 2's. These are for my '75 westy and I can't seem to find many other options with the proper specs for the bus. Current tires have excellent tread but are about 10 years old so they gotta go. If anyone knows other good alternatives, please share.

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 12:47 pm
by airkooledchris
I found some really nice tires at Les Shwab that seem to run really well on the bus. I bought a complete set for my 81 Vanagon early last year, right before the 'to do' list got so long that I ended up parting it out. Now they are sitting in my garage until I either sell them or until the set on my bus wear out (maybe a few years or more unfortunately)

Image

Part Number TL13806000
Tire Size 27X8.50R14LT
Service Description 95S 6
Side Wall OWL
Overall Diameter (inches) 26.3
Overall Width (inches) 8.90
Max Psi 50
Max Load (lbs) 1,515
Rim Width Range 7.00
Tread Depth (inches) 15/32

I don't have any experience with the two that your considering right now, but most of the folks I know who bought the Hankook's seem to have been happy with them, but I think it's a lot like shocks in that buying new tires will almost always make your bus feel like it handles a million times better - though you'd probably get the same results by putting any brand of new tires on the bus. it's only a fair comparison to run both brands when new to feel the difference.

BTW, your only down in Sonoma, if you were ever up this way and were interested in them, id happily sell ya this set complete on the stock steel rims. (or if you wanted to wait, Ill be heading down to the bay sometime in the next month) Not trying to hijack your post to sell something, just sharing my personal experience. There's a lot of debate on running slightly larger overall diameter tires on busses, but my head temps and hill climbing ability were not effected with this particular size.

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 1:34 pm
by hiwaycallin
tractoman wrote:Any opinions on Hankook RA08's vs. Continental Vanco 2's. These are for my '75 westy and I can't seem to find many other options with the proper specs for the bus. Current tires have excellent tread but are about 10 years old so they gotta go. If anyone knows other good alternatives, please share.
Here are a few options:

Bridgestone RD-603
Continental Vanco 8
Cooper SRM II
Hankook RA08
Hercules G4000 LT
Michelin Agilis 61
Michelin Agilis 81
Nankang N-810
Nokian NRC2
Nexen SV-820

I've had the Nexen ones on my bus for about 3 years and am happy with them.

Have you been here? 88 pages and counting ...

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 6:48 am
by Amskeptic
airkooledchris wrote:I found some really nice tires at Les Shwab
Side Wall OWL (Outrageously tacky White Lettering
if you were ever up this way
I might need to buy those tires from you IF they have a M+S rating (and can be installed blackwall side out) AND tractoman doesn't pick them up first.
Colin :geek:

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 6:56 am
by poptop tom
Are you looking for al all-season radial? Are you driving through the winter months in adverse weather?

If not, I went with the Yokohama Super Van 356's. They are a 185R14 8 ply summer radial.

I like them so far.

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:39 am
by airkooledchris
Image

they are M+S rated.
the 4WD guys say they are great on the highway, good in sand and trail/rocky conditions, OK in deep snow and not very good if your main goal is mud.

the one catch is they are a bit stiff and have a little bit of that high speed highway hummmmm if your listening for it (when inflated closer to it's max PSI of 50 PSI)
I only noticed this when I had them inflated way too high for the Vanagon and was driving around at low RPM's in the weeks after I first picked them up, but if your sensitive about that humm, you might not want these meatier style tires...

I can flip the lettering for ya if you want Colin. I'll get those glue-on port-a-wall fake whitewalls ready for them instead. ;p

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:42 am
by Randy in Maine
Kind of "light" in the load index aren't they? 95?

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:42 am
by airkooledchris
Randy in Maine wrote:Kind of "light" in the load index aren't they? 95?
when compared to only the Hankook RA08's, then yes.

when compared to the minimum acceptable load rating? meh.

"based on the GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) of a Bus or Vanagon you get the following minimum acceptable load ratings: 1520 lbs (load index 95) for a light truck rated tire"

if you break down the numbers to a T, the ones I have are listed at 1,515 = 5 pounds light

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 11:47 am
by Randy in Maine
The 185R14 has a load index of 102.

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:23 pm
by airkooledchris
requirement: 1520 lbs (load index 95) for a light truck rated tire
Maxxis 751 -27X8.50R14LT : 1,515 lb's, which is a load index of 95 (the stated requirement)
Hankook RA08 185R14 : 1,874 lb's, which is a load index of 102
Hankook RA08 195R14: 2,094 lb's, which is a load index of 106

They put them (in the same size) on all of the local forest service Ranger's, which is why I looked into them in the first place. YMMV

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:31 pm
by Westy78
Personally I've been very disappointed in my Hankooks. As long as you never plan to drive in any even semi-slick conditions they are OK. Get them anywhere near a slippery situation and you're not going anywhere. They wore fairly quickly also. Even, but faster than I thought they would on the rear.

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:54 pm
by ruckman101
I can vouch for that also, my Hankooks left me stuck in a mere three inches of snow. And then there was the catastrophic failure on the freeway, which looking back on now, may have been the result of some pinching they received at the hands of a tow truck driver.


neal

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 2:08 pm
by Randy in Maine
So why not just buy the Maxis ATs in the 185R14 size and get a better load index to boot?

Just a question, not looking to start anything....

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 2:17 pm
by Gypsie
Been liking my Nankang 810's since I got em a couple years ago.
No slosh, even wear. Though I can't say about traction as I haven't been the slick stuff too often.

Re: Looking for some tires.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 2:51 pm
by airkooledchris
Randy in Maine wrote:So why not just buy the Maxis ATs in the 185R14 size and get a better load index to boot?
sorry, I misunderstood, :blackeye: and didn't realize you were trying to say that Maxxis makes that exact same tire in a 185R14 - I thought you were just reiterating what the Hankook was rated at. :rabbit:

yes, there is the TL12428000 - which is the 185R14 version of that same tire, but I have never seen it available in the stores unfortunately. maybe they only carry it at some specific locations. there are a ton of 4WD people in my area so they may only stock the meatier styles since the 185R14 is nearly 1.5 inches narrower than the 27x8.5 style. :thumbleft: