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Wed Jan 10, 2024 8:48 pm

brickster wrote: brickster wrote: Is anyone running the AltiMAX RT45 205/70R14 in Load Index 98?
I am tempted to try these simply because my Vantras are not useful for loose surfaces (snow, dirt, sand and mud)
The Altima is an all-season tire. I’d expect them to be <marginally> better than the Vantras, but maybe not.

FWIW: For 14” rims, I’m a big fan of the General Grabbers…snow, loose dirt, sand, mud, rocks…

They just work! :twisted:

- Dave

Thu Jan 11, 2024 12:05 am

brickster wrote: Are you saying there's a difference in offset between stock steels and aluminums?

The alloys are wider by 1/2" and I think there is a slight difference in the offset, IIRC. What works on one may well work fine on the other, but then again, maybe not.

27x8.5R14 work fine on my '83 1/2 Vanagon which rides high and has steel rims, but rubbed on my '91 which rides lower and has factory alloy rims. How much is ride height and how much it the wheels?

Also the 215/75r14's I have on my '91 today don't rub while the 27x8.5R14 which are nearly the same height and overall width did, I suspect the answer here is the tread width and the curvature of the outer edge of the tread, with the 27x8.5R14s having a slightly wider tread with a sharper edge.

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:31 am

i run the altimax on my TDI wagon and they are so good, i bought some for the wife's car. had no idea they were available in 14".

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:55 am

borninabus wrote: i run the altimax on my TDI wagon and they are so good, i bought some for the wife's car...
Question is: How are they in snow, dirt, sand & mud?

i.e…
brickster wrote: brickster wrote: Is anyone running the AltiMAX RT45 205/70R14 in Load Index 98?
I am tempted to try these simply because my Vantras are not useful for loose surfaces (snow, dirt, sand and mud)
:?: :?: :?:

- Dave

Thu Jan 11, 2024 6:42 am

I have the General Alitmax RT43 installed on my '74 Thing and on my Honda Element. I have a set of the RT45 on our CR-V. They are great tires however I do not believe that the load rating and the sidewall construction would be suitable for installation on my top heavy Westy.

Thu Jan 11, 2024 2:45 pm

wbailey2112 wrote: They are great tires however I do believe that the load rating and the sidewall construction would be suitable for installation on my top heavy Westy.
They are actually well up to the task with a max load rating of 1653lbs.

Thanks all for your input on this tire. I am staying away from the Grabbers because I have a stock 1.9 and live at high altitude. I need as much gearing advantage as I can get, and these are identical diameter to stock.

Back when I was looking, I don't remember seeing this one. If someone picks them up for a Vanagon, please report back.

Thu Jan 11, 2024 3:25 pm

brickster wrote: They are actually well up to the task with a max load rating of 1653lbs.

Check out this informative article on the Bus Depot website that includes photos of a General Altimax with sidewall failure.

https://www.busdepot.com/details/tires/

Thu Jan 11, 2024 4:01 pm

wbailey2112 wrote: brickster wrote: They are actually well up to the task with a max load rating of 1653lbs.

Check out this informative article on the Bus Depot website that includes photos of a General Altimax with sidewall failure.

https://www.busdepot.com/details/tires/

Yep the failure looks just like what has happened to some of the 185r14C Hankook RA08s that were being pushed so strongly a few years back.

FWIW, I remember the Altimax 205/70R14XL tire did have some problems when it first came out, but I haven't heard of problems in quite a while now so I assume they have been taken care of.

Thu Jan 11, 2024 4:44 pm

wbailey2112 wrote: Check out this informative article on the Bus Depot website that includes photos of a General Altimax with sidewall failure.

https://www.busdepot.com/details/tires/

i ran a bunch of General Altimax Arctic snow tires, at least 12 mebbe more, on various vehicles and experienced 2 sidewall blowouts like that photo. it was a totally different tire but had the same explosive blowout and put me off of those tires for the current term. they went out with a shotgun-like report. something ain't right at General in the Altimax line.

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:32 pm

dhaavers wrote: borninabus wrote: i run the altimax on my TDI wagon and they are so good, i bought some for the wife's car...
Question is: How are they in snow, dirt, sand & mud?
i've had them up to about 65mph on this road. that's my dust cloud in the background. beyond that, they started feeling a little sketchy. so in direct answer: on my wagon, in the loose dirt, pretty good. they feel as good in the wet as higher tier tires i've had. sand: i stay out. snow? i live in phoenix. what's that?

i can also say from first hand experience that P rated tires wear out pretty quick when used on a van.

Thu Jan 11, 2024 5:50 pm

DanHoug wrote: wbailey2112 wrote: Check out this informative article on the Bus Depot website that includes photos of a General Altimax with sidewall failure.

https://www.busdepot.com/details/tires/

i ran a bunch of General Altimax Arctic snow tires, at least 12 mebbe more, on various vehicles and experienced 2 sidewall blowouts like that photo. it was a totally different tire but had the same explosive blowout and put me off of those tires for the current term. they went out with a shotgun-like report. something ain't right at General in the Altimax line.

How long ago did these failures happen? Where the tires "standard load" or "extra load (XL)"

Thu Jan 11, 2024 6:06 pm

Wildthings wrote: How long ago did these failures happen? Where the tires "standard load" or "extra load (XL)"

hmmmm maybe 3 years ago at most. standard load as these were on a Honda Civic, Ford Focus, and Buick Century.

currently bought the Michelin X-Ice Snow for my wife's Prius and Blizzak WS90 for daughter's Subaru. before that was running Cooper Evolution Winter on a variety of cars but doesn't pertain to Vanagons due to load rating. Done with the General Altimax Arctics due to sidewall blow outs. again, not Vanagon load rated but mebbe indicative. dunno. fool me once....

Thu Jan 11, 2024 7:05 pm

My buddy is running these on his 76 Westfalia. He likes getting muddy and long walks on the beach :wink: He has a couple buses and probably only puts 5000 miles on each bus. These are only 6 months old so time will tell. They are winter tires so not going to last long but he loves them so far. Very quiet and comfortable. Oregon rain and beach sand has not been a problem. He’s had all the usual 14” tires. Just something to look into. They cost him less than the Vantras. Cost wasn’t the reason he bought them. He manages a fleet of trucks similar to UPS trucks. The guy they use for tire replacements recommended them. Again just something to look into, I’ll update in the future. YMMV.

Petlas full grip pt935 185r14c
https://www.petlas.com/pcr-detail/full-grip-pt935

Thu Jan 11, 2024 8:00 pm

Damn…that ^^^ looks pretty decent for snow! I’d spring for them if I had the van out in the winter at all.

brickster wrote: [Altimax] are actually well up to the task with a max load rating of 1653lbs.
…although, not being XL or LT rated, subject to 9% derating (like any passenger tire used on a 5000# van).

9% is a significant loss of safety margin, although still gets you about 1500# per tire…just sayin.

- Dave

Fri Jan 12, 2024 1:55 pm

Good point on the derating of the Altimax. Between that and the quality reports, perhaps best to stay away.

The Petlas look exactly like what I was looking for. A quick search didn't show them as being available locally, so perhaps they would be a ship to installer choice? It would be great to have another stock diameter & load range option different from the summer/highway/commercial tires (Vantra & Thunderer).

Fri Jan 26, 2024 11:19 am

jimf909 wrote: 1988M5 wrote: crazyvwvanman wrote: That 205R14 tire size is listed on the driver door sticker showing the recommended inflation pressures.

Vanagon Syncros 86-91

205R14C

I wonder if they recommend lower pressure to keep the same gear ratios/ speed?

A tire has the same circumference and travel per revolution at 10 psi or 40 psi. While the tire diameter appears smaller that doesn't shrink the length of the tread.

I was struggling with this a bit in an old conversation about airing down a wrong sized tire ( if your clam shell couldn’t fit the same size spare) so not to burden the differential with different spin rates. I retired from the discussion after getting beat up that it doesn’t work like that. But I’m reinspired that is does by remembering that many cars use the wheel speed sensor to detect a low pressured tire. If the pressure didn’t affect the final drive ratio, how could the tpms system detect an issue without the use of an actual pressure sensor inside the wheel?

Ok I’m ready to be beat up again.

Fri Jan 26, 2024 12:48 pm

1988M5 wrote: I was struggling with this a bit in an old conversation about airing down a wrong sized tire ( if your clam shell couldn’t fit the same size spare) so not to burden the differential with different spin rates. I retired from the discussion after getting beat up that it doesn’t work like that. But I’m reinspired that is does by remembering that many cars use the wheel speed sensor to detect a low pressured tire. If the pressure didn’t affect the final drive ratio, how could the tpms system detect an issue without the use of an actual pressure sensor inside the wheel?

Ok I’m ready to be beat up again.

The diameter of a tire changes very little with tire pressure, but the amount of squirm-slippage against the road changes more markedly.

Wed Jul 03, 2024 9:07 am

I just put on Continental vancofourseason in the stock size.
I really like them. I was previously running the gowesty 16" michelin defender combo.
I woulkd not go back. These roll very easily and they come up to speed very nicely. The engine doesn't need to turn those big heavy 16's.
To me, better ride quality. Feels like a great fit for the stock suspension.
Only draw back is that they don't track as nice to the 16's, but that is only a concern on strongwindy days. Anyways, my 2 cents

Wed Jul 03, 2024 9:00 pm

Recently bought Thunderer Ranger tires in 185/14C for a remarkable $75 per tire for my Toyota Sunrader project. Like the Vanagon, this is the stock tire size and they are underpowered and do not do well when you increase the diameter (loss of effective torque/power). My Sunrader's rear axle weight on a scale was 3120 completely empty tanks, cabinets, etc.

These are 8 ply rated Light Truck designation and have a load rating of 1870 lbs or so. They are highly regarded on the Sunrader forum but I stayed away as I thought they were made in China. I researched and realized they are from Thailand which has a lot of advanced manufacturing, and a lot of 14" tires on commercial vehicles.

I got them from Priority Tire on a special but I just checked and the everyday price is $85. No review yet as the project is stalled for me to build a deck on the back of the house. Just finished, so will be back at it at month end.

Thu Jul 04, 2024 1:03 pm

IdahoDoug wrote: Recently bought Thunderer Ranger tires in 185/14C for a remarkable $75 per tire for my Toyota Sunrader project.

i got excited because there is a Ranger mud/snow tread but the only tire in 185/14 was the Ranger All Season R101. looks very slippery, about like the Hankook. good to have some options tho.

https://www.prioritytire.com/by-brand/thunderer-tires/ranger-r101?var-thunderer=6211