TheSamba.com :: View topic - Kind of poll : how long have your 14 inches tires lasted ?

Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:51 am

On my vanagon 86 full camper, I did change three sets of tires for approximatively 75 000 km, I believe…

… Which would mean a set of tires per 25 000 km.

Seems to be few kilometers per tire…

What about you ?

thanks for sharing !

Sat Jun 19, 2021 12:26 pm

If that's 15,500 miles per set of tires then yeah, that is not so good.

Was there even wear and they were simply worn down to the tread wear bars?

Some brands are softer than others. Listings include a tire wear rating to offer some idea -- though the choices for 14" are few enough that there isn't a lot to compare.

What brand/model tires were these?

Sat Jun 19, 2021 1:05 pm

True.

One set was the poor Westlake, which was the worst tire I ever got.

Then the Continental, not bad, and then the Nokian, good but hard on the comfort.

I agree also that I never brought a tire to the cord. I change them quite quickly, I would say.

So, the Westlake did probably around 15 000 km, not more, so it give 30 000 km to the Continental and the Nokian.

Sat Jun 19, 2021 1:10 pm

Nokian winter tires gave me 60K miles in year around use (these had winter tread, but not the winter compound), it took two sets of Hankooks on the other axle to go the same distance.

When you are buying truck tires there is no metric excepting a brand's reputation that will tell you how long they will last, verse passenger car tires that have a quality/wear rating. The 215/70r14 passenger tires I have on my '91 have something like an 80K miles tread life guaranty, which should help offset their costs as they were not cheap.

Sat Jun 19, 2021 3:16 pm

What tire pressures are you running? How much stuff do you have in your van?

Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:24 pm

old_man wrote: What tire pressures are you running? How much stuff do you have in your van?

I run close to the pressure recommended for the VW supplied 205r70r14 reinforced tires. Mostly the van is fairly empty these days, but in times past carried softball teams and their gear, the instruments for an 8 person marimba band, and all kinds of other stuff.

FWIW, years ago I came to the conclusion that a tire's ability to handle abuse is closely tied to its weight, and the average 205/70r14 weighs very close to what the average 185r14 does. This Vanagon is a highway rig and doesn't go off road much, though the bottom has the scratches and dents to indicate it has been in the boonies a bit.

Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:59 pm

Back in the '90s when I owned Vanagon, I had over 60,000 miles on Michelin tires when I sold it, and they still had okay enough tread to pass Maryland inspection.

The current tires on Sinka are fairly new as they were put on by the previous owner but they are showing wear already. They are Nexen tires. Since the odometer hasn't been working until recently, I can only guess these tires have 5,000 miles on them, 10,000 at the absolute most.

To be fair, the front end of Sinka got some major repairs at the same time as the speedo/odo fix, so we'll see if they continue to wear out or if the problem wasn't tire related.

I will say this, though -- the Nexen tires are okay on dry pavement, below average on anything wet.

The weird thing is I can't find proper Michelin (or Continental) tires -- which I loved their driving characteristics -- but I was also told Michelin makes Nexen. If all true, they are a combined head scratcher to me.

Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:48 pm

oasis wrote: Back in the '90s when I owned Vanagon, I had over 60,000 miles on Michelin tires when I sold it, and they still had okay enough tread to pass Maryland inspection.

The current tires on Sinka are fairly new as they were put on by the previous owner but they are showing wear already. They are Nexen tires. Since the odometer hasn't been working until recently, I can only guess these tires have 5,000 miles on them, 10,000 at the absolute most.

To be fair, the front end of Sinka got some major repairs at the same time as the speedo/odo fix, so we'll see if they continue to wear out or if the problem wasn't tire related.

I will say this, though -- the Nexen tires are okay on dry pavement, below average on anything wet.

The weird thing is I can't find proper Michelin (or Continental) tires -- which I loved their driving characteristics -- but I was also told Michelin makes Nexen. If all true, they are a combined head scratcher to me.

The Michelin 205/70R14 were the best handling and best riding tires I have had on a Vanagon. I am sure I got 60K miles out of them and maybe 70K. It was really shocking when I finally replaced them with truck tires and found that the handling went to crap as bad as it did.

Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:48 am

More, it seems that the front tires are lasting for much more miles / km than the rear ones.

Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:09 am

Tire maintenance: are you rotating tires and what psi do you run them at? Rears wearing a bit faster than fronts is typical but given a Vanagon's nearly 50/50 weight distribution, they don't wear a lot faster.

It's been a decade since I ran 14" tires but the Yokohama Super Van 356 easily delivered 30K - 40K miles on a daily 40 mile commute for more than a decade.

Sun Jun 20, 2021 4:36 pm

My BFG T/As are about to be replaced after 6 years and about 20k miles. I neglected to rotate them when I should have so the rears were pretty worn while the fronts looked brand new. Lesson learned (and my tire guy even told me to rotate them more often than I would on a modern car :oops: ).

I drive about 70% highway 30% dirt roads and light off-road.

Sun Jun 20, 2021 7:34 pm

Rotation !

You propose to follow the Bentley on that, which I believe say to rotate the tires as a « X », mean the rear passager goes to the front driver, then the front passager tire goes to the rear driver side, etc. ?

Otherwise, some says to simply take the rear driver to the front driver, then the rear passager side to the front ? Linear rotation, I would say.

Which kind of rotation look to be better ?

Sun Jun 20, 2021 8:47 pm

maco70 wrote: Rotation !

You propose to follow the Bentley on that, which I believe say to rotate the tires as a « X », mean the rear passager goes to the front driver, then the front passager tire goes to the rear driver side, etc. ?

Otherwise, some says to simply take the rear driver to the front driver, then the rear passager side to the front ? Linear rotation, I would say.

Which kind of rotation look to be better ?

It might well depend on the build of your specific tire and its tread pattern. Could also depend on your exact wheel alignment so could vary when an alignment is done. Of course having direction tires or different tires front and rear can make it where the front to rear to front movements of tires makes no sense at all.

Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:14 pm

I change them in about every 5 years.
The rubber hardens and I did not feel safe to drive after that.
That is 50-70000 kms. Depending how much I could use the van.