Tire guru Q's, settle the debate

[Jahbah]

I just had a long circular debate with a friend after reading tons of tire
info here. I have a 1.5 lift from go westy on my 87 van and I am looking
for tires. I'm looking at a set of 235/60/17 Toyo open country a/t's my buddy is trying to tell me that they are not safe because they are not reinforced sidewall tires. My thought is that the load rating is 102 on a light truck tire and the sidewall is 2 ply. What is the tie braker here and what other info could slam dunk this one for me? I have a 6'er on the line.... I win right or its a shade of grey?
_________________
'87 Westfalia Weekender + '86 Syncro Tintop +'02 Impreza 2.5RS
= '86.5 SuperWestySyncroSubyWeekendermobileagon =
Bueno.
Jahbah~D

[Wildthings]

Wonder what highway suitable tire he thinks he is going to find with something more that two sidewall plies? I ran Michelin X truck tires for years on pickups and 4x4's. Nice 10 ply rating and just one ply in the side walls. Haven't run any tougher tires.

[thook]

Aren't most LT tires 2ply? The only ones I know of with more are the BFG ta/ko's....and, that's three.(Of course, I've not bothered to shop around in a long while) Great tires, but when I had my '84 Westy, I ran some Kumho LT's. Only 2ply. And, those were tough tires! Until I recently had my road serviced (after all the Spring floods) there were rocks (shale, lime, and sandstone) jutting out everywhere. Looked like a river bed. Not exaggerating. The Kumhos held up very well. And, again, they were only 2ply......albeit a very thick 2ply.

So, it's not just the ply rating. It's also quality of the material and design. I've got buds running/have run Toyo's on there 4wd's. I wouldn't say the best tire, but certainly not "unsafe".

[buildyourown]

Is the tire in question a P or an LT?
For the smaller size used on vans, you often have to go to an LT to get the proper load rating.
On my truck, I have P rated tires. 113 load rating. But they are much bigger.

[eeebee]

The load rating is all that counts. In the old days, tires did have extra plys to achieve higher ratings but now they don't.
_________________
Eric

1987 Vanagon Wolfsburg Special Edition
GoWesty 2.3

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

[Jahbah]

I think the debate hinged on the 44 psi inflatable pressure
which I thought mattered less and less the larger tire and rim
you have. I also didn't think you had to derate the load index
because there light truck tires and not passager tires. I think
this debate got us written off as van-dorks. so be it!
_________________
'87 Westfalia Weekender + '86 Syncro Tintop +'02 Impreza 2.5RS
= '86.5 SuperWestySyncroSubyWeekendermobileagon =
Bueno.
Jahbah~D

[Jake de Villiers]

Those tires are plenty strong enough to work on a Westy at 104T - your friend's wrong!
_________________
'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com

[dubbified]

hmm. I'd be questioning why the debate is on.

Tires are not a case where Less, is More.

Specially on these vehicles.

I went crazy, and got a 2500Lb per tire cause I dont ever wanna guess.

Course, anyone who knows me will tell you I overkill overplan and futureproof as much as possible.

Mister T would popout of the top of my van unless my girlfriend kept me from callin him up. J/K


Course.. I have syncro envy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZsKqbt3gQ0&feature=related