What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread!

[Russpauly]

Can confirm Toyo Open Country AT III’s 215/70R16 will fit a 2wd tin top on Schwenk springs.

_________________
1988 Wolfsburg Edition - TinTop
2.1L Watercooled
The Space man Van

[joshtw709]

hoping to get some advice here. looking into general grabbers and bf goodrich all terrain ko2 tires for my stock suspension 2wd westy with gowesty 15"x7.5" cast wheels.

anyone have experience with general grabber at2 215/75/r15 on a similar setup? they're cheap(ish) compared to the bfgoodrich and available from discount tire in my area right now. leaving town in about a week so hoping to get my tire situation sorted out soon.


cheers,
josh
_________________
1980 rusty light blue westfalia - sold
1987 less rusty white westfalia - daily driver

[BreakFreeWesty]

So its time for new tires for me and I'm replacing a set of Conti Vanco2 21565R16 C. Did all my research as its been about 6 years, settled on the Vredestein Quadtrac5 21560r16. They arrived at the house today and...the sidewall on this tire is about as thick as a bicycle tube!!! I can easily deform the sidewall with my hands. Did I get the wrong tire? There is so much discussion about getting tires with C rated sidewalls etc. and I thought after reading many posts here that I was in good shape. But I have zero confidence putting this on my 91' Westy. Also, the reason for replacing the vanco2 isn't tread wear issues, but that I blew through the sidewall on one in the last couple months.

Should I have gotten the COMTRAC? Does anyone else actually have any experience with this tire? Help would be very appreciated.

For reference, 91' westy. Schwenk springs. lifted 2" all around, sitting on 16" CLK wheels.


UPDTE:

DO NOT buy the Vredstein Quaadtrac5 tires for the Vanagon. Confirmed today with the guys from TireRack that these are not safe for Vanagons. I'm going back to the Vanco2 tires. They've been amazing and still have 50% tread after nearly 40K miles. Again, replacing them due to a sidewall blowout which was then followed by a sidewall screw blow out in less than a week.

Hope this is helpful as I've seen a few of y'all talking about those quadtrac's.



Cheers
-Scott

[Vantropy]

Hi Scott,
The Quadtrac5 has a load rating of 99XL, which is considered by most Vanagon owners to be an acceptable weight rating for this vehicle. Tire rack has to protect themselves liability-wise and so will only state that you need a light truck tire. Unfortunately, a light truck tire for a 16” wheel has to be larger diameter, like the 215/65r16’s of your Vanco2 or a Nokian WRC3 would be. That’s a big tire for these small engines to push up a hill. If I had a Subaru engine, I’d do it.
This is of course, a hot debate in the Vanagon world. Just look at how fervently GoWesty defends their Michelin tires (which are also passenger tires with a 95 rating, I believe). A 97 definitely gets you in the safe ballpark and 99 is good. I’ve got 99XL rated tires. VanCafe sells them too. Many many users have put many many miles on high rated passenger tires. Some prefer the softer ride, too. Others prefer the stiffer sidewalls and more precise handling of the light truck tires.
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1989 2.1L Vanagon Westy, Automatic, Titian Red

[BreakFreeWesty]

Hi Vantropy,

Have you mounted these yet? Are they holding up? I’d be shocked but, pleasantly surprised if they were. They have a wall thickness and lack of strength that is anything but confidence inducing. It’s really amazing they are super pliable, again feels like a bicycle tire.
Thanks for the response, I got a really good 6-7 years out of my vanco2 tires, so I’ll stick with them for now. Interested to know how these work for ya, keep us updated.

I should also mention I’ve got a 2.5l subie conversion, so no issues with the larger tires.

Cheers
-Scott

[Vantropy]

[tjet]

I just threw on a set of tires & rims temporarily on my newly acquired 85 until I decide what to get for it. The wheels are SA 15x7, rear tires are 255/70r15, fronts are 235/70r15. The little 1.9 can turn those big 29" tires - and no rubbing. The side door also clears.

Food for thought

[Russpauly]

[Slimvest]

[Nekobasu]

Another tire to consider. I just put these on from Discount Tire. Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail in 215/65R16 on a 2WD Westy with GoWesty “no lift” springs. These are rated 102H so plenty of load capacity. You can see they fit well. Very quiet and corner on pavement well. I am going dispersed camping this week so I will report on their off-road manners when I get back. So far I really like these tires.

[nemobuscaptain]

Just for sake of currency, here are the load rated 14" tire options available today.

Highway tires (185R14C or 195R14C)
Yokohama Y356 185/195 $121-$128 Japan
Maxxis Bravo UE-168 (LR-D) $106 Taiwan
Hankook RA18 185/195 $75-93 S Korea/China
Thunderer Ranger R101 185/195 $68-78 Thailand
Federal Ecovan ER-01/ER-02 185/195 (LR-D) $83-$95 Taiwan
Nexen Roadian CT8 (LR-D) 80 S Korea/China
Lexani LXCT-104 195 (LR-D) $80 SKorea
Accelera Ultra/Ultra2/Ultra3 185 $69-$78 Indonesia
note Federal and Thunderer claim all season on some sites. both look like highway tires with Thunderer looking slightly more aggressive of the two. Nexen looks like it could probably earn an "AS" rating too.

Post office tire:
Goodyear Wrangler LT195/75R14 LRC $226 Canada?

All Terrain (All LT27/8.50/14)
General Grabber $118 US
Starfire SF 510 $76 US
Kenda Klever AT KR28 $95 Taiwan/Vietnam/China

Mud Terrain (All LT27/8.50/14)
Forceum M/T 08 plus 27x8.50r14 $100 Indonesia
Maxxis Big Horn 119 Taiwan
Kumho MT KL71 105 South Korea
Achilles Desert Hawk X-MT (LR-D) 129 indonesia


prices are tires-easy.com and simpletire.com
_________________
Ohio Valley Tribe, Full Moon Bus Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/294422277314227/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FullMoonBusClub

RIP Bob Hoover https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=427791
Hoover Sermons: https://www.vwsage.com/images/vwsage/Bob%20Hoovers%20Sermons.pdf

[B.O.B.Wanders]

I'm currently running the 27x8.5R14 Starfire SF510 LT's on my 83.5 Westy. FWIW, Starfire is owned by Cooper but made in Mexico.

My old 14" BFG's were wearing out so I decided new 15" BFG's and SA steel wheels were what I needed. No real complaints but they just don't "feel" right on my stock suspension. A set of the Starfire's became available from another vehicle (RIP) so I mounted them on my stock steel wheels as a trial and comparison. (For the record I have a 2.2L GW rebuild and T3 Technique's anti-sway bar.)

Call me a heretic. After 1,700 miles I really like the the Starfires so far. I've run on them on the steep and curvy North Georgia mountain roads, rocky forest service roads, and highways with no issues whatsoever. Not as aggressive as the BFG's but still a legit All Terrain tire (IMHO). Haven't tried them in serious mud or snow yet. I doubt they will ever see any real snow anyway.

Negatives
- They are only 95 rated (I know!), but aired up to 48 psi in the rear and 45 in the front it should be pretty close to the OEM 185R14C load at recommended pressures.
- C-rated. I know the sidewalls are not nearly as tough as my old BFG's.
- They pick up stones on gravel roads, but my BFG's did that too.
- Jury is out on tread wear - they had some miles on them already so it may be hard to give a fair assessment.

Pluses:
- My wife likes them better than the big BFG's (ride, handling). [++]
- Great ride and traction even at near max psi.
- Handle surprisingly well in the curves.
- Minimal road noise.
- Gained back a couple of mpg and some power compared to the 15" BFG's.
- Fits in the clam shell (with mods) for a same-size spare and 5 tire rotation.

_________________
83.5 WBX 2WD Assuan Brown Westy, B.O.B.

"It feels good to be lost in the right direction” - unknown

[Ride-Fly]

How are you guys putting some of these tires that have lower Load ratings on your van? I’m finding Costco Tires, Les Schwab, and Discount Tires aren’t willing to sell/mount tires that don’t have the equal or better Load rating of the OEM tire. So, I can’t get a Michelin Defender LTX M/S tire which is a truck tire with a 99 Load Rating! The three I mentioned say the tires need a min LR of 102 or else they can’t sell me the tires. Are you finding smaller tire shops that turn a blind eye on this?

For example, the Nokian eNTyre 2.0 was one that I was going to go with, but then Discount Tire said they couldn’t do it because it only has a 99 LR. That’s when I started looking at Light Truck tires, only to run into the same issues.

Befuddled.
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1987 Westy, Dove Blue
1987 Wolfsburg Tintop, Vesuvius Grey no more
1977 Toyota FJ40, Freeborn Red
2018 Ford F-350 Platinum, Ruby Red Metallic
2017 Mercedes GLE350, Polar White

[Jake de Villiers]

I take in my (MB) rims and tell them its a '99 Mercedes Benz.
_________________
'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

[B.O.B.Wanders]

The last time I had tires mounted on the van it was BFG's and there were no questions asked.
With these, I took the rims in to Pep Boys to have the tires swapped from my deceased Ranger pick-up rims to the Westy rims. It was a kind of a don't ask don't tell situation. They did put a caveat on the receipt that "the owner assumes responsibility yada, yada..."

These tires obviously don't match the OEM tires head to head. I did the math and, if I understand the basic idea, if you look at the calculated load at the recommended psi on the OEM tires, you can match that with a lesser tire at a higher psi (with all of the baggage that goes with doing that). Yeah, sidewalls are not as strong. Got it.

I've read all the various tire postings and data and decided to do a trial run with these lower rated tires at my own risk. These are C-rated LT tires even if they are "at the margins". Based on observed performance, I am a lot more comfortable now than before. We have a light-ish van - not a lot of accessories and heavy crap all over it so I do take that in to account (although spare parts and recovery gear does add up). If Starfire (Cooper) would make a D rated version of these tires, I would absolutely recommend them as an alternative to the NLA 14" BFG KO's

The 14" General Grabbers that I see widely used are also 95 load rated.
_________________
83.5 WBX 2WD Assuan Brown Westy, B.O.B.

"It feels good to be lost in the right direction” - unknown

[dhaavers]

Find a good small local shop...it'll happen.



- Dave
(...running the aforementioned General Grabber AT2 14"s, installed without question...)
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[Slimvest]

[danfromsyr]

cheap price on some federal ecovan commercial D rated 195r14 tires
~$50ea delivered in set of 4
listed as 2017 mfg dates.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-195-R-14-LRD-8-Ply-Federal-Ecovan-Commercial-Tires/143568899075

[danfromsyr]

also a great price on some 'double King' 195r14
also 2017 mfg dates

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-New-LT-195-R-14-LRD-8-Ply-Double-King-DK218-Tires/143568815423

[danfromsyr]

well since some of our spare tires are realllly old.
I ordered 2 of these 195r14s
1 order=2 tires for $89
also a 2017 mfg dates.
2 New 195 R 14 LRD 8 Ply Federal Ecovan Commercial Tires
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-New-195-R-14-LRD-8-Ply-Federal-Ecovan-Commercial-Tires/383485251233