14" Tire Options

[oasis]

[oasis]

Thanks for the responses.

I'll check other sizes like the 215s if I'm not satisfied with stock sizes. I doubt I will be carrying loads all that often anymore.

The General Altimax RT45 seems to have mixed reviews at different sites. I am getting a quote on a set of four Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring tires. They have the same rating as the Altimax, a higher treadwear (660 versus 600), but a lower temperature resistance (B versus A). The last part doesn't worry me too much since the only way Sinka will be exceeding 115 MPH will be if it is free falling off of a cliff. The Uniroyals have a better customer rating, so I'm likely to got hat route unless they are uber expensive.

The eight-year old Coopers are holding air. I can't get past their age, though.
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Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI

[dhaavers]

Oasis, If the General Altimax RT45 are LT rated, they’re ok. Missed that in your first post.

No harm, no foul…

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[Wildthings]

I have run P215/70r14's for at least half of the mileage I have put on my various buses and Vanagons over the last 35 years, they have a #96 load rating and after derating come within 14 pound of the 1433 rear axle rating, so if you aren't running maximum load most all the time they are fine. They also come in a variety of tread patterns.

[oasis]

Thanks, Dave!

I tend to read the first 3-5 pages of a long thread (stickies, too) and the last 3-5 pages. Not counting how long it took to type my post, I spent an easy 90 minutes reading and searching.

The link covers a lot that I already knew from when I owned my '85, or discovered in yesterday's search. I made note of the site since it is nice, neat, and concise. (My '85 had Continental until its last set of new tires; that was my first introduction to Michelin. I would go for the Michelin tires in 205/70r14 if they were still made.)

I'm a little surprised by you saying #1 is a no go. It is by far the priciest choice, but more importantly, it is listed in the link you supplied. They're 97s as were the original stock Michelins. The big thing your link showed was that these Generals are (were?) prone to sidewall blowouts. Is this dated info?

I know others might go with an oversized tire, or all-terrain tire, or something else. I am trying to keep things somewhat stock, and I am not enthralled with the Nexen tires I have on my current steelies.

By the way, the current tires that are mounted are Cooper tires. They are not only listed as discontinued at the link, they're over eight years old. Tread or no tread, they are not an option.
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Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI

[dhaavers]

^^^ About half of your list is no good. Pretty much you gotta have LT (Light Truck)
rated <or> XL rated passenger car tires and in the ballpark of 98 load rating.

Your #1, 2, 3, 7 & 10 would be a no-go for me. Checked the tire sticky lately?

Granted, I’m in a tiny town with nothing to choose from, but online tire shops have
been the way for me to get what I need for the van.

Don’t feel limited to what you can find locally, there are better options out there!

- Dave

PS…Direct link to Kammy’s tire write up: https://oldbluesblog.com/files/VanagonTireSpecs.pdf
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[oasis]

205/70R14 97R
Load Index: 97
Load Range: XL/RF
Max Load: 1580 lbs.
Max Inflation: 40 psi
VW-recommended inflation: 30 (front); 40 (rear)
Revs/mile: 798
Tire: Michelin MXL
Notes: Reinforced passenger car tire

I bought some Carat wheels for Sinka while she was getting restored. I also got the associated nuts and bolts for the 2WD application.

The wheels came with tires. The tread looks nice, but I am spooked about their age. (I read the thread on finding a tire's date. I will do that tomorrow after I see if they will hold air.)

So far, this is what I found:

1) GENERAL ALTIMAX RT45 Grand Touring All-Season at Tire Rack. They offered five other choices, but none were the correct specs listed above.

2) GT Radial Touring VP Plus at Discount Tire. They also offer the Altimax, but this tire is $53 less per tire ... and on backorder. They are the right specs, though.

3) Forceum Ecosa 205/70R14 97H BSW on eBay. I felt okay with the "97" rating, but I'm far less confident not seeing XL or RF.

4) Summit Ultramax A/S All Season 205/70R14 98T XL Passenger Tire at Walmart. It has over a 1,000 reviews averaging 4.5 out of 5.

5) Lionhart LH-501 205/70R14 98H XL All Season Traction Performance Tires also at Walmart. (One review.)

6) Lexani LXTR-203 All Season 205/70R14 98H XL Passenger Tire also at Walmart. Its rating is 4.5 like the Summit, but only 15 reviewers.

7) Arroyo Eco Pro A/S 205/70R14 98H All Season Touring Tires again at Walmart. Similar to the Forceum above, "98" but no XL or RF. However, Walmart also had Arroyo Eco Pro A/S All Season 205/70R14 98H XL Passenger Tire with a 4.8 customer rating.

8] American Roadstar Pro A/S 205/70R14 98H XL AS Performance again at Walmart. (I will include no more tires unless they are at least "97" and are XL.)

9) BlackHawk Street-H HH01 205/70R14 98T XL Tires via Walmart, actually sold by Simple Tire.

10) Landsail LS388 205/70-14 98 H Tire again at Walmart.

These are not my Top Ten. Walmart has more (I think), but I'm burned out with all of this searching. After not finding anything local to me (Hillen, Mavis (NTB), Pep Boys, Goodyear, Firestone, etc.), Walmart does seem to have a lot. I have to say the only tire company in the list above I recognize is General.

Should I consider anything other than General? Ha, should I consider General? I never had a General tire before as far as I can remember. Should I feel okay about Walmart beyond just the actual purchase? I thought this stock tire size would be easier than what's on the steelies.
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Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI

[IdahoDoug]

Dan,

Agree these seem nothing special, though they're certainly better than anything available 42 years ago when this rig was built! My plan is to see if we like this vehicle when I get it restored (leather dinette, heated mirror in the bathroom, etc). If yes, I'm going to spend more lifting it and putting Toyota 4WD components under it. Which will in turn drive an offroad capable tire. So 7 tires for $500 that are properly load rated fit the bill as I may only but a few thousand miles on them before the further revamp. Heck, maybe they'll appear here on Samba for $200!! Heh.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1993 Toyota LandCruiser, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[DanHoug]

[IdahoDoug]

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.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1993 Toyota LandCruiser, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[jocoman]

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
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'86 Westfalia 2.0L Zetec
'97 Volvo 850 AWD Turbo
" The fun never stops"

[Wildthings]

[1988M5]

[brickster]

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).
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1984 Campmobile Automatic

[dhaavers]

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

[Xevin]

My buddy is running these on his 76 Westfalia. He likes getting muddy and long walks on the beach 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

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Keep on Busin'

[DanHoug]

[Wildthings]

[borninabus]

[DanHoug]