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eeebee
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2009
Posts: 439
Location: Tujunga
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 Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:27 am Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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16 in carrot rims with 215 x 55 x16 Michelin crossclimate 2 tires
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_________________
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. |
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danbeerpig
Samba Member
Joined: July 12, 2022
Posts: 8
Location: Vancouver, BC
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| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:51 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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looking for reviews from those of you with Falken Wildpeaks. looking to upgrade my 1986 2wd's 14" stock steelies to 16", and before i choose a wheel i'd like to get some insight from those of you that have used the wildpeaks. i've got a small group of friends with a variety of vehicles (landcruisers, subarus) who swear by them, and i've got winterpeaks on my wifes vehicle for snow tires and i love them.
can i roll with wildpeaks on 16's without affecting my gearing or speedo? should i be looking for 15" wheels instead? i see a couple posts in the search of this thread, but they're a few years old
thanks in advance, |
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do.dah
Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2015
Posts: 777
Location: Washington
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| Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:09 am Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| danbeerpig wrote: |
looking for reviews from those of you with Falken Wildpeaks. looking to upgrade my 1986 2wd's 14" stock steelies to 16", and before i choose a wheel i'd like to get some insight from those of you that have used the wildpeaks. i've got a small group of friends with a variety of vehicles (landcruisers, subarus) who swear by them, and i've got winterpeaks on my wifes vehicle for snow tires and i love them.
can i roll with wildpeaks on 16's without affecting my gearing or speedo? should i be looking for 15" wheels instead? i see a couple posts in the search of this thread, but they're a few years old
thanks in advance, |
I'm not able to give you in-site to your tire brand selection, but I see you also posted on another thread asking for thoughts.
I'm just gonna mention some stuff to give you something to consider or muddle about.
Background; My van had the original 14inch alloys, and when it came time to replace the tires, I was not happy with the choices or prices.
Also, my speedo read about 8mph fast and my odo was off.
I was also told more than once, that a stock van is gonna have trouble moving a larger whee/tire combo.
I managed to find some 15inch factory Audi alloys. They required machining out the center bores, spacers and longer bolts/studs and nuts. I did replace my front bolts with studs.
I wanted tires that were just slightly larger dia than the stock 14inch size, and chose 205/70-15. At the time, there was a wonderful selection of tires. The new tires (load rated) made my speedo/odo much closer to true, and my stock van had no problems moving them. In fact, handling and ride was better.
AND! The new tire/wheel combo with the spacers, weighed about 2lbs LESS than the original 14inch alloys!!
Then, some yrs later, I managed to find some nice 16inch factory Mercedes alloys. These only needed the lug holes drilled out. No spacers needed, the lug nuts happen to be the same as the Audi's, and the previously installed longer studs were fine, I was good to go.
UNTIL! I went in search of load rated tires in the size I was wanting, 205/65-16.
This was during the pandemic, so, things MIGHT be different now, but I had VERY few choices I was willing to entertain.
Ultimately, I did manage to find load rated tires in a brand that I was happy with. The new 16inch combo's are about the same weight as the 15's with spacers, and my speedo/odo are now very close to true.
Ugh, too much writing, think I need a nap.... |
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campism
Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2007
Posts: 4661
Location: Richmond VA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2024 3:42 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| do.dah wrote: |
| danbeerpig wrote: |
looking for reviews from those of you with Falken Wildpeaks. looking to upgrade my 1986 2wd's 14" stock steelies to 16", and before i choose a wheel i'd like to get some insight from those of you that have used the wildpeaks. i've got a small group of friends with a variety of vehicles (landcruisers, subarus) who swear by them, and i've got winterpeaks on my wifes vehicle for snow tires and i love them.
can i roll with wildpeaks on 16's without affecting my gearing or speedo? should i be looking for 15" wheels instead? i see a couple posts in the search of this thread, but they're a few years old
thanks in advance, |
UNTIL! I went in search of load rated tires in the size I was wanting, 205/65-16.
This was during the pandemic, so, things MIGHT be different now, but I had VERY few choices I was willing to entertain.
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I've posted about these before but it's worth repeating in this quote. Great load rating, very reasonably priced.
That tire between two in the stock 14" size, a worn Wynstar on the left and a replacement spare Nexen.
Here mounted to a 16" Mercedes CLK alloy that needed only to have the lug holes drilled out.
No Wildpeak inifo for you, but I was considering them for my big van project that I sold before it reached the new tire stage.
_________________
'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic, tragically crushed by a falling hickory tree in my own driveway and now gone, leaving me Vanagonless and with no plans to replace it, alas. |
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danbeerpig
Samba Member
Joined: July 12, 2022
Posts: 8
Location: Vancouver, BC
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| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2024 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| Thanks to both of you for your replies, greatly appreciated! |
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Atadloco
Samba Member
Joined: July 13, 2012
Posts: 257
Location: New Hampshire
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| Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:30 am Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| danbeerpig wrote: |
looking for reviews from those of you with Falken Wildpeaks. looking to upgrade my 1986 2wd's 14" stock steelies to 16", and before i choose a wheel i'd like to get some insight from those of you that have used the wildpeaks. i've got a small group of friends with a variety of vehicles (landcruisers, subarus) who swear by them, and i've got winterpeaks on my wifes vehicle for snow tires and i love them.
can i roll with wildpeaks on 16's without affecting my gearing or speedo? should i be looking for 15" wheels instead? i see a couple posts in the search of this thread, but they're a few years old
thanks in advance, |
My next tire upgrade will be the Wildpeak A/T Trail. I have these on my Subaru Outback and just an all around good tire in rain, snow and dirt. They wear very well with tire rotations and are not too loud as the miles rack up. |
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0to60in6min
Samba Member
Joined: November 27, 2006
Posts: 3456
Location: OR & CA (Oregon/California)
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| Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2024 9:30 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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to have an idea when switching tire size...
https://tiresize.com/converter/ |
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Crooked Designer
Samba Member
Joined: March 22, 2018
Posts: 547
Location: Chicago, IL
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| Posted: Thu May 02, 2024 11:08 am Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| Dono Be wrote: |
Here is a before and after pic... side by side of my new 215/65/16 on the 16"x7.5" Mercedes rims
Thanks for all the info on here.
Dono |
2 questions.. 1. Stock height / full westy? 2. Any rubbing on front wheel at full turn? I'm looking to go from 15's to 16's and am trying to figure out tire size and this is my lead option, so would be very helpful to hear your experience so far.
Thanks!
_________________
'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit |
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1988M5
Samba Member
Joined: January 23, 2016
Posts: 832
Location: Tucson, AZ
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| Posted: Fri May 03, 2024 8:44 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| eeebee wrote: |
16 in carrot rims with 215 x 55 x16 Michelin crossclimate 2 tires
[/url] |
How easy is it to find your van in a parking lot?
_________________
1991 tin top GL
2002 Winnebago Vista. VW VR6 24V Eurovan front clip powered class C 21' RV.
Some BMWs. |
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supduck
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2018
Posts: 2
Location: ON
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| Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 3:55 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| Anyone running Pirelli Scorpion Verde A/S 215/65R16 XL 102H 50 PSI 27" |
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mtnhome 
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 609
Location: Summit County, CO
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Ride-Fly
Samba Member
Joined: May 25, 2015
Posts: 631
Location: PDX
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 11:45 am Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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My Westy is in need of new shoes….considering 3 options. Currently have Nokian Hakkapelita C that are 10 years old with about 30k. Starting to show sidewall cracks and delamination.
First are the Thunderer Ranger R402 commercial van tires. Anyone have any experience with Thunderer tires? They have a variety of sizes and all with excellent load ratings. I just never heard of them. Are they on par with Milestar and Generals? Or an upgrade like Firestone and Goodyear?
Next are the Firestone Transforce. Solid reputable company. Haven’t read about too many folks here running them.
I had Michelin CrossClimates on my Wolfie but replaced them with the Continental Vanco 4Seasons when Michelin recalled their previous version due to it not meeting the Snowflake rating. I’m still considering these as they’re probably the top of the line tires you can buy.
Any inputs appreciated.
_________________
1987 Westy, Dove Blue
1987 Wolfsburg Tintop, Vesuvius Grey (SFO car)
1977 Toyota FJ40, Freeborn Red
2018 Ford F-350 Platinum, Ruby Red Metallic
2017 Mercedes GLE350, Polar White
2013 Mercedes G550, black w/ 4” Fox suspension
2008 Mercede GL550 (Boulder car) |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 8371
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 1:47 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| Ride-Fly wrote: |
My Westy is in need of new shoes…. considering 3 options. Thunderer Ranger R402
Next are the Firestone Transforce
Continental Vanco 4 |
Out of that list, the Vanco 4. Although, I'm biased because my Westy sported those for about 6 years. Replaced them with Cooper Discoverers; only reasons for that are 1) Discount had to special order the Vanco 4s, while the Coopers were immediately available; 2) Coopers were slightly less $ and I needed 5, thus saved a fair bit of coin.
The Vanco 4 is a great tire.
_________________
~Kamz 
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
 1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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Ride-Fly
Samba Member
Joined: May 25, 2015
Posts: 631
Location: PDX
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| Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 4:26 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| kamzcab86 wrote: |
| Ride-Fly wrote: |
My Westy is in need of new shoes…. considering 3 options. Thunderer Ranger R402
Next are the Firestone Transforce
Continental Vanco 4 |
Out of that list, the Vanco 4. Although, I'm biased because my Westy sported those for about 6 years. Replaced them with Cooper Discoverers; only reasons for that are 1) Discount had to special order the Vanco 4s, while the Coopers were immediately available; 2) Coopers were slightly less $ and I needed 5, thus saved a fair bit of coin.
The Vanco 4 is a great tire. |
I love the Vancos on my Wolfie, but they’re being discontinued 
Otherwise, I’d have gone with them again. I’m thinking I’m going to have go with the CrossClimates. Great tires too. But muy espensive 😎
_________________
1987 Westy, Dove Blue
1987 Wolfsburg Tintop, Vesuvius Grey (SFO car)
1977 Toyota FJ40, Freeborn Red
2018 Ford F-350 Platinum, Ruby Red Metallic
2017 Mercedes GLE350, Polar White
2013 Mercedes G550, black w/ 4” Fox suspension
2008 Mercede GL550 (Boulder car) |
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Crankey
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2004
Posts: 2672
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| Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2024 11:59 am Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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Currently I've built these wheels to 8" front and 9" rear.
I'm looking for tires.
I see Tristar Eric on his race van has 215/50/17 on 7.5 front wheels.
I'm looking at 275/40/17 for the 9" rear wheels.
Tire calculator says the diameters would be
25.46 tall front
25.65 tall rear.
This is about as close to a match i have found so far. Rear may require a spacer or that I grind off some of the pinch weld of the trailing arm and weld it back up with flat plate. Spacer means a slight poke out of the wheel arch. Not a deal breaker....I have no fender on one side at the moment and ...well I could do cosmetic rebuild surgery on the non damaged side and just rebuild the damaged side a bit wider...or just let the tire poke out .25-.50 of an inch.
If I go to 225/50 front i can't find a matching hight rear, or a match I feel is acceptable.
Opinions ? |
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eeebee
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2009
Posts: 439
Location: Tujunga
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| Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2024 2:25 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| eeebee wrote: |
16 in carrot rims with 215 x 55 x16 Michelin crossclimate 2 tires
[img] |
The follow-up, I've had these on for almost 6 months and they've worked out great. They're actually identical diameter to the original alloy wheels. They are great all-around tire.
_________________
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. |
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ragnarhairybreeks
Samba Member
Joined: October 26, 2009
Posts: 1929
Location: Sidney B.C. Canada
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| Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2024 5:46 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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Hi,
Just replaced my yoko geolander GO15 last week. Those tires have been good to me, no complaints. I wore them out. Replacements are Kumho road venture AT52. Sort of newish model. Supposedly better wear characteristics than the AT51.
Why I chose them … they have a higher load rating than the geolanders. And the price was better.
I mounted and balanced last Friday. So not much to say about them except they handled heavy rain and hwy just fine. In the pics there’s one with a representative reading on the machine before weights added.
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com |
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tdivan82
Samba Member
Joined: September 17, 2023
Posts: 248
Location: Virginia
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| Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2024 5:03 pm Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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Another data point for the thread. Yoko Geolandar A/T in 215/70 R16 installed on Mobelwagen Interceptor 512. My goal was the largest practical diameter with no rubbing, and no major modifications needed. I am running Schwenk Westy springs, which supposedly give a sub-1" lift.
Overall tire diameter is 27.9 inches. Did some parking lot lock-to-lock maneuvers and no rubbing. Went over some large speed bumps at various speeds and tires did not touch the wheel arches. Seems like 27.9" works nicely with zero rubbing observed.
I like that the Interceptor wheels accept the OEM chrome hub caps. I do wish they came in a 6.5" width though instead of 7.5". A 6.5 inch wheel would be better suited to the 215 tire section width.
_________________
- George
'82 Westy TDI (ahu)
'96 Passat TDI |
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Corwyn
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2009
Posts: 2414
Location: Olympia, Washington
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| Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2024 9:57 am Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! |
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| Ride-Fly wrote: |
| I love the Vancos on my Wolfie, but they’re being discontinued |
I don't know where that rumor came from, because my Continental dealership says it's not true. The Vanco is one of their best-selling tires. I just installed four new ones 195/70 15 . . .
_________________
'90 White Westy ("White Lightning")
FAS Gen V 2.0
The Annual Baja Rally
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604813&highlight=baja
"If anything's" gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there"
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Corwyn
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Joined: December 29, 2009
Posts: 2414
Location: Olympia, Washington
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