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Lil Lulu
Samba Member
Joined: December 08, 2007
Posts: 1745
Location: Mouth of the Columbia
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 Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:26 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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I went to Costco yesterday to see if they had anything comparable. The cat said nope, then I told him about this deal. He said that’s terrific price, buy them and we’ll mount and balance for $60 for all 4.
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'65 Beetle "Lil' Lulu"- Ruby Red
1600 stock from '71 bus
'72 Deluxe - Niagara Blue w/pastelwiess Camper Special 2L dual 40 Webers 002
'74 Hightop Weekender "Dixie" 1800 34 Del singles |
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TomWesty
Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2007
Posts: 3482
Location: Wyoming,USA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:42 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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| SGKent wrote: |
walk into your local friendly tire shop that sells the brand tire you want and ask them politely, "I know you have overhead and need to make a profit to keep the doors open, but how close to Internet prices can you come - in general?" If they show a willingness to play, which most will say yes to, if so reach in your back pocket and pull out a printed copy of the quote online you got WITH SHIPPING and tax if any. Hand it to them and say "these are the ones I am interested in, how close can you come, complete with mounting and balancing?" My guess is that their price will be within $15 to $20 of that price - and they will warranty a tire if you have a problem, and the money stays in your community and feeds local families who play with your kids in school. They may have to order the tires so be patient if it takes them a couple of days to get them. 15 years ago brick and mortar didn't like to come close to matching online prices from reputable sellers but these days it is a fact of life if a business wants to stay open. They do it to businesses they buy from too.
And, if the difference of $15 or $20 is whether you will build a relationship with a store, then my thought is that in the long run you won't save money because when a tire fails, or there is a problem with something - no one will be there to help. We've bought tires at $10 more for all 4 than online, then had the business wink and hand us a coupon from a tire manufacturer worth a $75 rebate so it actually cost us $65 less locally than online. Its like the coupons your doctor hands you for prescriptions - "here are a few coupons, give one of these to your best customers who buy our tires .... ." |
Steve, I agree with this wholeheartedly until I go into a shop and they tell me that the size I tell them for the bus tire doesn’t even exist...Although the last shop I went into had a real nice kid working there who looked up the size and recommended RA 18s, so there is some hope for us out there.
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If you haven't bled on them, you haven't worked on them.
Visit: www.tomcoryell.com and check out my music! |
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dumptuck
Samba Member
Joined: May 24, 2015
Posts: 170
Location: BC
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| Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:42 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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I have a question for those of you with larger than stock tires...
I’m planning on picking up a set of General Grabber AT2’s for my bus in the near future, except I’m curious where would be a good location for a spare tire. Does the larger off road tire still fit in the stock spot behind the rear seat? Should I just keep a regular bus tire in there, or would that be useless as a spare? I definitely do not want to drill holes and mount it on the front, maybe I’ll have to get myself a nice roofrack and put it on there  |
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vwwestyman
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004
Posts: 5688
Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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yellowCOwesty
Samba Member
Joined: April 16, 2016
Posts: 97
Location: Rocky Mountains
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| Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 10:12 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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I just put the Grabbers on and left a stock size tire on the spare on the nose.
What tire pressure are you guys with them running? Wondering if it’s different than with the RA08’s...
Thanks!
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'78 Westy
Currently yellow and white "Sunny"
A few other air cooled VW and Porsches over the years |
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jacoby1007
Samba Member
Joined: July 28, 2016
Posts: 105
Location: North Hollywood, CA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:12 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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I was thinking of doing the same thing. (4) Grabbers AT2 27x8.5R14 and a smaller spare. I modified my wardrobe in my 74 to fit a regular bus tire. Any issues having a smaller spare? I am guessing I just have to make sure of the below. Drive tires stay the same.
| vwwestyman wrote: |
I currently just have the stock spare in the cabinet in my Westy with Grabbers.
I just acknowledge if I get a flat in back, I'm gonna have to change two tires. (Spare on front, move front to back.)
I do have thoughts of building some kind of swing out carrier that attaches to the rear hitch. |
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1974 Westy 1967 Beetle |
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vwwestyman
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004
Posts: 5688
Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 6:14 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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| jacoby1007 wrote: |
I was thinking of doing the same thing. (4) Grabbers AT2 27x8.5R14 and a smaller spare. I modified my wardrobe in my 74 to fit a regular bus tire. Any issues having a smaller spare? I am guessing I just have to make sure of the below. Drive tires stay the same.
| vwwestyman wrote: |
I currently just have the stock spare in the cabinet in my Westy with Grabbers.
I just acknowledge if I get a flat in back, I'm gonna have to change two tires. (Spare on front, move front to back.)
I do have thoughts of building some kind of swing out carrier that attaches to the rear hitch. |
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I think the only real issue is the deal of possibly having to swap tires front to back.
That said, I think in 20+ years of driving, I've only had to change out a flat twice. And one of those was in a parking lot. (Tire went flat while eating at a restaurant, must have picked something up in the parking lot.) So the risk seems fairly small.
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Dave Cook
President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing |
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Randy in Maine
Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2003
Posts: 34890
Location: The Beach
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| Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 5:06 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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| I was thinking a front receiver hitch mount (from Jamie Rivers) to support my spare tire. My buddy has one of those front receiver hitches and it is very well built. |
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Hikelite
Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2012
Posts: 557
Location: Colville, WA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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What will fit in the spare tire well inside my 68 campmobile?
I'm leaning towards The Conti Vanco 8s in 185r14. Will one of those fit in there?
What about the RA18s?
Edit for addition:
Called Discount Tire this morning to order the Conti's. I talked to the guy awhile about these vs the Hankooks. They list them as a "Best" and the RA18's and the Y356's as "Better". I asked why and he said the Conti's last longer based on their statistics on blow outs and tread wear. He even laughed because he had a small RV in the bay that was getting these tires put on while I talked to him. 
About 10 minutes later, he calls me back. They can't get anymore of these tires. The ones going on the RV this morning are the last 4 in the country. Continental has discontinued the Vanco 8, but they are going to replace it with the 'Vanco 8 4 season', but it won't be available until next year.
I'm not in a hurry to get the tires, but I was OK with several days, not months. 
Hopefully the RA18's fit into my spare tire well. I ordered 5 of them.
Now to try and get these rims painted asap 
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~Kevin
My 1968 Campmobile |
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jacoby1007
Samba Member
Joined: July 28, 2016
Posts: 105
Location: North Hollywood, CA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 5:19 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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I went with the RA18 Vantra tires. Like them so far.
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1974 Westy 1967 Beetle |
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larryducas
Samba Member
Joined: October 25, 2011
Posts: 233
Location: Fallbrook, CA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:23 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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I have worn out my hankook RA8 tires.
I am trying the accelera ultra3 8 ply tires, a little cheaper.
They seem to handle and feel like the hankooks, but $30 less per tire.
They are very new, but the handling is great.
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71 deluxe, 1968 type 1 engine rebuilt, 009 distributor, pertronix module, Empi 38 EPC / DGES carb |
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richparker
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2011
Posts: 6981
Location: Durango, CO
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2018 7:43 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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| jacoby1007 wrote: |
| I went with the RA18 Vantra tires. |
I wore out my RA08s and just ordered a set of 195R14 RA18s off eBay for $368 shipped. Can’t wait to get them!
I’ll be using the least worn out RA08 as my spare.
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xyzzy
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2014
Posts: 229
Location: Encinitas, CA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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So what's the latest in terms of best tires for Bays?
BFG ATs: Gone.
General Grabber ATs: Only downside is they're a little wider, and the spare wont fit in the usual spot because of the increased width?
Hankook RA18: New version of the RA08. Good price, good tire.
Goodyear Tires Wrangler AT LT195/75R14: Is anyone running these? They look very comparable to the old BFGs.. Money aside, these seem like they'd be a better fit for the Bus than the Grabbers, while till having that offroad footprint, right?
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1973 VW Westfalia 2L hydraulic, dual Solex PDSIT
1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia |
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cdennisg
Samba Member
Joined: November 02, 2004
Posts: 20271
Location: Sandpoint, ID
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:02 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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| xyzzy wrote: |
So what's the latest in terms of best tires for Bays?
BFG ATs: Gone.
General Grabber ATs: Only downside is they're a little wider, and the spare wont fit in the usual spot because of the increased width?
Hankook RA18: New version of the RA08. Good price, good tire.
Goodyear Tires Wrangler AT LT195/75R14: Is anyone running these? They look very comparable to the old BFGs.. Money aside, these seem like they'd be a better fit for the Bus than the Grabbers, while till having that offroad footprint, right? |
I have these on my 68 single cab and my full size Chevy. My coworker has them on his Toyota Tundra. They are excellent tires for the price. I bought them locally through my Cooper Tire dealer for @ $100 each.
https://www.tires-easy.com/27-8.50-14/starfire-tires/sf-510-lt/tirecode/90000007537
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vwwestyman
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004
Posts: 5688
Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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| Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:47 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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| xyzzy wrote: |
So what's the latest in terms of best tires for Bays?
BFG ATs: Gone.
General Grabber ATs: Only downside is they're a little wider, and the spare wont fit in the usual spot because of the increased width?
Hankook RA18: New version of the RA08. Good price, good tire.
Goodyear Tires Wrangler AT LT195/75R14: Is anyone running these? They look very comparable to the old BFGs.. Money aside, these seem like they'd be a better fit for the Bus than the Grabbers, while till having that offroad footprint, right? |
Grabbers are also taller, so that too would likely prevent them from going in most stock spare tire locations.
_________________
Dave Cook
President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing |
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Col_Forbin
Samba Member
Joined: November 25, 2011
Posts: 84
Location: Austin, Texas
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 8:59 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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would it be okay to use a stock size spare but run the general grabbers? guessing if there was a flat in the rear you may have to throw the spare on the front and take a bit more time.. but for a short distance to remedy the situation would be okay?
I really want to run the grabbers cause I loved them on my last bus.. but don't want the spare on the nose and cant fit a roof rack in my garage. trying to figure out a way to make it work!
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Goin' where the climate suits my clothes
Levon the 66 Westy:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=655780
71 Deluxe Bay |
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xyzzy
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2014
Posts: 229
Location: Encinitas, CA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 11:41 am Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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This is why I'm thinking about the Goodyear Wrangler ATs that come in 195/75R14/.. anyone running these?
| Col_Forbin wrote: |
would it be okay to use a stock size spare but run the general grabbers? guessing if there was a flat in the rear you may have to throw the spare on the front and take a bit more time.. but for a short distance to remedy the situation would be okay?
I really want to run the grabbers cause I loved them on my last bus.. but don't want the spare on the nose and cant fit a roof rack in my garage. trying to figure out a way to make it work! |
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1973 VW Westfalia 2L hydraulic, dual Solex PDSIT
1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia |
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richparker
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2011
Posts: 6981
Location: Durango, CO
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 1:20 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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| xyzzy wrote: |
This is why I'm thinking about the Goodyear Wrangler ATs that come in 195/75R14/.. anyone running these?
| Col_Forbin wrote: |
would it be okay to use a stock size spare but run the general grabbers? guessing if there was a flat in the rear you may have to throw the spare on the front and take a bit more time.. but for a short distance to remedy the situation would be okay?
I really want to run the grabbers cause I loved them on my last bus.. but don't want the spare on the nose and cant fit a roof rack in my garage. trying to figure out a way to make it work! |
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195r14c tires have an 82 sidewall, so they would be taller then the 196/75r14.
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Adventure thread
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vwwestyman
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004
Posts: 5688
Location: Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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Col_Forbin
Samba Member
Joined: November 25, 2011
Posts: 84
Location: Austin, Texas
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2018 4:42 pm Post subject: Re: The Tire Sticky FAQ |
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sorry bout that, even on the same page!?
I’ve had this floating around in my head and just saw xyzzy mention the grabbers dont fit in the stock spare tire well.. guess I will go with the grabbers again, they look so killer on buses!
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Goin' where the climate suits my clothes
Levon the 66 Westy:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=655780
71 Deluxe Bay |
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