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vanjoe
Samba Member
Joined: December 25, 2009
Posts: 606
Location: Santa Maria
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 Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the updates on tires. That blow out definately makes me wonder about the General. All the tires stores were pushing me into that one. I haven't got tires yet I am still trying to decide what I want to go with. Also funds are a little low right now so I am hoping the Big O's that are on there will last a little longer. But I did need this post so I have the input for when I do get them. I was expecting to get them when I orginally posted it. |
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IdahoDoug
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Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10251
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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Score! Dhaavers - that's the tire. Quite an impressive load rating. Now to see if they're available. Hopefully not a Canada-only tire...
DougM
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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, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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Busdepot
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Joined: March 24, 2004
Posts: 1314
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| ...ran across a Vanagon with 185/14 tires..Capital...(BTW, these specs are identical to the Hankook RA-08: link in my previous post)... |
They are not made by Hankook. The name is actually used by a couple of firms. One Capital tire is a house brand, as opposed to an actual manufacturer. Most house brands are owned by tire distributors, not factories, and their sourcing may vary from tire to tire or year to year. (This differs from companies like Michelin, Hankook, Continental, Nokian, Vredestein, etc., that make their own tires.) Like any generic brand intended to sell on price, sourcing decisions on house brand tires may be highly influenced by cost. Then there is Beijing Capital Tire, which is mentioned in this informative MSNBC article about the dangers of Chinese tires (entitled "With Chinese Tires, It's Buyer Beware"): http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/22/3301935-w...Id=9663646. The article draws a distinction between name brand tires made in Chinese plants (a trend which is likely to increase, although so far not with any of the tires we carry), and off brand Chinese tires. It said that while some Chinese tires may have the same specs or look like clones of a name brand tire, this does not mean they will perform remotely the same, or even safely for that matter. It cites a Car & Driver tire comparison road test where a particular Chinese tire was so much like a popular Yokohama model (even down to the tread pattern) that they were anticipating similar performance. But when they tested it, its performance was "nothing short of scary" (their words), coming in so distantly last place that even the second-worst tire literally doubled its score.
The article's conclusion? "If you want a Michelin, buy a Michelin." Or, to paraphrase, if you want a Hanook, buy a Hankook.
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- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com |
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Wildthings
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Joined: March 13, 2005
Posts: 50352
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:09 am Post subject: |
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Pretty much any tire of the same size and ply rating is going to have the same specs. One 185R14 8 ply is going to have the same load rating as most every other 185R14 8 ply out there. As Ron suggest the specs have nothing to do with the quality of the tire. You can have one tire that performs poorly and is worn out at 20K miles and it will have the same specs as a tire that performs well and last 50K miles.
Passenger tires have combined ratings [Uniform Tire Quality Grade Standards (UTQG)] that give some indication of tire quality, truck tires manufacturers do not have to post these ratings.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=48
For truck tires price may be the best indicator of quality. I am not saying you have to buy the most expensive tire from the most expensive source, but don't buy the cheapest tire you can find just because its cheap. |
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PNWesside31
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Joined: January 10, 2009
Posts: 193
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| I know this is an old thread, but I was reading that 27/8.5/14 size tires are too tall for stock gearing and was wondering what the repercussions were. Also, if I have them on my van now, should I replace ASAP? Thanks. |
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Randy in Maine
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Joined: August 03, 2003
Posts: 34890
Location: The Beach
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:58 am Post subject: |
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It just gears you up about 5%. The tires turn 773 revs per mile vs. 811 for the stock tire.
Usually they are only a load index of 95, so they are a bit weak in the knees, but I have seen worse.
I would just drive it myself. When it comes time to buy new tires, choose something more appropriate would be my advice. |
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tristessa
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Joined: April 07, 2004
Posts: 3992
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:24 am Post subject: |
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| I'd rather run those than a car tire, especially since the PNW has gotten into rainy season. Downtown Portland was fun driving on Monday evening... |
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PDXWesty
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Joined: April 11, 2006
Posts: 6247
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 11:58 am Post subject: |
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| PNWesside31 wrote: |
| I know this is an old thread, but I was reading that 27/8.5/14 size tires are too tall for stock gearing and was wondering what the repercussions were. Also, if I have them on my van now, should I replace ASAP? Thanks. |
I've run these tires on a stock vans for 12 years, both an automatic and a manual transmission. The only thing I have noticed is the van is a little slower on take-off than with smaller stock tires. There are a lot of vans with this size on and I never heard any real negative comments.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto |
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danfromsyr
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Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15144
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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I see the Nexen SV820 as an affordable tough stock sized tire.
Germanauto is promoting them for VW vans.
http://www.google.com/search?q=nexen+sv820&sou...e=&oe=
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| Abscate wrote: |
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crazyvwvanman
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Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 9937
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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Well I'd say I've known dozens of Syncro owners who have run that size, Westys and hardtops, mostly with stock motors. More than a few 2wd campers too. You can include me for both as well. Many people ended up going to 15 and 16 just because this size is fading away. It used to be a common LT tire size but has been dropped by most tire companies as have robust 14" tires in general.
Mark
| PNWesside31 wrote: |
| I know this is an old thread, but I was reading that 27/8.5/14 size tires are too tall for stock gearing and was wondering what the repercussions were. Also, if I have them on my van now, should I replace ASAP? Thanks. |
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Love My Westy
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Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 1839
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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| PDXWesty wrote: |
| PNWesside31 wrote: |
| I know this is an old thread, but I was reading that 27/8.5/14 size tires are too tall for stock gearing and was wondering what the repercussions were. Also, if I have them on my van now, should I replace ASAP? Thanks. |
I've run these tires on a stock vans for 12 years, both an automatic and a manual transmission. The only thing I have noticed is the van is a little slower on take-off than with smaller stock tires. There are a lot of vans with this size on and I never heard any real negative comments. |
X2. I ran 27/850/14 for many years. The first set was Bridgstone Duelers, but after they quit making them I switched to BFT/AT's. I agree that they may be a little slower off the line but I was very happy with them until BFG quit making them. I moved up to a 215/75/15 and got some Rhein Rims and I still can't complain about the power, only that they were hitting my fender flares which I have since remedied with new springs and shocks. |
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dspieg
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Joined: March 12, 2011
Posts: 111
Location: Northern Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2012 8:25 am Post subject: A vote for the Generals |
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I have been driving my '86 GL tintop on General Altimax RT (load range 98) tires, size 205/70/14 on OEM steel wheels, for the past half a year or so, about 6k miles so far. I'm very happy with them, with the disclaimer that my Vanagon is not a camper and carries people only, no heavy cargo.
FYI, General is owned by Continental. I liked the Altimax tires enough that when it came time to put new doughnuts on my 2001 Subaru Legacy GT wagon, I got a set of General G-Max AS-03 (in 225/50-16) and they are fabulous. |
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danfromsyr
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Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15144
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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I'm curious if anyone has any experiences with Hercules Power CV tires.
they have some nice ratings and sizes.. from the stock 185R14 to a 205/65/15
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m5...;_from=R40
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| Abscate wrote: |
| These are the reasons we have words like “wanker” |
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Steve Arndt
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Joined: August 01, 2005
Posts: 1780
Location: Boise, Idaho
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| Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:34 am Post subject: |
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I have old stock BFG AT 27x8.5s currently that are well worn so I've been researching. They have a load rating of 1710 pounds.
We have many customers with General Grabber 27x8.5s on their vans since they are an affordable tire and the BFG are no longer available. The General almost looks like the BFG from 10 ft away. I was reading the sidewall information and found the Grabber is only rated at 1520 pounds.
Steve |
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vanagonjr
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Joined: October 07, 2010
Posts: 3431
Location: Dartmouth, Mass.
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Steve Arndt
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Joined: August 01, 2005
Posts: 1780
Location: Boise, Idaho
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dixoncj
Samba Member
Joined: June 17, 2004
Posts: 1083
Location: Charleston, SC
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| Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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| The BFG's you linked to are 195/75/14 size, not 27x8.5x14 (The General Grabber size) that BFG used to make. The 195's are a good Vanagon tire - tho expensive. |
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highsierra
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Joined: March 25, 2011
Posts: 269
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| Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:44 pm Post subject: |
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| dixoncj wrote: |
| The BFG's you linked to are 195/75/14 size, not 27x8.5x14 (The General Grabber size) that BFG used to make. The 195's are a good Vanagon tire - tho expensive. |
I just ordered a set of these 195/75R14 BFGs from Tire Rack. $129/tire. $775 for a set of 5 shipped to my door. My local tire shop quoted me $225/tire 
Pretty stoked to get some new meat on the rig! Especially when I pulled the spare to find that, not only was it super old and cracked but it was a passenger tire, load rating 92. No bueno. I love the look of these bad boys, especially on the spare. Something about that steel rim with the raised white letters. Probably all those Dukes of Hazard episodes I watched as a kid.
Last edited by highsierra on Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:01 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Steve Arndt
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Joined: August 01, 2005
Posts: 1780
Location: Boise, Idaho
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| Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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| My 27x8.5 BFGs are over 1" taller than my friends 195/75 BFGs. He was bragging up his "better" MPG until I told him his tires were 5% shorter than mine. |
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Robw_z
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Joined: April 28, 2007
Posts: 983
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| Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Steve Arndt wrote: |
| My 27x8.5 BFGs are over 1" taller than my friends 195/75 BFGs. He was bragging up his "better" MPG until I told him his tires were 5% shorter than mine. |
I went from 27x8.5 BFGs to 195/75 BFGs. Overall in town mileage went up a bit, highway mileage went down a bit. My WBX has 180k and didn't really like getting off the line with the 27" tires.
I will say the 27" BFGs looked a lot cooler.
-Rob |
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