15'' tire options

[Bman]

The new BF Goodrich All Terrain KO2's are out now:

BFG have been rolling out the new KO2 productions by size and as of late September 2015, the 15 inchers are available.

I like the aggressive look and they are surprisingly quiet on the road, also it is incredible what a good set of tires will do for a 2WD, on a steep dirt road to our construction site I was routinely getting stuck when the road was wet, but with these tires I am getting in and out with no problems at all now.
_________________
~Bryan
1990 Burgandy Tintop (Wife's Daily Driver)
1989 Tiico Westfalia "Taj"




2WD Doka build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=503578&highlight=
FaceHook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/VW-T3-DokaSinka/129026087217120?ref=hl

[GreggK]

Im thinking of trying out the Geolander 215/70/15 on my Euro-look alloys I got from Van-café on my 2wd. Is anyone running this combination and having rubbing/clearance issues. Im alittle worried about the width. I originally was going to go with the 205/70/15 but saw the higher weight rating on the 215. Ive been using Nokian WRC in a 215/65/15. I didn't love them in the snow and wanted some more tread.
Another 15" tire I wanted to try was the General Grabber. I used them on my 14" steel wheels and loved them for the snow. I did add some T3 spacers up front because I noticed some rubbing. RMW sells 15"wheel packages with the Grabber AT2 in a 205/75/15. I didn't like the overall diameter and to note the weight rating is a 97. I saw somewhere in this post that 98 is the magic number to look for. I see the Michelin Defender 215/65/15 is a 96. I had Hydro edges in a 215/65/15 that were a 96 also. I ran them bald on my heavy 2wd tin top and never had an issues.

[Team WorldTour]

215/70R15 will fit fine. you will have a tiny space between the tire and the upper steering knuckle, but that is as close as it will get (do NOT use clip-on weights! STICKIES ONLY!!!).
A friend of mine is running Grabbers on his van, and he loves them.
_________________
1990 Feldjäger Syncro AAZ
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When All Else Fails: Lather, Rinse, Repeat!

[GreggK]

I ended up getting the 215/70/15 Geolander. It fits fine on my 2wd with Van-café Euro-look wheels. I also have go-westy zero lift springs in the front and their lift springs in the rear. Not loud yet, I hear they get louder. I may be doing a trip to Colorado this week so Ill follow up on the snow and off-road handling. Also the climbing. I expect to see a little lack on the steeps with the bigger diameter. The look is great in my opinion.

[dishrag]

I have not been able to find my size/rating of tire in any of the look-up charts.

Does anyone know the proper inflation (NOT the max inflation) for these Nokian Hakka 15" tires that Van Cafe sells (they are not sure, I asked them)?

They are 205/70 R15C 106/104S, load range D, 65psi max. Rated for a maximum load @35psi of 2094lbs, very rigid sidewalls.

Original recommendation of my van for 14" tires was 39psi front, 48psi rear, GVW is 5160lbs: front 2646, rear 2866

Basically, I've been driving at the original recommendation, but feeling extremely hard (bang noise every time I hit a small bump, and I have new shocks and OK suspension I think...)

One example I read was that for 205/70 R14 97R tires on a vanagon, the recommended pressure drops to 30 front, 40 rear, so I guess with these heavy duty tires I should go even lower than that??
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'86 Westy manual

[ThankYouJerry]

^^^ PM sent.

Here's a good starting point:

[davevickery]

[joetiger]

Any updates on the new BFG's? Noise? Snow traction? Ride comfort?

A buddy of mine got a set for his Tacoma and LOVES them. I mean that's obviously a different vehicle but still a glowing review.

I'm in the market for new 15's and am torn between another set of Geolandars, Nokians, or BFG's...
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[davevickery]

[bjrogers86auto]

Hey tire experts!

I'm getting really close to buying new tires....I'm looking at the Continental Vanco Four Season in 205/65/15. Any feedback on these tires from the group?

The van is only on the road for spring/summer/fall so no concerns about snow. These tires are apparently not great in the snow.

Availability in the area is always a challenge. Both Walmart and Canadian tire sell this tire.

Brian
_________________
86 Vanagon GL Westfalia 2.1
18 Nissan Frontier Pro 4X
19 Honda Civic Hatchback

A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin and Hobbes.

[ThankYouJerry]

^^^^^ Specs look proper for a Westy (load rating, etc). Not many reviews on Tire Rack. I guess it's good in the respect that you can find them at Walmart or CT if a problem arises on the road. Can't say that about my Nokians (which I like VERY much ).
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=C...;tab=Sizes
_________________
1990 Multivan - "Ohana"
1.8T, Auto w/3.27 R&P + Peloquin TBD

[msinabottle]

I had these put on Winston:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=M...5TR5DLTXXL

They look VERY good and drove and handled well, good load rating, and the price isn't horrid. Have a look HERE:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7871770

They appear to be very good tires, about the same size on 15" rims as the stock ones on 14".

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[bjrogers86auto]

Thanks,

After having the proper specs the availability is obviously very important. Tire rack and other online sites charge us Canadians a hefty fee to ship not to mention the exchange rate on the dollar is not in our favour! 😎

I called both Nokian and Continental and spoke with them directly. The Continental guy was actually an engineer. We discussed the the load and psi for the van for quite awhile. He was very helpful and was surprised the van had the load requirements that it does. Although it's called a "four season" tire he said it's not a rated snow tire. I can call Walmart today and have them today.

The Nokian guy recommended the new "c-line" tire. It's an all season as opposed to a snow rated tire. The local tire shops require about two weeks to get them in.

I think the Vanco wins!

Brian
_________________
86 Vanagon GL Westfalia 2.1
18 Nissan Frontier Pro 4X
19 Honda Civic Hatchback

A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin and Hobbes.

[tintopkevin]

hey guys i am looking into getting a more aggressive all terrain treaded tire, I know of the BFG and its long standing history, but i don't want to lose the power of my 2.1 with the 215 tire. I have seen talk of the geolander also but seems not as favored. I am also moving to a 15in rim. I was just wondering if anyone has tried the General tire Grabber http://generaltire.com/tires/light-truck-crossover-suv/grabber-at2
it comes in a 205 and has a load rating of 1609 and seems pretty solid.
my co-worker put them on his suzuki this winter and he seemed to like them. lots of mountain driving as we ski a lot.
Thoughts?

[BCE56]

Very happy with the BFGs on my Syncro. Installed after a complete front suspension rebuild and 4-wheel alignment by a trusted local shop.
I have been running the AT/TAs on all of my 4x4s for many years w/ excellent results. My Syncro is a daily driver that sees mostly pavement, and some dirt trails and logging roads.
Tread wear, weight rating and traction on wet and dry pavement is acceptable, absolutely better than w/ mud tires.
Reasonably quiet, slightly louder than the previous Geolandars.
Some slight rubbing on rough terrain when steering cranked.
These might not be the best snow tires, but there are many kinds of snow.
And I'm real careful around mud. I don't trust mud at all.
I noticed some feathering on the fronts after about 6000 mi.
5 wheel rotation should be performed at 5K miles- I will watch that in the future.
I did experience a slight loss of power due to the larger tire dia. This is noticeable in 4th gear mainly as the P.O. installed a taller top gear for some unknown reason.

Buy with confidence.
The KO2s look very promising.
_________________
=BCE56=

'86 Syncro tintop
EJ22, OBD II early SC adapter plate conversion

Side project: '69 Frankenbug "It's alive!"

[Westaru]

(posted in the what tires fit thread, but then thought it might be more suited for this one.)

I have an '84 Westy with GW 1.5" lift springs and 215/75/15" BFG's on it and have found them to take away far too much power for my altitude. I've sold the tires and going back to a stock OD 15" tire (less than 5% larger than stock). I spend a fair amount of time on road, as well as on dirt/gravel roads. Crosswinds/sway is a consideration (heavier sidewalls is better). This is a 2wd so not much heavy 4wd/rock crawling time.

Hoping for some advice on a few of these selections:

-Michelin Defender LTX M/S in 205/65/15 are designated as XL in the specs - however, the PDF on the first page derates these by 9% since they are not explicitly designated as an LT/SUV tire. I've ran these on several of my Dodge Cummins trucks and been very happy with them. Is it just this size that has different specs than the larger OD tires? 50psi max inflation. I'm struggling to figure out why these are derated.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=...;tab=Sizes

- YOKOHAMA: GEOLANDAR A/T-S in 205/70R15 seem like a good choice, but are rated as a 96S with an 'SL' rating. Do these need to be derated at 9%? Yokohama lists them as a truck/SUV tire, but this size does not have an 'LT' prefix. 51psi max inflation.

https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/geolandar-a-t-s

http://www.bigotires.com/Tire-Detail/YOKOHAMA/GEOLANDAR-A-T-S/36501

The also make the Geolandar AT G015 (PDF has it as '051', believe that is a typo) in the same size at a 96H. Yokohama lists them as a truck/SUV tire, but this size does not have an 'LT' prefix. BUT, it has a 51psi max inflation. Does this one need to be derated?

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=...;tab=Sizes

https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/geolandar-a-t-g015

Lastly, is the omission of the Firestone Destination A/T from the PDF just an oversight? It seems to have a higher load rating than the Yokohama.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=...;tab=Sizes

I Really like the General Grabber AT2 and the Kumho Road Venture AT51, but both are only available in the larger 215 size. Even the BFG would be fine if I could find it in my size. Is anyone aware of any other more aggressive tires for some level of off roading that come in the smaller 205/60-65/15 sizing? The only options I can find are above.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

[llilibel03]

[danfromsyr]

great holiday pricing on a great 3 season tire.
$48ea shipped with %10 holiday bonus till July 6th
Nokian eNTYRE 205/70/15 XL100T
https://simpletire.com/nokian-p205-70r15-t427907-tires

Specifications
205/70R-15 700AA 1,764 lbs 51 psi 11/32nds 5.0-7.0" 8" N/A 26"

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[nmerrill]

My turn to search for new ones...
Sticking with the 215/75 15 size I've had...

A few observations:
The Michelin Defender LTX MS in 215/75r15 is not LT rated, but has a load rating of 100 or 1764 lbs.
The text reads:
"The Defender LTX M/S is Michelin's Highway All-Season light truck tire developed to combine long tread life with all-season capabilities for vans, pickups and sport utility vehicles, as well as for commercial vans, shuttles and chassis cab vehicles using heavy-duty, light-truck sizes"

emphasis mine. Interesting text for a tire not rated LT!
Going to have to call Michelin and ask them WTF.

Yokohama has the geolander in an LT215 /75 R15 100S that I don't see much talk about here. Looks interesting.

[jlrftype7]