What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread!

[llilibel03]

[rhbooz]

My 1991 Vanagon Camper GL has one of the last sets of 205s that were sold here in the US. I want to keep the look of the original aluminum wheels. Will the 195s work or do I need to go the whole new wheel/new tire size route? I bought the car new and am a bit of a purist so just making the change from 205s is traumatic.
THANKS (especially if this is a stupid question).

[davevickery]

[Westaru]

[regis101]

One of many many hits about tire width vs rim width..

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=198
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Peace, Regis

[Paulbeard]

[bobbyblack]

Just used Google search to find low price on Vredestein 195/65/r16 (C rated) and this site popped up with them... simpletire.com, like $115 +11/tire to ship. Looking down at the bottom of their web site, I noticed they have a section that has comparable tires... I don't know about anyone else, but doesn't $35/tire sound too good to be true? (add shipping tho)

https://simpletire.com/zeetex-195-65r16-z32174-tires
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[bobbyblack]

Looks like there is an interesting tyre over in the UK, a winter version by Pirelli called Carrier Winter tm. No idea on price, but they have as close to a stock diameter as I've seen. I might be off on my math tho.

https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/en-gb/car/find-your-tyres/products-sheet/carrier-winter#/overview

Look under the Size Range under 16", you'll see 195/60R16 99T

Way way off for me, both in terms of that I can't purchase them locally, and that, in general Pirelli are already way out of my price range.

They are super sweet looking tho.

The Summer version look OK too, just called Carrier tm.

https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/en-gb/car/find-your-tyres/products-sheet/carrier#/size-range

195/60R16C 99H

I calculate these at a diameter of 25.2 inches. I think most sources quote a 25.3" stock diameter. Some quote 25.5"
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[llilibel03]

How about these Pirelli's? Scorpion ATR 96T 205/70 r15, all terrain, and not terribly expensive. I'm assuming the "T" is for truck as in the listing they say light truck tire. Without the 9% derating it should be OK.



https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=...TR5SCORATR

[Mark Lewalski]

While the information may be somewhere in this topic, I couldn't find it...

- I've got an 87 Weekender with a 2.1WBX.
- Have a set of CLK 7.5x16 rims to put on maybe by the end of this year.
- Live in Florida so I need good dry and great wet performance.
- Mostly paved driving although may go dirt/gravel roads at campgrounds.
- I like the aggressive look of A/T tires but realize they are probably overkill.
- I will be getting GW No Lift progressive springs as part of the upgrade (which I believe will give added clearance since I'm not a camper).

I'm interested in either the:
Grabber AT2 in 215/65r16
or the
Nokian eNTYRE (or 2.0) in 225/60r16

Spacers probably needed for both choices I would think.

Anyone have any experience with either tire in this size and my van setup?

Thanks,
Mark
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'89 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg "Bluestar" (given to and owned by my son now)
'87 Vanagon Weekender
'74 Thing

[kamzcab86]

[HackAl]

So I ordered GW 16" rims which are due any day now.

I had an Amazon Gift Card and free shipping so I'm leaning towards these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0100OCAW6/ref=o...PDKIKX0DER

Nokian eNTYRE All-Season Radial Tire - 215/60R16 99V

A reviewer on Amazon used them on his/her Vanagon and seems to like them. However, I did not see these specific tires listed here: http://oldbluesblog.com/files/VanagonTireSpecs.pdf

Thoughts or suggestions? I won't be using in snow.

Thanks.
Al
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91 Westy.

Ever consider temporarily trading your van? Join the list.

[HackAl]

I also read this topic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=40

Now, I'm just more confused about load rating..
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91 Westy.

Ever consider temporarily trading your van? Join the list.

[HackAl]

https://www.vanagain.com/shop/nokian-entyre-season-radial-tire-21560r16-99v/ (same as the tires I'm considering in the link above).

Is there any reason these tires wouldn't work with GW's 2wd 16" wheels?
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91 Westy.

Ever consider temporarily trading your van? Join the list.

[davevickery]

[HackAl]

Great. I just ordered them.

I had learned that they'd work with 16" rims anywhere between 6-7.5.

Dave,- you've been a big help to me since I'm joined. I'm very grateful.

(And yes, lack of choices surprised me a little.)
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91 Westy.

Ever consider temporarily trading your van? Join the list.

[Jamo7]

Good morning.
Even though I have BFG TA/KO's in 195/75R14, I can't seem to get 195R14s out of my mind as my engine seems up to the task and I'd like to reduce RPMs ever so slightly.
I happened upon this list of commercial tires on tires-easy.com and thought I'd share it with you all:
https://www.tires-easy.com/tires/195-Blank-14?filtering=,price,categoryPath,Commercial
Two of the eight listed tires are already on Kam's wonderful pdf, and many are twins in terms of tread. All of the listed commercial tires are stated to be 106/104 load index.
I was surprised to see so many 14 inch options.
Have a good one,
James
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'84 Westy 2.1 wbx

[dsdunbar]

Mark Lewalski -
I dont have the same van or setup as you (I have a westy with 17" rims) but I did install the Nokian Entyres 2.0.

I have no qualms with the Nokian 2.0's, they are my "non winter" tires and I have put 3-5k mi on them.

But to be honest, I feel like they are a set of tires. My comparison point was the original 14"rims w/ Blizzaks installed. Which I also felt were fine tires.

So probably not a lot of help but if I were to do it again would I get the Nokain eNyre 2.0's? Yeah. Nokians are reputable, the load rating is great, and they fit my 17" rims (the 17" rim w/ proper load rating is the limiting factor for tires for me....for i have the stock WBX so i dont want to change wheel diameter).

Hope it helps

[TDCTDI]

For what it's worth, I found cheap 8 ply D load range 14" tires that would fit the early Vanagon.

[project68]

Tracked down some BFG KO2's in a 215/65/16. Was a bit of a chore to find a set through one supplier for ease warranty. But I've got them on the Doka and they look good, might have been able to fit something a little bigger but not sure.