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What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread!
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Jake de Villiers
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:31 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

crazyvwvanman wrote:
Nokian Entyres in a 205/70/15 XL (LoadRating=100)

If you are looking in that size, nice quiet street tire, 700 wear rating, 51 psi
I consider them a good value for the money, 2wd use.

Mark

No, I have 16" wheels but the tires had caught my attention.
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Pinetops
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:08 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Jake de Villiers wrote:
crazyvwvanman wrote:
Nokian Entyres in a 205/70/15 XL (LoadRating=100)

If you are looking in that size, nice quiet street tire, 700 wear rating, 51 psi
I consider them a good value for the money, 2wd use.

Mark

No, I have 16" wheels but the tires had caught my attention.


I'll be installing the Entyre Xl 205/65/16 size soon.
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Jake de Villiers
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:45 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Pinetops wrote:
Jake de Villiers wrote:
crazyvwvanman wrote:
Nokian Entyres in a 205/70/15 XL (LoadRating=100)

If you are looking in that size, nice quiet street tire, 700 wear rating, 51 psi
I consider them a good value for the money, 2wd use.

Mark

No, I have 16" wheels but the tires had caught my attention.

I'll be installing the Entyre Xl 205/65/16 size soon.

Looking forward to your review!
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ericgfx01
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 1:50 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

After much reading of this thread–and consequently sleepless nights–I recently placed a full set of five Vantra LT 185R18 with an alignment at the local Big-O-Tires. I liked the idea of branches located around 21 states. I also liked that they sold me explained why the alignment was considered a premium - European vehicles typically allow you to make more precise adjustments than to just toe in, typical of American cars. I assumed all cars could re-calibrate the caster and camber as well.

The limited riding so far has been super smooth and the steering wheel straight and true. Plus I feel better that it's no longer running on 6-yr old Passenger rated 205/70r14 with a P95 Load Index! (- eeeek! Sorry for those that fainted dead away just now...)

However upon firing the beast up I can hear a wretched squealing of belts, and I see that they had accessed the engine from the trunk. Now in truth, there had been an occasional squeal which would go away within seconds whenever she sits, so I wasn't too concerned. A slow leak in the power steering pump, I assume was getting a bit of grim on the belt. However, now the sound is almost constant.

So I'm wondering in the course of a normal alignment, what would cause it to suddenly start squealing like a bloodthirsty banshee? Naturally, my own fear-based conclusion is that that the shop released some tension on the belts (or some other mayhem) to garner more business?

So, tell me I'm nutters, squealing after alignment happens all the time on these beauties and I should expect it to subside into silence after a few dozen miles. Or tell me, I should sick the local news team, and give a staunchly worded Yelp review (did I mention they left the radio on!? The cretins!!).

Okay thanks fellow riders. Eric
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levi
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:23 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Ok I can see where you're going with this.
I think I saw it in a movie once.

You're driving through a small town, one mechanic, one alignment shop, both in the same family, and being a small town they don't have much business so they sabotage your car to send you to their brother's shop.

BUT, if you're not living in that small-town movie set, assume that it's about time for you to do some basic maintenance on your van.
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ericgfx01
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 5:20 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Touché. Yeah, I'm a bit quick on the paranoia. I'll assume the incoming cold front caused the belt to be excessively slippy. Yeah that's it.

Still, little reason for them to open engine bay. Their head mechanic said that his tire guys "wouldn't touch or even know how to adjust belts" which didn't exactly reassure me. I offered, "maybe someone checked the steering fluid levels" but he just stated that's not SOP and would have been noted on the order.

At any rate, I've tensioned things up and all seems well. Unless anyone else has a thought as to why a set of new tires and an alignment would create excessive squeal, I'm going to call it good.
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levi
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 6:07 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

This is exactly why I'd be no good in anything involving customer service.
I would not have handled this well if I'd been the shop owner...
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davevickery
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 8:09 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

It seems plausible to me that they heard the steering whine when they took it for the required test drive after they did the alignment. So maybe they were trying to help you out and thought they could check the tension on the belt.

I wouldn't worry about it. It is a nicely maintained van that you can just toss the keys to someone and not have to list out 4 or 5 things they either have to do, or should not do when driving it. I usually get nervous when I pull into the emission test station and they tell me to pop the hood.
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Macwesty
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 7:15 am    Post subject: Re: Cooper Discoverer A/T3 215/70/16 Reply with quote

I have just ordered 5 of the Cooper Discoverer A/T3 in the 215/70/16 size.

The Discoverer A/T3 have a load rating of 100T for 1764lbs. Since the 215/70/16 size is not "LT" and doesn't show a "C" or "D" load rating I applied the 9% reduction in load rating which comes to 1764 x .91 = 1605lbs which is greater than the lowest rating of tires originally installed by VW. (1580lbs)

This tire turns 748 revolutions per mile compared to the stock tire size's 820 so should be good for about a 9% reduction in engine speed as well. My van is SVX powered so the additional diameter should not be a problem power-wise.

I'll be mounting them on a set of Audi 5 spoke alloys which are often referred to as "Fat Fives". I have installed longer wheel studs in the back and purchased longer wheel lug bolts for the front and have some 10mm spacers to get the wheel offset corrected.

I had my front rotors machined so the Audi wheels will fit without modifying the wheel center hole according to this thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=419243&highlight=audi+wheels

I have read that these tires are relatively quiet for an all-terrain tire and that they wear well. They have a 55,000 mile treadlife warranty and are currently $113/each at tirerack. This seems like a pretty good value and Cooper's are American made which I like. I had great experience with them many years ago so I have faith in the brand. I will post an update after I get them installed and put some miles on them.

I know this is a "tires" thread but I like to include a complete thought process in case anyone wants to attempt what I have done. Hope this is useful to someone.
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dart330
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 10:50 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

I've been wanting to upgrade my wheel size for some time now. I like the large availability of sizes for the 16" rims, but have always been partial to the look of the Rheins so I went with 15".

The next challenge was finding a tire that was as close to the stock size as possible, but with actual grip. I have run 28" tires before but did not like how much slower they are uphill on the highway. The available highway all-season tires are built for tread life and I get stuck on wet grass. This ruled out the Michelin Defender LTX and Cooper Discoverer HT3.

I ended up with the only "all-weather" tire in the stock 15" size that carries the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol (3PMSF) with a C weight load rating, the Nokian WR C3.

https://www.tires-easy.com/205-65-15/nokian-tires/wr-c3/tirecode/T429136

Here they are next to the Hankook RA08 185s.

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elizer Premium Member
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2018 10:29 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Dart - those look great. I got the ko2 on mine and I realized they are way to aggressive for what I plan to do with the van. On that Note anyone near Virginia want to buy some 215/65/16 Ko2 with about 300 miles on them let me know (set of 5) lol. I think I would probably go your route dart with those tires.
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doodledave
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 7:52 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Hi All - have enjoyed my struggles to learn and found all of this helpful.

Here's my situation:

87 Westy 2WD, stock suspension, etc

Just picked up a set of CLK rims (16x7 ET37). Do not have spacers (yet).

Was planning to run Entyre 205/60R16 but I have a concern about LOAD RATING - the 205/60's are 96, which is slightly under the recommend load rating. what's confusing to me is that I can't seem to find *any* 205/60R16 tires that have a 97+ load rating, but there are clearly people running these same tires. My assumption is that people who run them maintain careful awareness of their loads or something??

The alternative is to step up to a 205/65/R16 or 215/60/R16, both of which push load rating to 99 but presents possible FITMENT issues (super duper tight clearance). I can obviously fix this with spacers.

Questions:

1) Is it dumb to go with 205/60's at a 96? It will not be unusual for this van to carry 3 adults, gear, etc.

2) Opinions on 205/65 vs 215/60? I believe I can run the 205/65 without spacers, but that the 215 will require spacers.

Any other things I should be considering here??

Thanks everyone!!!
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campism
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:46 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

On my '87 2WD Westy I run CLKs with Achilles 205/65-16s that have a 107 load rating. No spacers, no rub, no experience comparing these tires with 215/60-16s.

I got mine at tires-easy.com for a very reasonable price.
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davevickery
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 7:54 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

I needed a tire for a spare that I don't rotate, so I have just been looking for something cheap. Tell me this isn't a crazy price, $23.67 no tax and free shipping. And they are probably halfway decent winter tires. Hercules tires are made by Cooper.
https://simpletire.com/hercules-215-75r15-01096-tires
[EDIT] All Gone. Hopefully someone got some.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2018 5:55 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

dart330 wrote:
I've been wanting to upgrade my wheel size for some time now. I like the large availability of sizes for the 16" rims, but have always been partial to the look of the Rheins so I went with 15".

The next challenge was finding a tire that was as close to the stock size as possible, but with actual grip. I have run 28" tires before but did not like how much slower they are uphill on the highway. The available highway all-season tires are built for tread life and I get stuck on wet grass. This ruled out the Michelin Defender LTX and Cooper Discoverer HT3.

I ended up with the only "all-weather" tire in the stock 15" size that carries the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol (3PMSF) with a C weight load rating, the Nokian WR C3.

https://www.tires-easy.com/205-65-15/nokian-tires/wr-c3/tirecode/T429136

Here they are next to the Hankook RA08 185s.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I really like this tire. I have about 4K miles on it. It’s a bit noisier than the WRG3 but that’s a very quiet tire. Im looking forward to finding some snow.

Here’s a link to a dedicated thread:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=646200

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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danfromsyr
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 12:44 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

I'm still Soooo dissapointed that Vredestein discontinued these tires.

but here's some if someone in Cali is looking for a set of 14in alloys and all seasons Chino Hills, California

https://www.ebay.com/itm/80-92-VW-Westfalia-Vanago...195629073?

Quote:
“4 - 102/100R VREDESTEIN ALL SEASON COMTRAC TIRES mounted on O.E.M. 14'' VW ALUMINUM ALLOY RIMS w/ Center CapsTake off rims and tires in great condition! Tires little more than 2 thousand miles total wear basically still new!These are All Season/All Weather/ Van/ Motor-home /RV type tires in order to get the sidewall ply stiffness/support required by Vanagons Campers. Bears M&S code and 3 Peak Snowflake Symbols. Long lifespan low noise level.Includes original lug nuts and bolts”


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robbiecanter
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 11:34 pm    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

2017 VW alltrack wheels, 225/65/17 bf ko2s, 15mm spacers front, 10mm rear. Machine front hubs/dust caps 57.1mm.
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PostPosted: Thu May 03, 2018 2:53 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Wow 28.5"

Look nice though.
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llilibel03
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2018 7:47 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

Robbie, how are you powered? To roll such a large diameter?
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2018 8:56 am    Post subject: Re: What TIRES fit? The ultimate tire thread! Reply with quote

llilibel03 wrote:
Robbie, how are you powered? To roll such a large diameter?


1.8t Smile
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