Andrew -

Which tires are you thinking of, and what is their load rating?

Also - when people are thinking about tires, they need to think seriously
about where they are going to be driving.  Low profile / short sidewall
tires are designed for smooth roads.  The more often you drive on gravel or
two-track (primitive) roads, the more you need to worry about tires that are
designed to stand up to slamming over the occasional rock without damaging
the tire or wheel, and a taller sidewall helps a lot.

My 2WD Westphalia has been up some pretty bad roads in the past, and will
again, hopefully soon (Spring is starting in Idaho)!  I wouldn't want the
sort of tires a Mercedes S-Class would generally wear.

As with everything else in life - Choose, then pay the price.

Mike Finkbiner
'87 Westy wearing 195R-14 Kumho 852s - load range 103
Moscow, Idaho

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Date:    Sun, 15 Apr 2001 13:34:45 +1200
From:    Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: 15 inch wheels

>The standard tire for a Vanagon requires a "C" load rating
>or at least a load rating of 1620 pounds per corner. Getting this >kind of
>a load rating in a shorter sidewall tire is difficult to do. >Generally
>speaking, the shorter the sidewall, the lower the load >rating. The tires
>that I chose have a load rating of 1520 per tire. >I am trading some weight
>bearing capacity for the "look" I wanted. >In my case, this works because
>the van is a weekend warrior and it >is unusual for it to carry more than 2
>people.

Low-profile tires ARE available. Heavy cars such as mercedes S-Class roll on
'em But they are NOT cheap.

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