Your argument would no doubt be more compelling if I knew what a ring and pinion swap was.

Pirelli Scorpions S/Ts are available in:
215/65TR16 98T
215/75TR16 107T

Among other sizes of course

There are two reasons why I want to upgrade from 14" wheels:

1) Allow for the possibility of a SA big brake kit
2) They look so damn cool

Remember, I'm driving a 2WD and my "off roading" is at worst gravel / dirt roads or the hard packed earth of a campsite.

Thanks,
Chris

On Thu, 24 May 2001, Derek Drew wrote:

>
> Personally, to my way of thinking, the *short answer* is that prime
> candidate tires for the 16" wheel are:
>
> 7.00R16
> 245/75/16
> 215/85/16
> 235/70/16
>
> But these tires require a ring and pinion swap. Without a ring and pinion
> swap, it would seem that a 15" wheel would be just as good, or to my way of
> thinking, the 14" wheel is also just as good too.
>
> So the logic is, due to the expense and limited benefit, you may wish to
> avoid changing from the wheel you have now, be it 14" alloys or 15" wheels,
> unless you are going to do a ring and pinion swap.
>
> But because of the expense, don't do a ring and pinion swap unless you are
> going to make a bid difference for your van: e.g., mount very large ties,
> such as one of the ones listed above. Since the number of people who are
> candidates for a ring and pinion swap is small (it should be done at a
> normal rebuild time for the transmission), the number of people who should
> be looking at these 16" wheels is also small. This is especially true due
> to their having an improper ET and high cost.
>
> The tire size recommendations above are a bit more complicated if you are
> swayed by evidence that one of the "best" all around tires for Syncro is
> the BF Goodrich All Terrain Radial because this tire does not come in one
> of the above sizes. It comes in 235/85/16, which is a big larger than the
> above tires, but possibly too large to reasonably fit (we need a tester
> please), and also it comes in sizes 30x9.50/15 / 225/75r16 which two tires
> have essentially the same dimensions except for one being on a 15" wheel;
> but these two tires are smaller than the tires sizes in the list above. So
> it may not be possible to have a BFG cake and eat it too, in which case
> John Wessels argument that the 30x9.50/15 is a tire to shoot for may have
> merit. Still, I have not given up on going larger still pending further
> research.
>
> For the reasons discussed in this email, I take a dim view of the 205/55/16
> tires because they are not going to make much difference from whatever you
> are running now.
>
> At 05:28 AM 5/24/01 -0700, you wrote:
> >So what kind of tires would you run on these? The ad says 205/55/16 but
> >what brand? Any other sizes? Will the spare still fit under the cab? Who
> >makes a 16" tire that will take the load of a westy? Does it need to be
> >reinforced?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >Chris
> >
> >On Wed, 23 May 2001, JordanVw@aol.com wrote:
> >
> >check out these cool wheels for the vanagon.....
> >chris
> >
> >
> >http://www.ronalusa.com/cars/cars_html/vw_vanagon.html
> >
> >Thanks,
> >Chris Gronski
> >'80 Westy "Pokey" - SLOPOKEY
> >'87 Chevrolet Sprint - Ice Racer
> >'91 Pontiac Firefly - Convertable
> >www.vanagon.org & .ca
> >www.gronski.com, .org, & .ca
> >www.nineeleven.org & .ca
>
> ________________________________________________________
> Derek Drew                              New York, NY & Washington, DC
> derekdrew@rcn.com                  212-580-6486
> Email me for viscous couplings
> '90 Syncro Westfalia...
> ...seen off-road at
> http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm
> Note: most valuable Vanagon sites on the planet (for owners) are:
>        http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon
>        ftp://gerry.vanagon.com/pub/
>        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro
>        http://www.vanagon.com
>        http://www.syncro.org
> My refrigerator article:
>         http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm
> My article that shows how to deal with insurance companies:
>         ftp://gerry.vanagon.com/pub/auto-insurance-madness.html
> To view Wolfgang's incredibly informative wheel article
>         http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm
> To view Tim Smith's incredibly useful gearing calculator
>         http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls
> To view some 16" Trailing Arms that enable much larger tires see
>        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncro-org/files/Wheels%2C%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg
>
>
>
> If you would like to modify your subscription settings (including unsubscribing), visit:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro
> Please remember that rude or offensive language is not allowed on the Syncro list. Please try your best to resolve differences privately and keep them off the list.
>
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Thanks,
Chris Gronski
'80 Westy "Pokey" - SLOPOKEY
'87 Chevrolet Sprint - Ice Racer
'91 Pontiac Firefly - Convertable
www.vanagon.org & .ca
www.gronski.com, .org, & .ca
www.nineeleven.org & .ca