Dear Vanagon List,

I just wanted to pass some information along.  I recently had to replace the
205/70-14 MXT's on my 91 GL.  I did ask the list & got a few
recommendations, but most were for the MXT's which have been discontinued by
Michelin.  I knew about the Aglis 61's, as I have them on my 84 Westy, but
felt that the would look dorky on the 91 GL since it has the alloy wheels &
the plastic crap around the bottom of the body.

I then went to the Michelin Web Site and found that they recommended the MX4
RainForce tire in a 205/70 even though the load rating was 95 as apposed to
97 on the MXT.  I checked with several retailers who recommended that I
purchase 215/70-14 instead as they have a load rating of 96.  I went ahead
with this recommendation & quickly learned that the bus did not handle well.
It over steered & blew around a bit.  None of the ill effects were extreme,
but the tires were not nearly as good as the MXT's

Last night I e-mailed Michelin through their site and out lined my problems.
I asked them if I had the correct tires and suggested that I did not want to
have an accident because of the tires.  Michelin called me at 8:30 this
morning to inform me that I had the wrong tires on the bus and assured me
that no one at Michelin would recommend the RainForce for a Vanagon.  They
were in disbelief when I told them that the recommendation came from their
web site.

They called me back a little while ago and informed me that a new set of
Aglis 61's are on the way to my dealer and will be installed completely free
as soon as possible.  when I expressed my concerns about dorkyness, they
told me that it was the only tire available and that I didn't have any other
choice.  It turns out that the Aglis 61's are 2 tenths of an inch narrower &
3 tenths taller.  I guess I would rather live with dorkyness that put up
with ill handling.

Along other lines,  I took a young fellow (Clark) from my area down to see
Karl Mullendore (sp?) yesterday and we came back with a nice 86 Westy for
him & his spouse & baby.  They will be headed out to CO later this summer
for their first family Westy camping experience (actually, the wife, Ann,
grew up in a bay window Westy).   It is nice to see these young folks (mid
20's) taking after their parents and us other old farts.

I guess that since I am writing, I ought to report on my Boston Bob rebuilt
engine.  I now have over 30,000 miles on it and every thing is great about
it.  I believe it took a full 10,000 miles to really break it in.  Lots of
power now.

Walt Spak
Pittsburgh, PA.
wnsopc3@3rdm.net