Okay, I know that tires have been done to death, so I didn't ask anybody
on the list; I went to the website and looked in the archives and
arrived at my decision (or so I thought).  I went out to buy 4 Michelin
XT LT4s to replace my worn out Michelin MXTs.  This isn't as simple as
it sounds.  The XT is available only through Sears or NTB.  I wasn't
happy when I found out the mounting, balancing, etc., to include
alignment added up to 175.00 on top of the cost of the tires, which at
76.99 were an okay deal.  I bagged the Sears thing for today, due to the
prices and went looking elsewhere to find a suitable tire for my vanagon.

I went to a Just Tires shop right down the street from the Sears.  They
gave me all kinds of what I think is misinformation, but I just thanked
them and left.  Could you of the list clarify some doubts that were
raised after listening to the guys at Just Tires and Goodyear Tire?

    * 6 ply versus reinforced sidewall - the same thing or two different
      animals?  I need the reinforced sidewall on my vanagon, right?
      All the tire guys are telling me that all I need is a 6 ply tire
      and not to worry about the reinforced sidewall.
    * Michelin Agilis - suitable or unsuitable for the vanagon?  These
      guys say that Michelin recommends them for the vanagon, but the
      Vanagon website seems to indicate that this would not be wise, due
      to sidewall cracks.  I did see the Michelin literature and it
      recommends the Agilis for "light or compact vans".  That's not my
      definition of a vanagon.
    * Just for curiousity, does anyone remember what tires came on the
      vanagon?  I have a spare that I'm running right now that the Just
      Tires guy says is the original equipment tire, it's a Continental,
      he says the size is 20570R14, I thought I needed 19575R14.  This
      doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks in advance for helping to clear up my confusion.

Karen