Recently I was over to my local tire shop and Michelin dealer to have my
tires rotated, balanced and front end aligned. My M Michelin MXT 205-75
R14's are getting worn and knowing I can't get the Ultimate Michelin for
the old Red Brick next time, I needed to start considering what to
replace them with. Right off the bat the dealer suggested I look into
going up to a slghtly bigger rim. That would give me more options. Of
course that led to a discussions of rims.

The tire dealer said  that the newer cars and trucks on the road now,
and new ones still coming out in the future are going to have big (tall)
rims, and the rubber on the road will be a very thin profile. He said
that John Q. Public really thinks these rims and tires are very
cool...............until they come in the first time to buy new tires.
They are stunned, angry, and generally pissed of when they learn that
their replacement  sporty-looking low-profile tire is going to cost them
$200/each. Apparently this word never gets past the salesman that sold
them the car with the sporty tall rims and low profile tires.

You might want to utter a small prayer of thanks for being able to drive
you vanagon with its fatter tires and smaller rims.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver in Birmingham, AL