>You do not want a tire on a Vanagon whose road contact surface is really
>wide. While wide tires may look "Macho", they are crap when the chips
>are down and you need serious friction on the road for vehicle control.

Yep, that's why Porsches, Lamborghinis etc run 3"-wide 10-ply tires.

With a heavy vehicle like a T3 the only problem a wide tire might
cause is aquaplaning in the wet, but you'd have toi hit a deep puddle
or have low tread depth.

Of course a fat TRUCK tire would be death on wheels, as they have
poor traction (in the dry, let  alone wet) due to hard rubber
compounds designed for long life. Performance car tires (which are
most certainly available with load capacity to spare for vans) are a
different story entirely.

The XLWB 1983 Toyota Hiace Jumbo (extralong wheelbase, high roof,
tall tailgate) 2.4 diesel (it has a later-model 2L engine to replace
the original 2.2-liter 1L) I just bought has light truck tires on it.
It handles OK (extremely stable due to the L-O-N-G wheelbase), but
even so I'd be very careful in the wet, as these tires are NOT
designed for cornering.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut