Hi Andrew,

On 2-Nov-04, at 4:51 AM, Andrew Grebneff wrote:

> Put it this way... the lower the profile/larger the wheel diameter
> you can afford, the better the handling will be... and as I keep
> saying, the difference could well save your life in an emergency
> avoidance situation.

Only if all other factors are equal.

VW designed the bus and Vanagon suspension and steering for a specific
wheel offset. They also included a spec on tire pressure, load rating
and sidewall rating. Following these guidelines will NOT make a vanagon
unsafe, if it did then DOT's worldwide would have intervened decades
ago. Good luck finding a low-profile tire with the correct load rating.

> The only problems are expense and possibly risk
> of tire-sidewall damage in large-sharpassed-rock offroad situations.

Depending on where and how you drive, these risks are NOT minimal. One
of my customers has a box-stock BMW 323 with 50-series Michelin tires
on it that has had to replace 4 tires in three years due to pot-hole
incidents. And that's with a suspension designed explicitly for that
tire and wheel combination. If you run these tires and wheels on a
vehicle that wasn't designed for them you are increasing risk. Period.
That doesn't make a vanagon safer in my book.

> According to enthusiast (nonVW) magazines, the better of such tires
> won't cause a degradation of ride comfort (I'll be able to report on
> this from personal experience once my van's back on the road).
> --

OK, so now we think the non-VW enthusiast mags know more about the
Vanagon than VW or the DOT. Sure, they know more about bling, but as I
said above, unless all other factors are equal you don't have an
argument.

One more thing....
Larger wheels and tires DECREASE horsepower. More rotational mass leads
to more power required to turn those big spinners, and that makes for
PROVEN lower numbers on the dyno.

My buses are happy on Continental CR-21's. My Dad's Vanagons are
running well on Kumho 185R14. YMMV.

Happy trails,

Greg Potts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1973/74/79 Westfakia Conversion **Bob the Tomato**  LY3H
1977 Sunroof Automatic L63H/L90D
http://www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
http://www.busesofthecorn.com