I'm going to have to disagree Bob. The front wheels turn at an angle to
the direction of travel, thereby stressing the front sidewalls to a far
greater degree than the rears. The fronts are also worked a lot harder under
braking, and especially when braking and turning at the same time.
    Any reasonably powered road race car will use up front tires at a much
faster rate than rears. It is only live axle V8 sedans that run out of rear
tire first.
    And obviously, on a Vanagon, the rear tires aren't being spun very
often!  :-)   Jake
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Stevens" <mtbiker62@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2005 8:44 PM
Subject: Re: On weight

> "So why, invariably do the tire inflation specs have higher pressure to
> the REAR on Vanagons?"
>
> my $0.02
> It's mostly dynamics because of the effects of momentum and inertia on the
> weight of the van while moving, along its length. Although the front
> sidewalls "roll" when the van turns, because of lateral oversteer
> characteristics inherent in that, the rear sidewalls have more lateral
force
> on them than the fronts. Higher air pressure stiffens the sidewall to
better
> deal with that force.
>
> bob
>