Dennis,

I expect to be on that Alaska Haul Road next summer with Michelin XCA
205-75-14's. How do you think the tire will cope with that road.

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Chelsea, AL

Dennis Haynes wrote:

>Actually, unless you are going to a larger overall diameter tire, a 15
>or 16 inch makes the available selections even worse. The major
>attributes of a tire that sets the capacity is overall diameter and the
>volume/pressure combination of air. As the rim size increases, the
>capacity for a tire of a given outside diameter and width decreases.
>This can only get offset by increased air pressure. 215/70-14 is a
>readily available size and it's capacity is extremely close to the so
>called reinforced 205-70 the VW placed on the alloy wheels. It traveled
>to Alaska and drove the haul road with 215-70-14 Bridgestone Potenzas
>back in 1993. The rear tires had most of the tread wear off but no
>flats.
>
>Dennis
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>Of John Reddick
>Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 10:18 AM
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Wheels/tires for travel
>
>Avoiding the whole tire issue, Gowesty makes a great point about wheel
>size in their write-ups.  I have had real world experience/buffoonery
>with
>exacly what they said.
>    Driving south on the Haul Road in Alaska in my 14" MXT shod Westy,
>on
>rock completely destroyed both tires on one side of the van.  I had one
>spare. I limped into Fairbanks in search of proper tires.  Their was a
>VW
>Rialta RV with the same problem.  I called/checked every tire shop in
>Alaska for proper tires.  No joy.  If I had been on 15 or 16 inch wheels
>I
>could have purchased properly rated light truck tires at any local shop.
>    If you need new tires anyway, a wheel upgrade makes a huge
>improvement
>in performance and you ability to source proper tires locally, as well
>as
>your choice of tires.  If you plan to adventure far and wide in you van,
>I
>would definely think about this.  It ruined the last couple weeks of my
>road-trip-of-a-lifetime.
>
>John
>
>
>
>