I have had multiple sets of Yokohama 356's on my 84 Westy with reasonable
results. Never had any stability problems, though felt like wear
characteristics were not very good. Your 43/53 tire pressures are getting
close to what I have run. I have had good luck with Michelins on other cars,
but have never had them on a Vanagon.  I would take a careful look at other
front end components as well as switching tires. I have had handling and
wear problems from bad shocks, as well as the typical tie rod ends and ball
joint issues. And you could very well have a bad set of Yoko's.  Good luck.

PS, I have Continentals now, and like them better than Yoko's.

Jim Henry
Durham, NC
84 Westy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]
> On Behalf Of mad madeline
> Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 2:20 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Tire Choice Question
>
> Irecently purshased a new set of Yokohama 356s @ 185
> r14 8ply. Since the first moment I drove the van it wass all
> over the road. Like a pick-up with a load of gravel in the
> back. We changed the tire pressure from
> 38/43 F/R to 44/44 to 43/53 and the handling did not change.
> Gets worse with speed. It was so bad that we aborted the
> trip. So now the tire dealer has offered to put whatever tire
> we want on it.
> I have always had good luck with michelins and Have never had
> good results with any other brand. So I need to decide
> between the 1)Agelis 185r14 or 2) LTX 195 70
> 14 (dont have my notes in front and may be 195 75 14).
> The previous tires were 205 LTXs which seem to not be made
> now. The van drove nicely with those. Does it steer so bad
> because of the 185 size?? Thoughts?
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> ______________________
> Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate
> in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.
> http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545367
>