Hello Everyone, Been a while since I posted anything,

I am in need of some assistance.  I am about to purchase new tires
and suspension for my 88 Automatic Wolfsburg.

I had put on new KYB gas shocks and they are just way to stiff so I
was going to purchase the KONI Red adjustable units. I am basically
looking for a nice cushy ride on the highway with good dampening for
gravel roads in upstate NY. Hopefully it will be not have a lot of
back and forth bounce. I wanted to hear your thoughts on these shocks
and whether they are worth the cash?

The other thing is tires. I am looking for a good all year tire that
is not too noisy and be good in the rain, light snow and highway. I
read a post Dennis wrote a while ago that suggested some tire sizes
for alloy wheels. I see there are a couple of options for the 215 &
225 tire sizes on Tirerack.com.  I assume these tire sizes should fit
fine on the alloys and should be able to turn in the front wheels
without compromising the turning abilities?

What are your thoughts?

I was originally thinking of getting the 185 or 195/70/14 Hankook's
from Bus Depot. But I did not like that fact that the original tires
that came with that vehicle were the 205's and are wider, hence I
would like a nice wide and tall tire on the van. Possibly something
more aggressive on the rear?

Does anyone have any recommendations? No this not meant to be a tire
thread.

Thanks again,
Robert
88 Vanagon Wolfsburg Automatic
Long Beach NY, & NYC
____________________________________________________________________
This was Denni's  old post:
Re: 185 tires on alloy wheels
4/26/03
The good: That tire is not a p rated tire, it does not get de-rated. A
6" wheel is appropriate.

The bad: It is only a "185" width tire which will reduce overall and wet
weather traction as compared to a "205". It is also worthless in the
snow.

Suggestion: Go to a 215 or 225/70 rated for 44psi inflation pressure.
These are now becoming commonly available. The larger diameter will also
help to reduce the 4% odometer error.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Rodney Woten
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 2:57 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: 185 tires on alloy wheels

Is anyone out there using 185 width tires on the stock alloy wheels????
I have not been able to find a 205 tire that meets our Westy's
requirements.  Specifically, the tire I'm looking at is a Yokohama Y356
185/0r14, D load range, 1850# cap. (minus 10%, since it's a passenger
tire yields 1665#), 101 load rating.  Is anyone else using these on the
alloy wheels.  I'm just a little nervous about putting the narrower
tires on these wheels and need a little reassurance from the list.

TIA!!!!
Rod Woten
'87 Westy
Des Moines, Iowa
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