Just in time for your post, these are listings from
our regional trader paper in Virginia:

Mercedes 500 or 300SL wheels and 225/55-16 tires,
tires are near new, bought as winter set and never
used, will fit other Mercedes model and years, $250
cash firm; 804-706-1988.

Or these:

Mercedes-Benz set of 4 wheels, 16� alloys, $100 OBO;
804-861-1875.

I'd love to have either of these, but I'm not in the
market right now.

Stephen

--- Kevin Dawson <Calwolfie@AOL.COM> wrote:

> Hi,
> I just got off the phone with VW of America.  I
> called them a few  weeks ago
> asking them for a letter stating what size of tires
> they would specify  for
> the Vanagon.  I told them that Michelin has stated
> that they are  discontinuing
> many of the 14 inch tire sizes and that the
> selection of 14" tires  to chose
> from, that have the correct load rating was limited
> and becoming fewer  by the
> year.  I asked them to specify a 15" tire and a 16"
> tire.  It  took them a
> couple of days but Becky of VW called to say that
> they would specify  a 205/65
> R15 c or a 225/60 R 16.  She said that all tires
> should be a load  97 or greater
> and that they would send me a follow up letter
> making it  official.
> I later was playing around with an online tire size
> calculator and am
> finding that the 225/60-16 is 5.39% bigger than the
> 205/70-14. The calculator
> brought up a warning that anything over 5% could be
> dangerous as it could
> overwhelm the brakes.  Comparing the 225/60-16 to
> the 185-14, there is only  3.89%
> difference.  That seems to be acceptable.  I have a
> stock 87'  westy 2wd,
> automatic. Could the increase in tire size
> overstrain the  tranny/engine?  What about
> the concern with the brakes?  I know there  are
> upgrades for the brakes but I
> don't think I'll have time to do the brakes  before
> our summer trip.  I do
> need new tires and I have some very nice 16"
> Mercedes rims I want to use.
> Anyone out there already using  225/60-16?
>
> I haven't got the letter from VW yet but once I do I
> would be willing to
> share it with the group as it might make buying
> tires from some venders (like
> Costco) easier.
>
> Thanks,
> Kevin
>
>
>
> ************************************** See what's
> free at http://www.aol.com.
>

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