RE: Radials made all the difference... it had
crossplies when I bought it. Crossplies should have been illegal
decades ago; they are outright dangerous (and I include repro tires
for veteran cars here... these should be radial).

I wonder how many on this list today have ever had the opportunity to make
the comparison, going from cross ply tires to radials on the same vehicle.
And especially on a vehicle that is being has been/will be driven near the
edge?  I did on a Spitfire in about 1966 (when no one had heard of radials
yet) and for those of you that have only know radial ply tires under your
sleds you don't know (and hopefully never will) how much difference the
interior design of your tires can make.  And I'm sure this applies to a
Vanagon as well as any other vehicle (VS).