Thanks. I had new shocks (KYBs)and upper ball joints installed by a local
shop right before I got the tires but they didn't mention any alignment
work. And, the van tracks nice and straight. I will have the alignment
checked regardless. It hasn't been checked in years.

On Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:59:38 -0700, Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
wrote:

> RE: Handling after going to 'correct' tires
>When was the last time you had the wheel alignment (front AND rear)
checked
>and set to spec?  And how new/good are the shocks?  My personal
experience,
>based on first my '85 WEsty and now my '90 Westy, is that there are three
>elements to the handling that the driver/owner has control over. First
>alignment.  If the front end is way out of whack you will really notice it
>in the tracking/handling on the highway.  But also first is the tires (
that
>you have taken care of).  How can both be first? They go together.  You
>can't get proper alignment on the wrong tires and the right tires don't
help
>that much if the alignment is off.  Anecdote here:  I have the wheel
>alignment done by the local VW dealer, maybe the only VW dealer in the
>country that still knows what they are doing on Vanagons and even Buses.
>The first thing they did when I first took it in for alignment was go out
>and check to see what tires I had mounted.  I asked them what would happen
>if I didn't have proper tires on and they said they wouldn't align it,
>wouldn't take reposibility if I was running the wrong tires.
>So my experience has been that the most significant change I've felt has
>been tires (major change but including alignment) and then shocks.  Going
>from badly worn shock to new shocks was just as noticable as going to the
>right tires.