At 09:45 PM 7/16/2011, J Stewart wrote:
>really know of a case? Not your father-in-laws next door neighbors
>cousins best friend, but actual knowledge. And if a tire is rated to
>carry, say 1700 lbs., at what point will it fail? 1750? 1800? 2000?
>There has to be a fudge factor designed in here, what is it? Just
>curious.... Jeff

I experienced two successive rear-tire blowouts a few months apart on
my '84 Westy using 205-70x14 tires from General.  Both failures
involved a four-inch rip along the radius of the sidewall and exactly
resembled the after-blowout photos in
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4855739 .  Tires
were under a year old and were inflated to spec.  Tires were
recommended for the application by local Firestone dealer.  Both
failures occurred on a smooth road at highway speeds in hot weather.

Shifted to reinforced Michelins and much better handling with no
further problems.

Yours,
David