Something to note on the Hankooks, with which I'm quite happy.  They seem to
require a bit of a break-in period.  They were quite "floaty" for the first
couple or three hundred miles.  I installed the pair on the rear (I now have
all four corners) just before leaving on a four thousand mile trip to the
Pacific NW, and am quite happy with the ride and feel of the '85 Westy with
stiff raised springs and stock V'gon alloy wheels.

Karl Wolz

|-----Original Message-----
|From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]
|On Behalf Of The Bus Depot
|Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 8:29 AM
|To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
|Subject: Re: New tires
|
|> Inquiry to Kumho resulted in the explanation that the largest market
|> for the 857 in the U.S. is as a trailer tire, but that the
|tire was in
|> fact built and designed for vans and buses.  Does a similar
|situation
|> apply for the Hankook RA08?
|
|
|Exactly. It was designed as a van tire, but in the U.S. market
|there is little demand for a 14" van tire so it is categorized
|as a trailer tire. It took me countless discussions with
|Hankook execs to convince them that there was even a market
|for them for VW vans here in the U.S. (even though they were
|selling them for that purpose in the rest of the world). Until
|then they steadfastly refused to import nearly enough RA08's
|to meet demand, effectively stifling their own sales by
|listening to their "marketing guys" instead of their customers.
|
|- Ron Salmon
|  The Bus Depot, Inc.
|  www.busdepot.com
|  (215)  234-VWVW
|
|_____________________________________________
|Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT
|-----
|No virus found in this message.
|Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
|Version: 2012.0.1831 / Virus Database: 2090/4548 - Release
|Date: 10/12/11