Hi Frank,

Thanks VERY much for the link to German Supply.  I already had them
bookmarked in my browser as a VW Vendor, but I had no idea they were in
Canada and carried tires.

With all the options on the German Supply website, I've managed to find
a local tire place that actually has inventory on the Yokohama Y370
LT195/75R14 D.  I really liked the tread pattern, being M+S and "fare
quite well in snow".  Living in Western Canada where snow is a
possibility litterally any month of the year, and my propensity to
explore logging roads...

I am somewhat embarassed to admit that when I went to my van to actually
see what was on it... It's exactly those tires!  That's why the tread
pattern looked so familiar!  What a fool!  They are what came with the
van & I only put 5000 km/year on it, so I haven't really looked at them
(other than the wear) since 2007.  I just assumed whatever was on my van
wouldn't be available.  In all the online research (US sites) I did (and
it was hours), I never stumbled across the Yokohama as an option.  Oh
well, live and learn.

By far, German Supply has the best list of 14" tires (suitable for a
Westy).  I only wish they were local so I could support them, but I
can't justify shipping tires from Ontario to Calgary when there is a
local supplier that has them in his warehouse.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Cheers,
Steve Williams

On 18/04/2015 4:13 PM, Frank Condelli wrote:
>          Steve, why not just get a new set of 14” tires in Canada ?  Much less problem and expense.  Yes, they are sometimes hard to find but they are out there.  Continental Vanco 8 are good and should be available from any Continental dealer in Calgary.   Here are a few other options:
>
> http://www.germansupply.com/home/customer/home.php?cat=446 <http://www.germansupply.com/home/customer/home.php?cat=446>
>
>
>
>> On Apr 18, 2015, at 8:53 AM, Automatic digest processor <LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Yes, more tire questions!
>>
>> I currently have tires on 14 inch steel rims on my 1991 Westfalia. They
>> need replacing and after having read the email list, multiple vendor
>> sites, and the (lack of) availability for 14 inch tires, I am leaning
>> towards getting 15 inch rims.  Part of my concern would be tire
>> replacement when travelling... I don't want to have to wait weeks for
>> someone to order in a specific 14 inch tire!  I feel the chances of
>> getting a 15 inch replacement on the road are much better.
>>
>> I feel that an All Season would be best for me as I don't drive in the
>> winter, but fall in the Rockies can have unexpected snow storms & I've
>> been caught more than once.
>>
>> I haven't priced out ordering from the US, but with the current exchange
>> rate, shipping, GST, etc it seems like a fairly expensive option.  If I
>> absolutely have to, I will order out of the US because I feel that tires
>> are "cheap insurance" and a very important piece of safety equipment on
>> my vehicles.
>>
>> I would like to keep as close to stock size as possible as I do park in
>> my garage and I have minimal clearance to get through the garage door.
>>
>> Kal Tire carries Nokian, but their computer shows them totally out of
>> stock (with no ETA) on the WRC (Van) tire in the 205/65/R15 size that
>> I'm leaning towards.  Load Rating, Load Range & Diameter & "All Season"
>> rating are kind of my deciding points.
>>
>> It's not a crisis as I won't have "Ruby" on the road until mid-June, but
>> I'm trying to plan ahead.  Ordering a 14" Nokian through Kal Tire came
>> up with a bill over $1000 for them installed & balanced (shipping from
>> US warehouse).  The kicker was the 4 week delivery period!  If I destroy
>> tires somewhere, I can't wait 4 weeks for a tire to show up!.
>>
>> Of course, I need 15 inch rims as well.  What have other people done in
>> Canada for tires & Rims?   I don't have the patience to try to find
>> something used on Kijiji or Craigslist.
>>
>> I saw on the Van-Cafe website that they tried to get together a pallet
>> shipment last xmas to ship to Calgary, but it didn't quite come together
>> in the end.  That might be one option... if we could revive that?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Steve Williams
>> 1991 Westfalia "Ruby"
>> Calgary, Canada
>
>
>        Please note that I will be away from my business travelling from December 01 until April 30, 2015.  Parts orders will be processed although not as quickly as usual.  I will always be available for contact by E-mail.  If you phone your call will be addressed by Darrell or Carol and they will either call you back or advise you to contact me directly by E-mail. Details of this adventure are on our Travel Blog: http://frankcondelli.com/travels/ <http://frankcondelli.com/travels/>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Frank Condelli
> Almonte, Ontario, Canada
> '87 VW Westy, '00 Kawasaki 250 Sherpa, "98 Ducati 750 Monster & Lionel Trains (Collection for sale <http://frankcondelli.com/trainsal.htm>)
> Frank Condelli & Associates <http://www.frankcondelli.com/> - Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
> BusFusion <http://www.busfusion.com/> a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 04 ~ 07, 2015