If you're going to invest in wheels go directly to 16 or 17. Many more choices maintain reasonable diameters and lets you get onto fully modern performance tires. 15 inch is very limited as there are only a few tires with adequate load capacity unless you are looking to go tall.

Otherwise you can follow what the factory did beginning with the 87 model year and go to a 205/70-14 XL. The XL is the imporatant part. You need the 98 load index. These are hard to find but there are some good ones available especially from some Asian companies.   Amazon has some great offerings. 38 psi front and 42-48 rear will work very well with these.

Dennis

 
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Stephen Edwards
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2016 2:37 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Tires! 15" or 14"?

Hi all,

Can someone point me to a concise explanation of the pros and cons of 14” versus 15” wheels & tires? 

Having lurked on this list for years, I know there have been many discussions about this, and I don’t mean to start a whole new one, but I’m having difficulty navigating the archives (there are such a LOT of them!) and TheSamba’s tire threads tend to be either uber-technical or just unsupported opinion, with not enough in between to be really helpful.

I’ve always run either 185 or 195 R14’s, and gotten decent mileage and handling, but on the highway the ride is hard and unforgiving. My wife and I are planning some very long trips after she retires (including, we hope, from here to the other end of Canada’s famous Dempster Highway, as well as some logging roads in Northern Ontario) and I’m wondering if it’s time to invest in some 15” wheels to soften the ride.

Thanks,

Steve Edwards - currently running a 91 GL with Subaru 2.2 engine, rolling on Nokian Hakkapellitas in Chicago, IL