At 08:09 PM 02/09/1999 +0000, Derek Drew wrote:
>I notice that there are no tires in the list below that are, say, 30
>inches tall on 15 inch wheels. I am fairly sure that such tires exist.
>Possibly the reason is that they are only available in the alternate sizing
>format.

Friend of mine has 33x10.5 on 15" wheels (Ford F-150), there is also 35x12
out there too.... too fat to fit on a Vanagon though!  This is why 16" is
where it is at and why they are becoming so common on new trucks.  The new
F-150s come stock with 235-75 16"

>I have long suspected that some list members are attracted to the idea of
>16" wheels over 15" wheels simply because they know there is a 16" vanagon
>and the idea of having 16" wheels sounds more cool or radical, but that
>there may be no real benefit to having a 16" wheel. I would like to know if
>someone has some illumination on this issue to offer us.

I would want 16" over 15" (and have!!) as I would want a tall and narrow
tire.  This winter I am installing 205/80 16s on my Syncro for 29"
diameter.  To get the same on a 15" would require a 235/75 which would
start giving you very tight margins if you want to install chains or get
into lots of gumbo.

>At 05:20 PM 9/2/99 -0400, you wrote:
>>Hi all. With all the talk of taller tires and different wheels, I
>>thought the following chart might be of interest. Use a fixed-width
>>font to line up the columns, or import to your favorite spreadsheet
>>or database program. Tires with sufficient load ratings are available
>>for all sizes listed - whether the tires would be appropriate for or
>>even fit on the Vanagon is another matter...
>>
>>Spec      Wheel Tread Sidewall Diameter Circumference  Rev  RelativeMPH
>>--------- ----- ----- -------- -------- -------------  ---  -----------
>>185/75-14 14    7.2   5.5      24.9     78.3           809  70
>>195/75-14 14    7.6   5.8      25.5     80.2           790  71.6
>>205/70-14 14    8     5.6      25.3     79.5           797  71.0
>>205/70-15 15    8     5.6      26.3     82.6           767  73.8
>>205/75-15 15    8     6.1      27.1     85.2           744  76.1
>>215/70-15 15    8.4   5.9      26.9     84.4           751  75.4
>>215/75-15 15    8.4   6.3      27.7     87             728  77.7
>>225/70-15 15    8.8   6.2      27.4     86.1           736  76.9
>>225/75-15 15    8.8   6.6      28.3     88.9           713  79.4
>>235/70-15 15    9.2   6.5      28       87.8           722  78.4
>>235/75-15 15    9.2   6.9      28.9     90.7           698  81.1
>>205/80-16 16    8     6.5      28.9     90.8           698  81.1
>>215/70-16 16    8.4   5.9      27.9     87.5           724  78.2
>>215/85-16 16    8.4   7.2      30.4     95.5           664  85.2
>>225/70-16 16    8.8   6.2      28.4     89.2           710  79.7
>>225/75-16 16    8.8   6.6      29.3     92             689  82.1
>>235/70-16 16    9.2   6.5      29       91             697  81.2
>>235/75-16 16    9.2   6.9      29.9     93.9           675  83.8
>>235/85-16 16    9.2   7.9      31.7     99.7           636  89.0
>>
>>Dimensions are in inches. "Rev" is revolutions per mile. "RelativeMPH"
>>refers to the speed you'd be going at the engine RPM required to go
>>70 MPH with the "stock" 185R14 tire. "RelativeMPH" is simply a
>>calculated value based on "Rev". Dimensions are calculated, not
>>observed and will vary in real life based on wheel width, psi, etc.
>>
>>And now the question...does anyone know *for sure* if 15" Mercedes
>>steel wheels will fit a Vanagon properly without modification - i.e.
>>not need to be milled to clear the hub, correct offset, etc? If they
>>do fit, I think I'm off to the junkyard!
>>
>>Doug Fitz-Randolph
>>Yarmouth, ME
>>'90 Syncro
>
>________________________________________________________
>Derek Drew                              New York, NY & Washington, DC
>drew@interport.net
>'90 Syncro Westfalia...
>...seen off-road at http://www.tiu.net/~des/vw/drew/index.html
>
>        Also seen at: http://www.pipeline.com/~tforhan/swrange.htm
>                     http://4wd.sofcom.com/VW/snow.html
>                     http://www.pipeline.com/~tforhan/swmassn.htm
>                     http://4wd.sofcom.com/VW/Campers/Campers.html
>
>        Note: most valuable Vanagon sites on the planet (for owners) are:
>                    http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon
>                    ftp://gerry.vanagon.com/pub/
>
>

--   David Marshall -                    - Quesnel, BC, Canada   --
--    78 VW Rabbit, 80 VW Caddy, 84 VW Westie, 85 VW Cabriolet   --
--       87 Audi 5000 Quattro, 88 2.0L VW Syncro Double Cab      --
-- David's Volkswagen Home Page        http://www.volkswagen.org --
-- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning  http://www.fastforward.ca --
-- david@volkswagen.org (pmail) or vanagon@volkswagen.org (list) --