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Tires and wheels! / Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!

« on: August 19, 2016, 08:46:07 am »

Cole....or anyone else,

Any last thoughts on the 215/75/15 Kumho tires? They are 6 ply with a 106 rating and max load of 2095 pounds. Good reviews, nice price, and seemingly good warranty.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Road+Venture+AT51&partnum=175R5AT51&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Would it be reasonable to think their extra stiffness might make up for their sidewall height for this application?

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Tires and wheels! / Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!

« on: August 18, 2016, 01:20:44 pm »

Thanks! I should have known that. Hence the reason performance/track cars have very low profile tires....

I've found some higher load rated 215/75/15 tires (106 rating) - Goodyear Wrangler HT, Goodyear Wrangler AT/S, and Kumho Road Venture AT51. Only getting 20-25k out of my Goodyear G26 Cargos....so am gunshy to buy another set of Goodyear tires. The Kumho is supposedly a 55k tire. Maybe it is worth consideration in this size???

But, the 215/75/15 may be getting a little bigger in diameter than I want.....

Damn! Why do I have to make everything so difficult!! On the flip side, I'm almost always very pleased with the end results. :-)

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Tires and wheels! / Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!

« on: August 18, 2016, 12:13:46 pm »

After poking around on the Net some more and giving this extra thought, I ask myself "Rather than spending the money on the 16" wheels, why not just keep the stock 15" wheels already on the van, and stick taller tires on them"?

I haven't paid for the 16" Jetta wheels yet. The seller said to take them and make sure they were what I wanted before paying him.

I see that 225/70/15 is just a touch taller than the 235/60/16 I was planning on running....and the 215/70/15 just a touch shorter.

I understand that I may be a little more limited on selection with the 15's (maybe less so on a 215/75/15) but I see that all are available in the 100T rating, which, as I understand from GW, is sufficient enough for these vans. 

I could save myself $100 on the wheels by going this route....which would ease my financial burden of purchasing the spacers and shocks.

What are the downsides of my logic here of just sticking taller tires on the 15" wheels already on my van?

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Tires and wheels! / Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!

« on: August 16, 2016, 10:11:19 am »

Perfect! Thanks, Cole!

Would I gain enough extra handling stability to make it worth the effort and expense of adding spacers to push the wheels out a bit?

Also, I sort of like the idea of a narrower tire for less rolling resistance and road noise...say a a 215/65/16 rather than the wider 235/60/16. Again though, I have stability in the back of my mind while driving curvy mountain roads...so perhaps the 235/60/16s would be the better choice. Thoughts?

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Tires and wheels! / Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!

« on: August 15, 2016, 11:52:42 am »

Great thread!

I'm lifting my 95 Winnebago EVC with the Cavevan spacers and adding 16" wheels. I just bought 5 used steel VW wheels from a late model Jetta for $100.

I was hoping to run 235/60-16 tires......not because I know much about tires but rather due to that size being recommend on the Gowesty website.

The Jetta wheels I purchased stamped "ET50" and measure 7.5" wide from outside to outside. However, I don't know if this means they are a 7.5" wide wheel (6.5 is stamped on them and they measure 6.5" from inner lip to inner lip). The original wheels on the van are stamped "15x6" and "ET44".

So, my questions are: Are these wheels wide enough to keep it stable after lifting? And will the 235/60-16 tires fit on this wheel?

Lastly, a loaded EVC is a lot heavier than a Jetta. Will the Jetta wheels be strong enough?

(if it matters, 90% of the miles I put on this van are HWY....lots of mountain driving. The remaining 10% is on rougher gravel and dirt roads. HWY or dirt, I drive slower and easier than most everyone)