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Tires
for your VW Bus or Van
Most
passenger car tires are dangerous
to use on your VW van.
Here's why.
Bus, Vanagon,
and Eurovan Tire F.A.Q....
"What
are the tire requrements for Busses, Vanagons, and Eurovans?"
"Why
can standard passenger tires be dangerous on these vans?"
"Are
passenger car tires safe if I upgrade to 15" or 16"
wheels?"
"Why
are many "correctly rated" tires still poor choices
for these vans?"
Bus
Depot Tire Selection...
Who
are Vredestein and Hankook? Why are their tires better?
All-Season
and Snow Tires for VW
Busses with 14"
Wheels
All-Season
and Snow Tires for Vanagons
with 14" Wheels
Tires
for Eurovans (or
for Vanagons
with 15" or 16"
Wheels)
"What
are the tire requirements for Busses, Vanagons, and Eurovans?
Why can't I use standard passenger car tires?"
The VW Bus, Vanagon,
and Eurovan
have unusual tire requirements because they are very heavy vehicles
sitting on comparatively small tires. While most modern
vans and SUV's use 16 to 18 inch tires (which can
handle more weight), most VW vans use much smaller tires. This
puts more strain on the tire's sidewall and therefore requires
a tire especially designed to handle this. Most passenger
car tires are simply not designed to handle the weight
of a VW van, and do not meet VW's specs for safe use on a
VW bus or van.
Starting in the
mid 1960's with split-window busses using 14" tires, and
continuing through the Eurovan, Volkswagen specifically required
that the tires have specially reinforced sidewalls, designed
to handle the heavy load of the vehicle. These special
"sidewall reinforced" tires were supplied with your
VW Bus or Van when sold new, and the warnings on the door
jamb and in the manual clearly advised that only similar replacement
tires be used, for safety's sake.
Standard-load
passenger car tires are simply unsafe for use on VW vans.
This is agreed upon by both Volkswagen and the U.S. Department
of Transportation. According to U.S. D.O.T. tire safety
standards, a Light Truck tire used on a VW bus or van (which
is classified as a light truck for tire purposes) must be able
to handle 6% above the van's maximum load capacity. But
if the tire is a P-rated (passenger car) tire, its load capacity
specification must FIRST be reduced by 9% to determine its Light
Truck load capacity (again, as per the U.S. D.O.T.), and
then the 6% safety margin deducted from that number. If you
do the math, based on the GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) of a
Bus or Vanagon you get the following minimum acceptable
load ratings: 1520 lbs (load index 95) for a light truck rated
tire, or 1670 lbs (load index 99) for a standard Passenger car
(P) rated tire. For a Eurovan, Volkswagen recommends
more stringent guidelines, advising a minimum load index of
100 (1764 lbs).
Then the tire
must handle the recommended inflation for your VW van.
This is especially an issue with Busses and Vanagons, which
require unusually high rear-tire inflation on most years (as
high as 53 psi, depending on the year and the tire size). See
the inflation requirement noted on your door jamb or owners
manual, and compare that to the maximum inflation rating on
the tire's sidewall. If the tire's rating is lower, it cannot
be properly inflated when used on your van.
So for safe use
on a VW van, both the tire's load capacity and its inflation
capacity must exceed those required for your van (as noted above).
This rules out virtually every standard-load passenger car tire
on the market - which is precisely why Volkswagen themselves
say not to use them. Look for the terms
"Sidewall Reinforced," "Load Range
C", or "Load Range D" on the tire.
Most tires that carry those designations will have sufficient
sidewall strength for safe use on a VW bus or van, but you should
still check the exact specs to make sure.
These specs can
only be used to rule out tires that are unsafe for your
van under any conditions. They cannot be used to rate the quality
of the tire. Among those tires that do meet these
specs, there are still huge differences in handling, traction,
comfort, and reliability, just as with any tires. More
on this later.
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"What's
the worst that could happen if I use standard passenger
car tires anyway?"
It's not always
easy to find appropriately rated VW Bus and Vanagon tires,
and in some places they are quite expensive. So many people
"cut corners" and put passenger car tires on their
VW vans. Even some over-eager or inexperienced tire store salespeople
will claim that a passenger car tire "will do just fine"
because they simply don't have the correct tire that you need
or don't want to order it. This is easy for the salesman
to say, when he won't be the one whose life is riding on those
tires.
The truth is, using
an insufficiently rated tire on your van could literally kill
you.
A picture tells
a thousand words. Take a look at the ones on the
right. They're from a customer who decided
to save a few bucks, and replaced his worn but correct
LT rated tires with just-barely-below-spec
passenger car tires (rated at 98T). He agreed
to let us post them here to warn others about his
experience.
Right
off the bat, he writes, 'I
felt a sort of wallowing 'marshmallow' feel
while driving through corners or in sidewinds" that hadn't been there with
the old, correct tires.
This is a strong indication that the sidewall is
flexing due to the Bus, Vanagon, or Eurovan's weight.
But you may or may not notice it. Some underrated
tires will exhibit this effect more than others,
and some drivers notice it more than others. Many
drivers don't notice it at all because, having never
had the correct tires, they think their van is supposed
to handle like that. (They are often utterly amazed
when they switch to the right tires and discover
what their VW was capable of all along!)
Within
a few thousand miles, not just one but two
of his tires had developed visible signs of
sidewall failure (see upper picture on right). Fortunately
these occurred on the outside sidewalls, so he noticed
them. If they had happened on the inner sidewalls,
he wouldn't have noticed them until the
next time he found himself lying under his Vanagon.
He realized he had a problem, but before he even had
a chance to go back to the tire dealer, one of his
tires blew out on the highway. The sidewall that
blew out wasn't even one of the two he'd already
noticed, but a third one. The lower picture
on the right shows what it looked
like after the tire blew. Fortunately it happened
to be a rear tire that blew out. Had it been a front
tire, and/or had it occurred in the rain or
under other adverse road conditions, he
might have rolled his Vanagon and been killed.
We'd
like to stress that this is not a criticism
of the particular brand of tire pictured. This
is not the tire's fault. It is most certainly
a fine and perfectly safe tire... when used on a
vehicle that it is meant for. No tire can be expected
to be safe or reliable if you put it on a vehicle
that the tire manufacturer, the vehicle manufacturer,
and the National Highway Safety Administration all
agree is too heavy for
the tire. That's what the ratings are for!
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But there's a second
issue, too. Even if we ignore the sidewall issue entirely, according
to the AAA underinflation is the
leading cause of accidents due to tire failure. It also reduces
performance, causes the tires to wear out prematurely, and reduces
gas mileage (which can be costly, at today's fuel prices). If
you use a passenger car tire on your VW van, you will be forced
to underinflate it, because its maximum safe inflation capacity
(which is stated on the sidewall) will almost certainly be too
low for your vehicle (as specified on the door jamb, fuel filler
flap, or owners manual). This forces you to keep your tires
underinflated all the time ... dramatically increasing your
risk of accident, according to the AAA and others.
Will every underrated tire
fail catastrophically within a few thousand miles? No.
People go thousands of miles on the wrong tires without a blowout
... which creates a false sense of security, particularly if
they don't notice the ride difference. But you may be just one
panic swerve away from a nightmare that could change
your life. The sudden changes in direction that
may occur if you are taking evasive maneuvers - avoiding an
accident - put an inordinate amount of weight on a single tire.
If that tire is underrated to begin with, but just managing
to hang on during normal driving, the sudden shift of extra
weight to its sidewall can easily be the "straw that breaks
the camel's back." At the very moment when you
most need your tire's stability to avoid the accident, it can
flex badly enough to cause you to lose control of your van,
or blow out, or suffer bead separation (which means that the
sidewall flexes so much that the tire literally pops off of
the rim). A blowout can be hard to control even under normal
driving. If it happens at the very second that you are already swerving
to avoid an accident, the results can be deadly.
Using a underrated
tire, just like not
wearing your seat belt, is playing a game of Russian roulette. All
it takes is one time.
The next
time you get behind the wheel could be the one time when the
seat belt, or the properly rated tire, would have saved your
life. Tire safety is not a place to take chances and cut corners. A correct tire doesn't cost much more than an incorrect
one; in fact, the price difference for 4 tires combined is hardly
more than the cost of a tank of gas. Is it really worth risking your life,
and those of your passengers and loved ones, to save a couple of bucks?
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"Can
I safely use standard passenger car tires if I upgrade to 15"
or 16" wheels and tires?"
No, despite what
some retailers would have you believe.
Volkswagen's own engineers have been very clear about
this, throughout the entire history
of the VW van. Several versions of VW vans, from the 60's
through the present-day T5 (the successor to the Eurovan, not
sold in the U.S.) have come factory-equipped with 15"
or 16" wheels. As tire sizes have increased
and tire technology has improved, Volkswagen has indeed tinkered
with some specs such as recommended inflation. But never
- not once, not even on the brand new VW vans sold today
in Germany with 16" tires and the latest tire technology -
have they wavered on the requirement for extra-load tires.
If using a 15" or 16" tire meant
that reinforced tires were unnecessary, Volkswagen would have stopped
using them long ago. Car manufacturers love to cut costs.
Volkswagen could have saved a fortune over the last decade by
factory-equipping their vans with standard-load tires once
the wheel sizes hit 15" or 16"... had they felt it was safe.
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"So
does this mean that any tire that meets the above specs
is okay for me to buy?"
No. It just means that the tire
meets the minimum acceptable specs. There are still better and
worse tires. You will also want to consider these factors:
"Truck-like" ride.
The original tire that VW used on the Bus, Vanagon, and
Eurovan was
not a truck tire, but a specially designed passenger car tire
with a higher load rating.
However, many currently available tires that meet VW van specs
were actually designed for use on delivery trucks. While
they may be safe for use on VW vans, many of them sure aren't
comfortable. They make your VW drive like a delivery truck,
with a bumpy, noisy "truck-like" ride.
Tread design.
Some extra-load tires have an aggressive tread
pattern that may be good for use on an SUV if you're off-roading,
but can produce irritating "road hum" when driven
on the highway. Others hydroplane easily on wet roads, or slip
easily on snow and ice (even if rated as "all season"
or M&S, as those standards are fairly lax). Of course, if you
live in an area that that gets winter weather, there's no substitute
for a dedicated snow tire (preferably on all four corners of
the vehicle). The better snows tend to use a directional tread
that "pushes" slush out of the way, and often are
made of a silica compound for better grip.
High Price. Some tires
that do meet VW specs and handle well are very expensive.
Age of the tire. The
tires used on a Bus, Vanagon, or Eurovan are used on used on
almost no other vehicle, which is why they can be hard to find.
When you - or your tire dealer or mechanic - do locate
a set, it is entirely possible that it has been sitting on the
tire wholesaler's shelf for quite some time. That is a bad thing
because tires wear out from age, even if never mounted. Over
tiime, the adhesive bond breaks down between the various layers of the tire’s internal laminate structure
- a phenomenon known as thermo-oxidative degradation.
Therefore tires older than 6 years are considered a safety risk.
In Europe, tire and car manufacturers actually require
tire replacement after 6 years, regardless of use. While there
is not yet such a law in the U.S., after some recent studies
involving tire failures and fatalities, the U.S. Government
has now issued an advisory against using old tires, which may
be the first step toward a law. You can identify the production
date of a tire by reading the last four digits of the D.O.T. code,
which indicate the week and year of
manufacture. For example, if the last 4 digits of
the D.O.T. code are “0508," then the tire was made on the 5th week of 2008.
While you probably won't find six year old tires on your dealer's
shelf, consider that if the tire is even just 7 months old when
you buy it, it's already 10% through its useful lifespan.
This is even more of an issue if you don't put lots of
miles on your VW van, as age, not treadwear, may be what eventually
does in your tires. Of course there will be some lag from factory
to dealer, but obviously you want to minimize it. So check the
date codes before plunking your money down. Or better yet, buy
from a specialist who turns their VW Van tire inventory regularly,
so you never have to worry. We happen to know of one. :-)
Quality. Remember the
scandal a few years ago regarding Ford SUV tire blowouts? Those
tires met the minimum requirements for use on those vehicles.
But this alone did not make them high quality, or even
safe. The same applies to some tires for VW busses and vans.
Even if a tire supposedly can be used according to the
manufacturer, this does not mean that it should
be used. As new, less experienced tire manufacturers from China
and elsewhere flood the market, quality may become even more
of an issue. Not long ago, one tire importer went out of
business because all of their Chinese made tires were recalled
and they did not have the finances to support the recall. Even
with the best of intentions, remember that most tire retailers have no experience at
all with VW vans. Consider the following reports taken from the Type
2, Vanagon, and Eurovan mailing lists:
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"I bought
a 79 Westy that had [a commonly found generic
discount brand] reinforced tires
Load Range C on them, and couldn't figure out
why my Westy behaved so badly. Took it to my
local tire store, and they showed me 3 of the
4 tires had started to separate, and you could
feel the bumps in the tread where the inner
belts were coming apart. These tires looked
like they had at least 1/2 their tread left."
'"This [well
known tire from a major German brand] is a common tire on the Eurovans
(and is also sold for busses and Vanagons).
My opinion is that they should be outlawed.
Horrible in the rain, prone to belt shifting
and tread separation. As for the ride, remember
kiddy bicycles with the solid tires? And don't
even think of using them in snow."
"If you're
looking for a very aggressive reinforced sidewall
snow, these [expensive snow tires] are
them; however I'd think long and hard again
before buying them, as I think they are almost
too aggressive for day-to-day driving."
"My
[tires from the leading U.S. brand] lasted
forever, but what a horrible ride. And they were
like bicycle tires in the snow."
"I spent
the summer driving and taking care of 15-passenger
vans on rough gravel roads in rural Alaska.
The vans had a variety of different brands
of tires, including [a brand sold by a major
warehouse club, rated as suitable for Busses
and Vanagons]. They were by
FAR the worst of all the brands we had on our
vans. They typically had to be replaced due
to tread separation, and this would take place
LONG before they should have been "used
up." If one of them encountered a
rock or a pothole - a trivial event for most
tires - it would spring multiple pinhole leaks
in the area of the impact."
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The conclusion?
Immediately rule out any tire that doesn't meet the minimum safe
specs for use on
your Bus, Vanagon, or Eurovan, as outlined above. Then choose
wisely among the ones that do, remembering that those are only
minimum standards. Is the tire well regarded? Is
it well suited for your comfort, driving style, and climate?
Don't
pay more than you have to, but stick with a quality tire. After
all, there's a lot riding on it.
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"Who
are Hankook and Vredestein? Why does the Bus Depot recommend
their tires?"
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Like Michelin and
Continental, both Hankook and Vredestein are original
equipment suppliers to Volkswagen. This
means that VW has chosen these companies to
build the "genuine VW" tires found on
brand new Volkswagens, which says a lot about
the quality of their tires. In fact, out of hundreds
of tire manufacturers, only a select few can make
that claim. Both companies also have a
long history of making high load capacity tires
such as those required on VW vans. So the quality
is there. What isn't there is the high price. A good
set of Vredesteins or Hankooks will hardly cost
any more than a set of "bargain brand" tires, making them
an excellent value.
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The Hankook and Vredestein tires
that we offer are designed with highway comfort in mind. They
can handle the weight of your Bus or Vanagon without giving
it a "truck-like" ride. Most other tires in their price
range drive like truck tires, because they are truck tires.
Hankook has been making
sidewall-reinforced tires for nearly fifteen years. Besides providing tires to Volkswagen,
Hankook also makes original equipment tires for other European
and Asian vans that have similar load requirements to VW
vans. In recent years, Hankook has also made quite a name
for themselves in the performance tire market here in the U.S..
Hankook's
RA08 tire is nearly 40% cheaper than the comparable Michelin
Agilis, yet in a recent
test comparison in the German magazine ProMobil-Extra
it outperformed the Michelin
in every single handling test they
performed (wet and dry handling, wet and
dry braking, and aquaplaning).
Vredestein is a very highly
regarded tire manufacturer from Holland whose tires have consistently
been top rated by the automotive press. They supply Volkswagen
with tires for German market Passats and Golfs, and their tires
are also commonly found on other European makes such as Volvo
and Jaguar. Their snow tire was recently reviewed in the German
magazine ProMobil-Extra
as the best you could buy, outperfoming much more expensive tires
from Michelin and others.
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"What
tires should I buy for my 1964-1979 VW Bus?"
We recommend
the Hankook RA08 all-season tire, and
the Kumho Power Grip snow tire, for
all Busses that have 14" factory wheels.
Both are the correct size for your Bus, and are
specially designed to handle its load capacity. But
unlike many other high load range tires, which
are hard-riding truck tires, these are
designed for passenger use and highway comfort. Both
Hankook and Kumho are OEM suppliers to
Volkswagen and have a proven track record with
regard to tires for VW vans. Click
here for more info on why we recommend these
brands.
The Hankook
RA08 185R14 All Season Radial is
the most popular VW Bus and Vanagon tire on
the leading VW enthusiast forums, and for good
reason. It has a fifteen year track record, excellent
wear and handling characteristics, and is
the only all-season tire in its price range
to be made by an O.E.M. supplier to VW. Although
the RA08 is about
40% cheaper than the Michelin Agilis, in a recent
track test comparison in the German magazine
ProMobil-Extra it outperformed the Michelin
in every single handling test they performed (wet
and dry handling, wet and dry braking,
and aquaplaning). It
is an excellent value and we recommend it highly.
Click here
for more specs and to order.
The Hankook
RA08 195R14 All Season Radial is a
slightly larger version of the above tire, It
is preferred by some customers who have alloy wheels,
but will also fit the stock steel wheels for
those who want a little more ride height and/or
a slightly wider tire.. Compared
to either a 205R70 or a 185R14, it is
about 1/2" taller. It is about 1/3"
wider than a 185R14 but about 1/3" narrower
than a 205R14, so just about midpoint between
the two. (Before ordering, please see the note the gray
box to the right on how this may affect
your speedometer calibration.) Click
here
for more specs and to order.
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"What
tires should I buy for my Vanagon?"
Unlike most extra-load tires,
the tires we recommend for your Vanagon are
not just designed to handle your van's weight,
but are also
designed for passenger use and highway comfort..
Hankook, Vredestein, and Kumho are OEM suppliers
to Volkswagen and have a proven track record
with regard to tires for VW vans. Click
here for more info on why we recommend these
brands.
Note to owners
of Vanagons with factory alloy wheels: Vanagons
that were factory-equipped with alloys
originally came with 205-70R14 rather than 185R14
tires. This size is just slightly wider and
shorter than the 185R14 found on all other Vanagons.
However, the 185R14 is still a proper
fit for your Alloy wheels, and meets
all VW and tire manufacturer specifications
for this use. There are several advantages to
using a 185R14 rather than a 205-70R14 on your
Vanagon. One is price; the 185 series is much
cheaper for identical quality. Also, there are
performance advantages; the 185R14 profile is
slightly narrower, which translates into better
grip on snow or ice and a reduced tendancy to
hydroplane on wet roads. Finally, it has a slightly
taller sidewall, which provides a little more
cushioning for a smoother ride. Therefore
we recommend using this size on all Vanagons,
with or without Alloys (although we do have
a slightly larger 195R14 Hanook available as
an alternative if you want a bigger tire).
The Hankook
RA08 185R14 All Season Radial is
the most popular VW Bus and Vanagon tire on
the leading VW enthusiast forums, and for good
reason. It has a fifteen year track record, excellent
wear and handling characteristics, and is
the only all-season tire in its price range
to be made by an O.E.M. supplier to VW. Although
the RA08 is about
40% cheaper than the Michelin Agilis, in a recent
track test comparison in the German magazine
ProMobil-Extra it outperformed the Michelin
in every single handling test they performed (wet
and dry handling, wet and dry braking,
and aquaplaning). It
is an excellent value and we recommend it highly.
Click here
for more specs and to order.
The Hankook
RA08 195R14 All Season Radial is a
slightly larger version of the above tire, It
is preferred by some customers who have alloy wheels,
but will also fit the stock steel wheels for
those who want a little more ride height and/or
a slightly wider tire.. Compared
to either a 205R70 or a 185R14, it is
about 1/2" taller. It is about 1/3"
wider than a 185R14 but about 1/3" narrower
than a 205R14, so just about midpoint between
the two. (Before ordering, please see the note the gray
box to the right on how this may affect
your speedometer calibration.) Click
here
for more specs and to order.
The Vredestein
Comtrac 205R14 Radial is
listed as a recommended tire on vanagon.com.
It's a higher load rated version of the tire that
Vredestein supplies to Volkswagen for
2005 German market Passats and Jettas. Like the Hankook, it is designed for comfortable
highway use despite its higher load rating.
This tire is marketed as a "summer" tire, and while it is comparable
in snow/ice to some "all season" tires
(U.S. standards for calling a tire "all
season" are very lax), it is not as good
in snow/ice as the Hankook. This tire is the same width as the stock 205/70R14
tire originally used on Vanagons equipped with
alloy wheels, but 0.96" taller. (Before
ordering, please see the note in the gray
box to the right on how this may affect
your speedometer calibration.) This tire is
not an optimal choice for Vanagons with steel
wheels, but is well suited for the slightly
wider alloy wheels. Click here
for more specs and to order.
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"What
tires should I buy for my Eurovan (or my Vanagon
with larger-than-stock wheels?"
Volkswagen recommends
a load index of 100 or higher corresponding
to tire capacity of 1764 pounds) for Eurovans.
With
regard to Vanagons that have been upgraded to
15" wheels, some suppliers would have you
believe that by moving up from to a 15"
size you no longer need reinforced tires.
However the facts do not bear this out, as even
on the Eurovan (which is not much heavier than
a Vanagon, and comes equipped with 15"
or 16" tires) Volkswagen continued to require
extra-load tires. In fact they have required
this on all VW vans since the 1960's, regardless
of tire size. We offer two tires for Eurovans
(or Vanagons with larger wheels mounted): a
15" tire, and a 16" snow.
15" Tire:
The Vredestein
Comtrac 205/65R15 Radial from Holland is listed as a recommended tire on Vanagon.com.
It's a specially designed higher load rated version of the tire that
Vredestein supplies to Volkswagen for
2005 German market Passats and Jettas.
(Its 102 load rating exceeds all VW requirements.)
Unlike many extra-load tires that ride
like truck tires, the Comtrac was specifically engineered to combine
high load capacity with passenger car handling
and comfort. As a result, it handles and drives
like a passenger car tire, with very low road
noise and excellent resistance to hydroplaning.
While the tread pattern on the Comtrac is similar
to that on some other tires that are marketed as
"all season"
or M&S tires (because U.S. standards for
this rating are very lax), Vredestein rates this as a "summer"
tire. This tire is the stock size for a Eurovan
with 15" wheels. It also happens to be
the same height as the stock 14" wheel
found on Vanagons, making it an excellent choice
for Vanagons that have been upgraded to 15"
wheels because it will not throw off your speedometer
reading. Click here
for more specs and to order.
16" Snow Tire: The
Hankook Winter
iPike 225/60R/16XL high-performance
studdable snow tire with a specially designed
sidewall that makes it well suited for
Eurovan and Vanagon use. It combines their SCCT (Stiffness Control Contour Theory) sidewall
with a V-shaped directional tread pattern very
similar to that used on Nokian and other comparable
high-end snow tires. The result is excellent
cornering and load handling combined with unparalleled winter
weather traction. Its 102T load
index well exceeds VW specs for Eurovan use. This
tire was highly rated in the
German ADAC tire test. It's also an excellent
value, costing no more than others charge for comparable
quality standard-load snow tires. Click here
for more specs and to order.
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