[Vwdiesel] TDI tires

Tue Feb 28 08:56:40 PST 2012

Continental used to be the bus tire.. contitrans or something like that.
Last set that I got on mine was stellar- really smartened the 73 westy
handling and road noise up.
If stored well, they don't get hard as fast Dave, as in kept out of the sun.
The old guys with the covers on their motor home wheels have it going on
there.
You test rubber hardness with a durometer- tire durometers are usually a
race car guy thing (which is why I have one) so you can tell when they have
heat cycled to the point of traction loss.
this thing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ICP-360092/
I have never noticed fuel economy being a tire issue that couldn't be dealt
with by proper inflation. More is usually better in that regard, and the
skeptic in me pops up when tire companies make big mileage claims, and
expect you to pay premiums for "mileage" which sort of negates a bit of the
economy... I watch for tread patterns that would promote shedding water more
than anything else, cause our roads are no hell, and in rain, you hit pools
and stuff in summer.
-james

-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of Dave Cook
Sent: February-28-12 10:09 AM
To: VW Diesel Group
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI tires

Hmm...  All this talk of old tires has me thinking... I put a new set on my
'78 Bus in May of 2004.  Judging by the wear, they are still in good or
great shape.  But I suppose they are probably getting old and harder.  

Is there any way to judge how hard they really are?  The thing is they are
expensive for the bus no matter what (requires truck tires, and kind of an
odd size) but I don't drive it a whole lot.  So even if I bought new tires
now, they would be wasted too.  

Assuming there is no cracking in the sidewalls or anything like that, how
much is the hardening a safety issue vs. comfort (due to increased noise,
less flex when hitting a bump, etc)?

I am interested in this thread otherwise, as the '02 Golf needs tires in the
near future.  It is currently wearing nearly worn out snow tires. 

I plan to drive it a good amount, so probably higher mileage tires would be
ok.  (Averaging 400ish a week since I bought it.)  But good fuel economy, of
course, is a big consideration. 

Even though snow tires are better in snow, I will probably go with an
all-season as we don't really that much real bad snow (never really got any
snow this winter) and the roads are usually cleared pretty quickly when it
does snow.  

Dave Cook

________________________________
 From: James Hansen <jhsg at sasktel.net>
To: 'Travis Gottschalk' <tgott at hotmail.com>; vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 9:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI tires

Don't get me wrong, Michelins economy, or high mile tires are a very good
tire when in the correct application such as your Dad would have- big miles
in a short time. In a city short commute, they never wear out... which is
the problem. Numerous short heat cycles get them hard as stone, they are
only half way to the wear bars, and grip like a steel buggy wheel. The 4
digit date code is first two are week of the year (out of 52), last two are
year.  Old discount tires are not such a big deal if they were stored well,
but if they were in a shed where they get hot every day in the sun, they
harden up just as if you were driving them- heat drives the softeners out...
and you never really know how they were kept which is the problem with that.
I have some race tires that are new, and un-usable. I got them cheap (free),
they are a bias dirt tire, made 8 years ago, and are like glass already.
Storage was in a quonset in the sun. bad. I'm saving them for a wagon or
some other non- critical use.
Watch the rear suspension bushings if you have any cupping Travis. Only time
I've ever noticed that was on the 97 Passat that had a bad rear axle bushing
allowed movement the shock coudn't prevent.
And yeah, snow tires are the best thing you could have in the ice. Any snow
tire at all is better than a "all" season.
-j

-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of Travis Gottschalk
Sent: February-28-12 8:57 AM
To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI tires

I forget the Michelin tire I plan on getting next but I have it written down
as it was a very large several page tdiclub deal I watched. As stated you
should plan on replacing tires same as a timing belt where they do age out
as well as wear out. There is a 4 digit number code on the sidewalls of
tires. The first two numbers are the week of the year and the last two are
the year that the tire was made. This is something you want to check when
you get "new" tires at a discount as well as they could have been in the
corner for a few years depending on where you get them. Also Michelin tends
to have better tires in general from what I have read. If you buy 4 tires
they all tend to be good where as other brands at times can give you a bad
tire in the mix. And Michelin's tend to need little to no balancing when
new. Funny thing is I have yet to have a set on my car but they are my next
choose. Couple other thoughs to keep in mind is the U shaped rear axle and
the way it preforms a  nd the front wheel drive do affect some tire styles.
The rear axle tends to cause cuping which is another reason to rotate plenty
of times throught the lift of the tire. Also some places have and will sell
you under rated tires. The one for the TDI's are 91H NOT 89T. Don't say they
can't sell you them as my father and brother got them before I educated them
on that. Tiresplus even tried to say that the 91H will wear faster as it is
just a "preformance" tire. That is why my father is eating tires at about
30K miles (he drives 70K a year). Brother got a flate at discount tire with
his 89T tires they sold him and they then turned white as they realized
their mistake and gave him 4 new 91H tires for free and the other tires had
about 20K on them. 

One last thing-where do you live. If you have snow putting snow tires on is
the best thing you can do. I wasn't a believer at first till I tried
them-wow. Convinced my brother too. Almost have my parents convinced. Here
is the math. The worlds most expensive best all season can't compare the the
cheapest snow tire out there. And so a new set of tires is $500 roughly. The
snow tires saving you one time from going in the ditch and maxing your
$500-1000 deductable out just bought the tires. My new co-worker was warned
of this when he started last month. He was driving on very bad rear tires
and the fronts still had tread but weren't snow tires. He kissed an 18
wheeler last Tuesday and he only had liability on his car so I got to take a
hammer and pry bar to the car to pry out the old headlamps before the new
ones show up. And that is if the wires aren't damaged. And the bumper is
missing a very large chuck and will have to be screwwed back on with some
metal straps. He coudn't s  top with the semi turning while it was snowing
so he rearended it. Damage stopped just short of the radiator. 

Travis G
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