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Tire Treads and Bus Maintenance
Now...about the current tire thread on the Missouri Micro's list (Transporter tire
size/gearing ratios/bias ply vs. radial ply, etc.) as well as recent ones on the
VintageBus List... I personally prefer a light truck or heavy duty sidewall
"radial" tire. We currently have the correct bias ply tires on our 1966
"Flood Bus" Sundial Camper. They work fine, but in cross winds, and on
todays highways with worn truck ruts in the lanes, and the grooved roads that drain off
rainwater, those bias plies are much less forgiving. On the rutted and grooved
highways and roads, you are constantly on guard for the Bus to be hurled in one direction
or another by those road features, and then making quick corrections. This makes for
more stressful long distance driving. Radials are much less affected by this stuff.
I just went through some lengthy research to buy new tires for my 1967 Westy
Campmobile.
I wanted radial ply tires, with at least 2 ply "stiffer" sidewalls.
Most important, I wanted to duplicate the outer circumference of the original 1967
tire, a 7.00 - 14" bias ply tire. (note: DO NOT consider trailer tires, even at the
suggestion of the supposedly knowledgeable tire store staff - there's a serious reason
those tires are prominently stamped "FOR TRAILER USE ONLY"). My 1967
Campmobile has the original stock transmission/gearing, and in storage I have an extra
original 7.00 -14" tire on it's 14" rim that had no wear because it was mounted
in the spare tire position. I measured this and found that I wanted an outer
circumference of exactly 82.25". After much searching, a week before
BNNTA, I
had a set of 215/75 R14" Michelin "X" radials mounted and balanced at Sam's
Club in St. Charles, MO for about $320 total out the door with road hazard policy and an
80,000 mile Michelin warrantee. These tires definitely look bigger/fuller/more
substantial in the wheel wells now. They appear to be about an inch wider in tread
width that the original bias ply spare tire I have.
I was originally running Dunlop SP-4's in a 185 SR 14" size. The outer
circumference on these Dunlop's was only 80.2" so my motor was working overtime a
little just to do what the German engineers originally planned.
The new tire's circumference is almost 83". Each time my rear axle turns I'm
traveling about 2.5 inches further. My axle turns about 767 rpms in a mile verses
about 790 before. Now my speedo seems to be about dead on accurate, as well as my
drive train gearing and ratio's / rpm's. The drive to and from our BNNTA event,
about two hours each way from St. Louis, was so much nicer at a higher, more accurate
indicated speed at the same rpm's.
In addition to having the new tires installed, I did the following maintenance in the
month prior to our event. In no particular order: I finally used my Bentley
manual to learn to correctly tighten my torsion arm link pin adjustment, installed a new
set of correct shocks all the way around (thanks Ron at Bus Depot), I checked and
re-filled my steering box (a bit low), thoroughly lubed (until "new" grease came
out) all the front end lube fittings, I replaced both old tie rod assemblies with complete
new assemblies with four new tie rod ends (thanks again Steve White for the loan of that
GREAT tie rod end tool!), I cleaned out and re packing my front drum hubs, bearings and
installing new grease seals (thanks again Ronnie in AZ), I finally checked (and Oh my
GOD!, was it way out of adjustment - actually toed-out 1/8 inch!) and correctly adjusting
my "toe in" (thanks to the Muir "Idiot book" procedure), I installed a
new steering damper, I finally flushed out the old (I'm embarrassed to say about ten year
old) brake fluid, inspected all the brake cylinders for corrosion and replaced the two
rear ones (fronts are fine), I then adjusted the emergency brake cables and adjusted each
brake set, I lubed the all the pedal assemblies and cables and I spent hours cleaning up
and detailing the front suspension.
Doing this maintenance has really made a HUGE difference in the way that the '67 feels on
the road! When I first started out to do all of this, it kinda felt like a neglected
"chore" that I now had to do, but then as I became re-aquainted with my Bus and
all of her components, the "job" started turning into "fun", and I
found my self looking forward to returning home from a flight (work) assignment and
getting down to the garage for a long evening of maintenance. I kinda "fell in
love again" with a nice old Bus I had been unconsciously neglecting the maintenance
on for quite a while. Now I'm more attuned to her condition, and she's really a
pleasure to drive again. She now goes a bit faster at the same rpms, the front end
is as tight as it has ever been, and feels more stable. I only regret that I took so
long to dive into this stuff!
Hey, don't procrastinate like I did! It's so not hard! Get your Bentley manual
and your "Idiot Book" out (or order yours now), gather up your tools, invite a
VW friend over, order some parts and get to it! You'll do a good thing, you'll
become more knowledgeable, your Bus will be much happier, safer and more reliable, and
perhaps you'll rediscover your love affair with your Transporter.
Have fun! I did!
Bill Bowman
NEATO
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