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VW Jetta Tires and Wheels
lovetdi
Member Posts: 2
Would going from a 205/50-16 to a 215/60-16 cause any problems? Both sizes will fit on my OEM rims.
Mike
Mike
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I have a 1998 Jetta GLX with tires size 205/50/15 on it. I need winter tires (live in vermont) and the closest size available seems to be the 195/55/15. I was wondering if that is the only winter tire size I could put on my car. Do you think a 195/60/15 would be okay? Thank you for your help.
to be highly thought of in Europe (were invented in Finland).
The ease of putting them on and off my 06 TDI means a lot to me due to my advanced age. I know they wouldn't be allowed where chain controls are in effect, but I would just be using them around town instead of dedicated snow tires. Would appreciate
any experience any of you have with them.
Any help I would be ever so greatful!!!
Juju
:sick:
If the tires would be replaced at no cost to you, then I'd let the dealer go ahead. But if they expect you to pay any part, then I would want them to agree that there will be no charge to you should replacing the tires not fix the problem.
I think when tires are out of balance the vibration peaks at a particular speed, then gets better at higher speeds...that has been my experience anyway.
Try an independent tire centre for help.
...Larry
What is the OE tire size? What do you hope to accomplish by doing this?
What did you do and how did it work out?
However, there is no very good reason to do it. The true mpg would not be increased significantly and the overall gearing would be 5.1% taller, reducing performance.
The wheel is holding air but it doesn't look like it should. The dealer told me to call an alloy wheel repair place and he said the wheel would be good as new. I thought it was nice of him because he said a new wheel for her Wolf is $240.00.
Has anyone used an alloy repair place before??? Were you happy with the repair?? Or should i just buy a new wheel??
Thanks
I am unclear, would you mind elaborating? WWW.tirerack.com polls seems to gush all over the above, and is a GREAT bang for the buck. It almost makes me suspend the fact that it is made by General tires !!??
(past General tires have been far from stellar)
Another nice thing VW does for you. My first VW, wont be my last.
The standard tire size is 205/55/R16 91H.
I've had one tire replaced with the same tire except it's 90H.
My question is How important is the H number, what does it mean? am I risking anything going from 91H to 90H on the tires?
Thanks for your help.
:confuse:
This two- or three-digit number is the tire's load index. It is a measurement of how much weight each tire can support. You may find this information in your owner's manual. If not, contact a local tire dealer. Note: You may not find this information on all tires because it is not required by law
http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/safercar/menuitem.13dd5c887c7e1358fefe0a2f35- a67789/?vgnextoid=8e1c4507fe526110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD
BTW, I thought the Jetta had a full size spare. If so you could switch tires so that the odd one is the spare.
The number is the load index--maximum vertical load 90 is 600 kg and 91 is 615 kg.
I think the "H" is the speed rating of the tire--130 mph maximum.
See http://www.dualport.com/bustech/load_tires.html
"The speed rating indicates the maximum speed (miles per hour) the tire is rated under normal conditions. The ratings are as follows:
M — 81
N — 87
P — 93
Q — 100
R — 106
S — 112
T — 118
H — 130
V — 149
W — 168
Y — 186"
Does anyone know if there is a generic problem maintaining proper alignment or if there is something in the suspension that needs to be replaced to prevent this? Thanks.
Bob
two reasons:
1. a GTG special
2. I was intensely curious as to the EXACT specifications.
. Upshot @ 100,000 miles, it did NOT need the alignment as the vendor offering the "special price said it only changed ever so slightly from "dead bang on" due to normal settling. I did not want to stiff him since it takes time to prepare the car for the procedure. While on the alignment rack, it was adjusted back to "dead bang on".
The car was routinely run in higher speed touring (close to xxx for hours) at a time and commutes on the 2nd worse roads and commutes in the NATION, behind LA, CA , 25,000 miles per year
Suspension is still OEM stock. Tires were/are rotated at oem recommended intervals 10,000 miles (5 tire cross rotation). Tire pressures is @ 38-36 psi fronts with 38-34 psi rears. I run that range as I can ignore tire reading for 2 months at a time (normal loss of 1# per mo ).
After app 6,000 miles on the new Toyo TPT's, it appears wear is similar to the oe GY LS-H's.
Almost all (VW gen IV) owners vilified the GY LS-H's. Among other issues, they last TOPS, 50,000 miles. I did have to have them rebalanced @ app 70,000 miles ? (not sure without the records) as I experienced some front end shimmie @ highway speeds.
After some research, I did purchase the Toyo TPT's @ 40-45k miles. I (as you can imagine) proceded to WAIT 72,300 miles- 67,300 miles. I actually pulled the GY LS-H's early, as the Toyo's by default were working well into the "6 year aged rubber" issue. I did buy 3 right sides. (5 TPT's as they are "uni directional ), as there is a little acknowledged tire related "inference".
The Bentley's makes note ( the 2003 gen IV) that the front passenger side's: brake pads, rotors, struts, strut hardware and bearings wear faster and to inspect accordingly.
By "INFERENCE" only, greater/faster right side tire wear. (It is a design torque steer quirk) I read very early on, the differences can have as much as 1/32 in greater tire wear on the right side WITH oem recommended 4 tire front to rear and vice versa rotations.
Be sure the existing tires are inflated to the highest pressure recommended by VW for the Jetta SEL with the 17" wheels. Given your driving conditions you might consider inflating the tires to higher than the recommendation on the tire sticker, say midway between the vehicle recommendation and the tire limit. So inflate to 40 psi if the vehicle recommendation is 36 psi and the tire maximum is 44 psi.
The course of action with the least risk of unexpected problems is to buy a more durable tire in the OE size--225/45-17.
If you wanted to go to a higher profile tire, I think you would have to go to 16 inch wheels, and mount say 205/55-16 or 215/55-16 ( which have almost the same overall diameter at the tread as the OE 225/45-17). According to Edmunds, 205/55-16 is OE on the Jetta S.
But you would have to find out from VW whether the Jetta SEL would accept 16" wheels. It could be that the brake and suspension components of the SEL are larger than those in the lower trim level Jettas that come with 16" wheels OE, and would not fit inside the 16" wheels.
The higher profile tires in 17" that you are considering would have a larger overall diameter at the tread and at the very least would cause the speedo and odo to be inaccurate. The actual speed of travel with the 225/50 and the 225/55 would be higher than the indicated speed by 3.6% and 7.1%, respectively. But more of a problem you probably would get contact of the tires with the wheel wells, frame or suspension. The rubbing might only occur near steering lock and if so would increase the turning radius, reducing maneuvering capability in tight situations like parking lots and making U-turns.
Overall diameters at tread of these tires are shown below. The usual recommendation is when changing sizes the overall dia of the new tire should be within 2% of the size specified by the manufacturer.
Dia 225/45-17 = (225 mm)/(25.4 mm/in) x 0.45 x 2 + 17 = 25.0 in (24.97 to 4 figs)
Dia 215/50-17 = 215/25.4 x 0.50 x 2 + 17 = 25.5 in (25.46 to 4 figs)
Dia 205/50-17 = 205/25.4 x 0.50 x 2 + 17 = 25.1 in (25.07 to 4 figs)
Dia 225/50-17 = 225/25.4 x 0.50 x 2 + 17 = 25.9 in (25.86 to 4 figs)
Dia 225/55-17 = 225/25.4 x 0.55 x 2 + 17 = 26.7 in (26.74 to 4 figs)
Dia 225/55-16 = 225/25.4 x 0.55 x 2 + 16 = 25.7 in (25.74 to 4 figs)
Dia 215/55-16 = 215/25.4 x 0.55 x 2 + 16 = 25.3 in (25.31 to 4 figs)
Dia 205/55-16 = 205/25.4 x 0.55 x 2 + 16 = 24.9 in (24.88 to 4 figs)
"For cars and vans, staying within a 3% diameter change is desirable. Pick-ups and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are usually engineered to handle up to a 15% oversize tire. Most tire dimensions can be calculated. For more information review the Tire Tech article, "Calculating Tire Dimensions." While at first a 3% diameter increase or reduction in tire diameter may sound very limiting, in most cases it allows approximately a 3/4" diameter change."
Some of the tires that tirerack lists as replacements had a lower load rating of 89, I'm sure this is probably safe to ignore, but I mostly only considered those with the same 91 rating as the OEMs. Another thing I noticed is some of the tires were much heavier than others, I think I saw a range of 18-25 pounds. It may not really matter, but I thought it was better to stay close to or less than the weight of the OEMs.
Looks like Michelin has a $70 rebate going, so they may not be too much more expensive. They also had a rebate going when I bought, but my installer was not included among the "selected dealers" that had this rebate and he was giving me a free alignment with purchase of 4 tires.
One thing I did not like on those OEM Michelins is that they have only 9/32 tread depth to start, most tires have 10 or 11/32. With the new idea that you really should not go below about 4/32, I did not want to get those again.
I think the Michelin Primacy MXV4 (not to be confused with the OEMs which are, or at least mine were, "Energy MXV4") were the highest rated in the category by CR, but when I looked at the details the difference between them and the Continentals was not all that great for the areas of interest to me. I also like that Continental gives a free one year road hazard warranty with their tires.
Another reason could be that several tires are "out of round". Do you have any of the stations that Tire Rack recommends to use in your area?
If not go to a place that specializes in Corvette, BMW......mounting and balancing.
Hope this helps.
If the tires are indeed out of round, then balancing is a moot point isn't it? What kind of recourse would I have then? Are tire dealers allowed to sell you tires that are almost round? Seems crazy.
If this "Tire Kingdom" outfit is not capable of figuring out the cause of a vibration that was not there before tires were replaced, maybe you need to go elsewhere for the diagnosis?
If the second place finds some other cause, then there would be no issue with the first place, of course.
I once had a defective tire that made a subtle but noticeable vibration and had no problem with getting a new tire. I do not know how they determined that it was a defective tire. But when we had it, it was the front passenger side tire and the vibration was much more noticeable to the passenger (felt it most through feet on the floor) than it was to the driver...so maybe they moved the tires around and the vibration moved with the tire?
Thanks for any help.
...even if the sales-person writes their sales-pitch in blood!!
From my experience, a car-salesman does not work at the same dealership for more than a year. Apparently there are a lot of "opertunitues for better employment" in that field of work.
However, aftermarket wheels may have the wrong offset and the tires may be too big - hence the warning!
Thanks to anyone who can help!