Tires, tires, tires!

[timsrv]

Just bought a set of Thunderer Ranger 195 R14C and they would not fit on my 1984 2wd , Do the 84 85 2wd have less clearance than the 86-89? The tire guy ended up selling me a set of travelstar UN106 185 r14 and even those seem to have only a finger or two of clearance at the front wheel well by the lower edge door frame. Any 1st gen van owners chime in with their experience trying to run some beefier tires?

Hi PearlVan, sorry to hear of your experience. Please keep in mind that different manufacturers will make slightly different sizes that will fall into the same specs......but in this case you should have been fine. I looked up the manufacturer specs for the Thunderer Ranger 195 R14C tires and found them to be slightly smaller than the specs for my Hankooks of the same rated size (both diameter and width).............Although it's possible there could be differences in the tire shape that wouldn't show up in the specs (like tall square corners where the tread ends and the sidewall begins).


I guess it's possible it's a 1st gen van issue, but I doubt it (FYI I know nothing of 84 - 85 vans). I know they have a smaller recommended tire size, but wasn't aware of any differences regarding height or tire clearances.

Another possibility is perhaps somebody lowered the van. Usually when this is done the rear springs are cut, but the front is usually dropped by torsion bar adjustment. I checked the service manuals and found the 1st gen vans show slightly higher specs for the front torsion bar adjustments than the 2nd gen vans (go figure). Check your ride height using the information from the 1987 service manual below.



Note: The height dimension (9.21") is shown (above) for 86 - 89 2wd vans with P195/75 R14 tires. For the 84 - 85 vans, the called out height is 9.57" even though it has the smaller P185/75 R14 tires. Tim

[PearlVan]

Cool! thanks for the help everybody.

I ended up returning the tires I got online because I needed tires real bad, so I bought a new set of 185s from the tire shop. As for the Thunderer Rangers that were returned, unbelievably they paid shipping both ways so I got a full refund. I'll take this opportunity to recommend using Simpletire.com for online tire sales as they made returns a real breeze.

So I measured the van height today. Looks like the front sits at 8inches instead of 9.57" so that would explain my greatly diminished clearance. The torsion bar appears to have plenty of threads to tighten down on and raise it. For good measure I will replace my front shocks too.

The manual says jack up the vehicle and remove the shocks, simple as that huh?

After I replace the shocks and raise the van should I get alignment done? I just had it done when I got the new tires

[timsrv]

It's always a good idea to align after any changes to the suspension. I doubt raising it 1 ½" would affect it much, but I'd still recommend it. I'm not sure about the place you got it aligned, but Les Schwab (the tire store I use) only charges $$$ if they change things. I've brought vehicles in before and been told "we checked and it was good......no charge". If they do try to charge, you could always claim the height adjustment should have also been checked when they aligned (part of their job) and try to get a freebie, but considering alignments only typically cost ~ $50, I probably wouldn't risk annoying them (you never know when you might need help again). Good luck. Tim

[Mtn_Van]

Can someone with a stock 2WD (no lift) please reply with the wheel center to fender measurement for the front and rear? I had taken pics of these measurements before lifting and adding grabbers, but my phone crapped out and I didn't have these backed up. :/
Many thanks in advance!

[jweez]

On my stock 85, 2wd it's about 13" in the front, and about 14" in the rear.

[jweez]

Wow.
Just noticed that was from 2020!

[jweez]

What are everyone's thoughts on hankook kinergy touring 185/75/14 on my 85 2wd?

Thanks.

[Cedric-the-Van]

The best tires I've had so far were the Hankook RA08 (now discontinued). The RA18 is the direct replacement for them & that's what I'm running now. They are not quite as stiff as the RA08's but are acceptable (and better than anything else I'm aware of that's currently in production). I've only been running them since December, but no problems so far.

Regarding stiffness, I'm running my van extremely overloaded (I'm grossing @ ~ 6,000 lbs). If you put these on a "reasonably" loaded van I'm sure they'd seem plenty stiff. I'm running the biggest ones that will fit on the van 195R14C 106/104R. They throw my speedo off a little, but I do a lot of freeway driving and I like keeping the engine at slightly lower RPMs. Tim

Long ago thread but still lots of good info. Looking into tires myself on a 87 2wd LE. Looks like the RA18 is a good tire but only available in 185 for a 14 rim at least in the states. 195 only leaves the Yokohama Y356. You think its better to downsize or stick with the one that fits as is? Doesn't look like there are many options in 205 either. Thanks

[timsrv]

Long ago thread but still lots of good info. Looking into tires myself on a 87 2wd LE. Looks like the RA18 is a good tire but only available in 185 for a 14 rim at least in the states. 195 only leaves the Yokohama Y356. You think its better to downsize or stick with the one that fits as is? Doesn't look like there are many options in 205 either. Thanks

THIS SITE says they have them, but not sure what the date code will be (probably old). When I checked Discount Tire's site, they claim the 195's & the 185's have been discontinued. Last time I ordered them was a couple years ago and I got some good dates. I hate it when they discontinue things. I really like these tires......and yes, the RA18's have been wearing good. Tim

[Cedric-the-Van]

Thanks for the reply! A local tire shop found the 195R14C still in stock, hoping that the .75" added height shouldn't be a problem. I couldn't find these tires anywhere and this fairly small shop dug them up so I definitely recommend future people reach out to their local shop and see what they have to say. Cheers!