[VAC] Re: wandering van update

[Kevin D Allen <overlander64@xxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings Jon!

You mention having new tires installed.  It has been my experience with
my K2500 Suburban that different brand tires have very different
handling characteristics.  My OEM tires were Firestone all-weather LT
radials that tracked and handled beautifully, but were totally worn out
at 45,000 miles.  I chose Michelin LTX all-season LT radials as
replacements - - they immediately caused the truck to begin wandering.
I had my GMC dealer check all settings on the Suburban and everything
was at factory spec.  I returned to the Michelin dealer and was
basically told that to get the high mileage rating for the tread (60,000
miles), the tread compounding was such that it allowed for a different
contact/handling pattern than the original Firestones.  I had a very
similar experience when I switched from Goodyear all season tires on my
Oldsmobile Tornado to Bridgestone all season tires - - handling was
entirely predictable with the Goodyears, but the Bridgestone tires
wandered and were prone to hydroplaning.

I don't know that others have experienced these types of problems, but I
have found tremendous variations of handling qualities among the
different brands of tires.

Good luck in finding a solution to your problem!

Kevin Allen


Kevin D. Allen
1964 Overlander International/1999 GMC K2500 Suburban
1978 Argosy Minuet
1975 Cadillac Convertible (towcar in-training)
WBCCI/VAC #6359