Commercial Tyres & Weight Debate - my experience so far.

Vanorak

They will not fit width wise as im running wheel adaptors to fit the fuch wheels to hubs

 

Start with the tyres, but there are probably other factors involved.

 

Thanks a lot for the write up buddy, particularly useful for me as I will be needing to use spacers for my wheels too..
Watching with interest for how you get on Hope all work out fella!

 

shame...these are great tyres for a bus

 

VW T2s are supposed to have Commercially rated tyres to account not only for the extra weight, but the extra stresses on cornering and braking.

The correct tyres are 185R14C - the C stands for commercial and they have more "Plies" for strength. If you crash and the police find you have tyres not so rated, you could be in for a whole heap of trouble. And a nice excuse for your Insurers refusing to pay out.

I cringe when hearing of T2s equipped with car tyres, they're unsafe.

 

Molteni Mike

I'm sure you are trying to help, but your information is not quite correct. VW also fitted 185 SR 14 reinforced tyres to their vans as well as 185 R 14 C 6 PR.

I would love to fit some 102 C rated tyres, unfortunately they are not available in the only size tyre that will fit on my 15" porsche fuchs wheels and fit under the arches with the adaptors. I have been driving round for years with car rated tyres, I have now found some better reinforced tyres that were designed for a van.

These tyres are reinforced (as VW also fitted originally), they are also higher rated than my current tyres, these 92 rated are ok for 630kg per wheel. I've been on a weigh bridge and my van is no where near this weight (read the entire thread). I have told the insurance company that i don't have standard wheels and tyres, they would not be able to use that as a reason to not pay out. I've also told them that the rest of the vehicle is not standard eg massive engine.

If you can find me some 185 65 R15 that are Commercially rated then I will buy them and be forever grateful.

I agree that anyone with 14" wheels should fit 185 R14 C, if people with 15" wheels can get 102 C rated commercial tyres then i suggest they go for them.

If people have made 'stupid' wheel choices such as myself then they have no option than to find the best rated tyres that will actually fit!

 

There are 2 eBay listings at present for "vw t2 wheels tyres"

One states -

Matching set Avon zv5 tyres 205/55/16

and the other states -

2 wheels have Maxxis 215/45/17 tyres and the other 2 have Marangoni 225/50/17


Are any of the above road legal tyres for a VW T2 .....

 

These are what I went for and it may be my imagination but feels that it wanders less. Recall they are 102's.

 

If you don't have the standard 'c' rated tyres on your van then the next time you drive it your balls will fall off and your kneecaps will explode - happened to me last week.

 

Ref the comments abo

My understanding is that the strenght (load carrying capacity) of the tyre used to be measured in "plies" but that system is now replaced with the current load index system.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?&techid=55
"Before load ranges were adopted, ply ratings and/or the actual number of carcass plies were used to identify the relative strength with higher numeric ratings or plies identifying tires featuring stronger, heavier duty constructions.

Today's load range/ply ratings do not count the actual number of body ply layers used to make up the tire's internal structure, but indicate an equivalent strength compared to early bias ply tires. Most radial passenger tires have one or two body plies, and light truck tires, even those with heavy-duty ratings (10-, 12- or 14-ply rated), actually have only two or three fabric plies, or one steel body ply.

In all cases, when changing tire sizes or converting from one type of size to another, it is important to confirm that the Load Index in the tire's Service Description of the new tire is equal to or greater than the Load Index of the original tire and/or that the new tire’s rated load capacity is sufficient to carry the vehicle's Gross Axle Weight Ratings."

So, based on that, from the '77 manual (http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/8_77_bus/64.jpg?_sm_au_=iDV5Rj6KFQbsF0rF ) VW specifies max axle load of 1100 front and 1400 rear for a delivery van/fire truck (worst case/heaviest from the list in that manual). That would equate to 550kg per tire front so "88" or higher load rating, and 700kg per tyre rear so a "96" load rating would cover that.

You also need to consider that the tyre load rating is also related to the pressure you have in the tyre. the VW manual above specifies 30 psi front and 44 psi rear for a fire truck (again the highest /worst case numbers). I think this is again one reason why vw specified "C" rated tyres in the '70s - these were the only tyres around at the time that could handle 44psi. Most modern XL (extra load) rated tyres can go up to 50PSI so that would seem to be suitable.

So, if my analysis is right (and i'm happy to be corrected if i've got something wrong here) provided you have 88 or higher load rating on the front, and 96 or higher on the rear with XL rated tyres set to the right tyre pressures you should be fine.

 

Mike
MY WHEELS ARE 15 f ing inches, there are no Commercial tyres that fit 15 " wheels and that will actually fit under the rear arches or under the front arches! Why have you posted links to irrelevant information?

Before you ask i'm not going to go back to stock steel 14" wheels so i can fit the correct commercial (or reinforced) tyres that vw intended
I'm also not going to pull my 2110cc engine and replace it with a stock 1600!

Why have you not responded to the point about VW fitting reinforced tyres as well as commercially rated ones.

Please try and help!

 

What's important here is that there must be no doubt that the correct tyres have been fitted for the wheels and vehicle. And that won't be a matter of people's opinions, but what the law says. A crash report stating incorrect tyres were a contributory factor in a crash would give your insurers a perfect reason not to pay out.

 

With 88 fr and 96 rear load rated XL tyres on a bus with 1100 front and 1400 axle rating inflated to vw recommended pressure i don't see how you could argue that they are not correct?

The only reason vw didn't specify that type of tyre back in the '70s was because it didn't exist. There are lots of modern people carriers and mpv's that are bigger and heavier than an old vw and they run fine on the correctly rated car tyres - these things don't have C rated tyres do they?

 

Update:

I have replaced the incorrect 88T car tyres, with reinforced van tyres.

Conti vanco contact2 185 65 R15 92 T Reinforced

Result:
Van corners and handles much better, less squish when cornering.
I replaced the tyres hoping it would improve the handling at high speeds in high winds.

Handling in high winds at high speeds: I've only done a short motorway blast, the van did feel a bit firmer when passing arctics and meeting high side winds, but hasn't cured it completely.

My van handles amazingly but I still believe there is something up with the steering set up (swing lever problems?) which means I don't feel as comfortable driving fast in high winds. I'll resurrect the original thread about handling in high winds to get further advice.

 

Another update Sep 2015:
I said i would go back to the weigh bridge when im fully laden with camping gear,

NEW INFO: I went back to Weigh bridge fully laden and I mean fully laden.
Gross weight 1900kg
Front Axle 940kg
Rear Axle 1040kg

Front: me and my partner, 40l fridge packed with booze
Middle: Massive tent/awning, 2 person tent, food, camping stuff for four people, clothes etc
Rear: 6ft/80kg mate, his 7 year old son. Full tank of fuel. Under rear seat: cadac bbq, gas bottle, 2 tables, 2 chairs, wind break

Summary my new 185/65/R15 92T reinforced tyres are legal and more than adequate! 630kg per tyre load rating!

 

Thanks very much, tidy it up if you like. but i'm happy for it to remain as is!

Your points about car tyres are very true, I was driving round with Conti 185/65/R15 88T rated to 560kg per wheel, these were probably ok most of the time, but perhaps not when fully laden. I offered to give my old tyres away to members of the local vdub club, loads of van owners wanted them and i had to tell them they wern't suitable. They are still in my cellar!

People should get the best load rating they can

My work here is done as i have sourced the best load rating available in my tyre size

 

I have now been down this path a couple of times and ended up with Pirelli Cinturato P1 185/65R15 which are labelled 92T rated but actually claim 632kg load rating on the tyre.
Not enough for the theoretical bus with a ton in the back but practically good enough..

Not as squidgy as the previous Yokohamas that were definitely pushed over their limit.

 

Use what you like and don't crash it