Hi all, currently have 15inch rims with 185 55 15 82v tyres on. Speedo is out and I believe this can cause it. As part of restoration changing to original wheels, 14 inch steel rims. Correct tyre size should be 185 80 14 apparently? Anyone know if this will work with a lowered van? Not slammed but lowered. Or anyone know an alternative tyre.. Cheers
your speedo will read approximately 10% slower..eg 60 mph on the speedo will mean you're actually doing about 52 mph. As for the clearance, it's impossible to say unless you provide more info about the drop, the rim width and offset I've lowered my bus by just shy of two inches and stock tyres/rims clear the arches no problem....the wheels are also easy to change, unlike lower buses
Mine's around 3" lower. On full compression over a hell of a bump and without bump stops (as I discovered) the stock tyres just brushed the wheel tubs up front. I now have coilovers with built in tiny bump stops and run 185/75/14 tyres and not had any rubbing. My rear wheels just squeeze out past the arches when removing them. As Vanorak says, depends on setup. Last year fully loaded over a really lumpy road with a raised centre I had the front ARB clip the bump on full compression! That got my attention! Only ever happened once and had it been my car I might have lost the undertray or the sump plug! Lowering has its drawbacks.
I fitted VW Herritage's 6cm dropped spindles last weekend so the front of mine is running 2 1/2" lower on 14" Weller Steels with 185/70 tyres. I'm guessing the offset of the Weller Steels is more than that of standard steels, since a journey with a six paving slabs had the tyres rubbing on the arches with every bump!
Depends how low the van is really - how much room do you have in the arch with the current setup? If you want to stay close to the overall size you have now, a 185 65 14 will be a little bigger than the tyre you have on now (6mm arch gap lost) where a 185 60 14 will be a fraction smaller than current giving you a little more room.. you can prob find more choice with the 65 profile also with higher load rating.
By the way those 185/55x15 82v have a load rating of 475kgs; the front of a bay has an axle load of 1,010kgs and the rear 1,300kgs.
Hi all, thanks for replies. Have gone for 175 75 14 on front with a higher load rating and 185 75 14 on back again with a higher load rating. The load rating on the other tyres as some have said was too low. I'm hoping this set up works ok. It's not too far off original. The difference between the two sizes is not much either so the can doesn't nose dive. It's hard to say how much it's lowered. But know it's got red 9 design set up in front beam with coilovers..
Just adding, I looked at other similar sizes but the load rating on some sizes was too low they didn't seem to have anything higher than a 89. The ones I found are a 99
@bezy where did you source your tyres from? After Saturday's drive home, complete with yelps at every bump I'm after some lower profile fronts than the 185r14s I'm currently running, but I'm struggling to find some with a load rating higher than 93.
Hi, I found it a hard job, I found some locally in the end. A lot of close sizes have low car load ratings, something I've never thought about too much before. But the consequences of a tyre blowing out under too much load must be awful. I bought Bridgestone duravis. 175 75 14 with a high load rating commercial tyre 252216332358 seen on eBay also. I was concerned about the fronts hitting the wheel arch. I think these should work ok for me, 185 14c were just too large as it had been lowered.
DSBS Im having the same problem as you fitted some drop spindles and they move the wheel hubs out 20mm so my fuchs are rubbing the arches on bumps mine are 15",I want to know if a 14" wheel will solve the problem ie the wheel spacing will be less than the 15" so the tyre sits in further under the arch helppp!
@morgs dunno how much help I'll be tbh. Like I said, I'm currently running Weller Steels and don't know their wheel spacing (they were on when I got the van and were low on the priorities list!). However, there's about 1 1/2" or so clearance between the top of the tyre and the arch just inside the arch when not loaded with paving slabs - unless you get up to 70 and hit a pothole! I'm hoping to fit Standard 14" Steels with lower profile tyres, but finances are currently restricted due to honeymoon. If the Standard Steels and low profile don't solve it, guess I'll move a narrowed beam up the list...
