Tyres

[Scotia]

Terry that Glasgow branch is rammed 7 days a week and they couldn’t have put there tyre bay in a worse position even the garage has ten minutes queues. I don’t think I’d fit in the tyre bays anyway and before ye start I mean the van. They are opening another branch near Paisley as the Glasgow one is running at capacity. Never been to the Edinburgh one.

Never crossed my mind.

 

[RoaminRog]

Wully, there is also the strength of the tyre WALL to consider as well. Which from memory is the last number on the tyre size.
Eg I have just fitted 225 x 75 x 16 R 118
Because I had so many problems with my rear axle I changed from R116
and basically they can cope with nearly half a tonne extra on the axle, may be an idea to check what exactly you are buying.
Not suggesting that I plan to run overweight, perish the thought, BUT, hopefully these new tyres will be able to cope with my very long and out of proportion overhang.

 

[Wully]

Hi Rog the ones that are on are R 16 it’s about £30 extra each for the R 18 do you think it’s worth the extra and I wonder if the side wall wont deteriorate as quick on the R18s

 

[1 Cup]

Michelin don't mention the the Agilis Camping on their website ( and I don't think they have for a year or more)

They only mention the CrossClimate Camping which I think came out around 2022.
Perhaps wrongly, but I though it had replaced the Agilis Camping? Maybe worth checking manufacture dates of the Agilis Camping.

https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/browse-tyres/by-category/camper

That's the new ones cross climate, but they are noise DB is 3 the old / replaced aglillis noise was 2 DB . with 4 wheel alignment nd 2 cross climates 4 seasons £520. Put on front arter I changed wish bones for mot and f%cked up alignment and killed the front two (camber settings ).

Sprinter 235 65 16

 

[Scotia]

Wully, there is also the strength of the tyre WALL to consider as well. Which from memory is the last number on the tyre size.
Eg I have just fitted 225 x 75 x 16 R 118
Because I had so many problems with my rear axle I changed from R116
and basically they can cope with nearly half a tonne extra on the axle, may be an idea to check what exactly you are buying.
Not suggesting that I plan to run overweight, perish the thought, BUT, hopefully these new tyres will be able to cope with my very long and out of proportion overhang.

That's a thing I was wondering about at the weekend, I found the van wandering when it touched the seam in the centre of the road it came to mind to check the load rating of the winter tyres that I have on at the moment. Everything is grand when I have the other set on.

 

[RoaminRog]

I don’t know what tyre rating you need Wully, but this shows the loading differences
carry:

Tyre Load Index	Load in kg
75	387
76	400
77	412
78	425
79	437
80	450
81	462
82	475
83	487
84	500
85	515
86	530
87	545
88	560
89	580
90	600
91	615
92	630
93	650
94	670
95	690
96	710
97	730
98	750
99	775
100	800
101	825
102	850
103	875
104	900
105	925
106	950
107	975
108	1000
109	1030
110	1060
111	1090
112	1120
113	1150
114	1180
115	1215
116	1250
117	1285
118	1320
119	1360
120	1400
121	1450
122	1500
123	1550
124	1600
125	1650
126	1700
127	1750
128	1800
129	1850
130	1900
131	1950
132	2000
133	2060
134	2120
135	2190
136	2240
137	2300
138	2360
139	2430
140	2500
141	2575
142	2650
143	2725
144	2800
145	2900
146	3000
147	3075
148	3150
149	3250
150	3350

 

[mark61]

The load rating is just a number, it should be followed by a letter, which is the speed rating.
The R goes before the rim size ie, R16, R17, R18. The R does not go in front of the load rating.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Sorry Wully, came to my attention my echo mentioned Costco too

Great minds think alike, but I hadn't noticed your mention of them.

 

[RoaminRog]

I think you are correct Mark, but I wasn’t sure. I certainly have more faith in the back axle since insisting on a higher load rating. Wully might not need to spend the extra money, he has a tag axle. It would be worth checking your ‘plate’ Wully, to check the maximum rear axle weights, then go up one rating, to make sure youre covered.

 

[Wully]

Remember I have four at the back to spread and soften the load so maybe I don’t need the higher rating and that’s why the ones it came with are the lower rating R 16.

Seen your post after I wrote that Rog

 

[runnach]

I’ve got £400 in rewards from my Costco card earned over the year. I usually blow it on barbecue stuff or something for the garden it would have been good to use it against tyres. I’ve just checked and seemingly according to the jobs worth I spoke to can’t redeem it online against tyres typical.

I suppose the BBQ stuff goes some way to looking after your spare tyre

 

[runnach]

Remember I have four at the back to spread and soften the load so maybe I don’t need the higher rating and that’s why the ones it came with are the lower rating R 16.

Seen your post after I wrote that Rog

Eh Wully, inside your garage looks like a removal van, hence the extra wheels on the rear!!

 

[Thistle]

Just to point out the obvious, tyre load rating must, pro rata add up to equal or exceed that of plated weight of any axle
Hence why proper commercial/van tyres should have two load ratings e.g. 112/115 I.e. 1120 and 1215kg respectively
The lower number are for duallies and the higher for single axles.

So in this example the 112 can be used on a dually axle plated up to 4480kg and the 115 applies to a single axle plated up to 2430kg

You can go higher which provides a stiffer side wall and slightly harsher ride but never go lower because that will compromise safety when fully loaded, potentially invalidate the insurance if the accident or blow out ended up in a claim, and attract a fine if stopped by DVSA etc.

 

[RoaminRog]

So there you go Wully….. check your plated axle weights, and then you know what you’re looking for.
When you know what your plated axle weights are, you can use the chart above.

 

[Thistle]

@Wully a little story I posted elsewhere about my first ever encounter with old tyres!
This took place last October collecting the Iveco in my Avatar:
Van has only done 30,000 miles and hadn’t had an Mot for three years.
I had it booked in for an HGV mot so I could drive it there and then even if it failed drive it home or so I thought!

“I travelled from home in North Shropshire to Billinghurst to pick up my next van project.
First train was 20 minutes late.
Knock on effect was I missed the fast train to Euston at Birmingham international and then ended up over two hours late getting the Train out of Victoria.
Then when I got to Billinghurst there weren’t any Taxis available for 2-3 hours!

It was absolutely hissing down. I called the private ambulance company I was buying it from and the owner came and got me otherwise it would have been a very long walk!

Almost 18:00 by then so no chance to do a proper van handover I wanted to get to my overnight stop in the daylight so off I went.

Filled up with diesel at some silly priced station near Horsham then went to a really nice pub for the night.

The next morning I did a few jobs on the van, I found faulty marker light and loose battery terminal, but I had forgotten to bring a tyre pressure gauge so may have missed a problem with one of the rear tyres that manifested itself later!

Then off to Reading for an HGV mot
Fail and a prohibition notice…. bugger, not allowed to even drive off site!

The vans only done 30,000 miles and the front tyres were over 10 years old I completely forgot to check them otherwise I would have got some on the way there.

Time 12:30, Thursday

Mot tester going home at 15:30, and another DVSA tester wasn’t due back on site till Monday.

Panic!

Many phone calls later manage to get a mobile tyre fitter who arrives at 15:00
He then works flat out in the hissing rain.
Mot tester kindly waited until done, inspected the work and the van now has an Mot.

Drive home from Reading was uneventful till I some how managed to stall the engine and caused a Christmas tree of dash lights to come on despite having an automatic gearbox at a roundabout just off the M42 due, I think, to leaving it in manual mode! That was a bit embarrassing.

Made it home at 21:00, still raining….

All I can say is thank goodness this particular ex Ambo has a factory fit built in toilet sink and microwave and enough floor space for my air bed and sleeping bag, if I hadn’t been able to get new tyres I would have been camped out at the Mann dealership in Reading till Monday”

The footnote to this tale is all six tyres were around 11 years old, all had loads of tread on them and looked fine when soaking wet!
Being a dually the tester only failed the two tyres on the front axle. Not the four on the rear.

This was a double edged sword, it would probably have been a lot harder and taken longer to find a mobile tyre fitter that could source six tyres as quickly as just two, but…..

After getting the van home i noticed a couple of days later that the side wall on one of the inner dually tyres had split and the tyre was completely flat, no idea when it failed but I had driven almost 200 miles.

Closer inspection after inflating to 70 psi showed noticeable cracking in the sidewalls of the other three on the rear so all four were replaced.

If one of the front tyres which I assume had similar age related cracks had also failed on the drive to the Mot station it could have resulted in a very scary moment even an accident!

Your seven year old tyres are probably fine but definitely worth examining them closely

 

[marchie]

Hi Rog the ones that are on are R 16 it’s about £30 extra each for the R 18 do you think it’s worth the extra and I wonder if the side wall wont deteriorate as quick on the R18s

Our Winter Tyres were the last set, Wully; so it was take a 121/120 [the latter for twin wheels] set, or wait for the following Winter ... The Walls have about 6 scuff protection panels albeit offering a firm'ish ride!

Steve

 

[Dethy]

Had an interesting experience with out of date tyres. We were in Spain for 6 weeks and on the way back had a flat tyre on the back. Our two fronts had just been replaced but backs still had good tread. Anyway luckily we pulled into a pull in aire just past the peage to let dogs out and noticed the flat. Although with the rac they couldn’t send anyone to motorway had to call the police. My French passable but not great in these circumstances Anyway finally someone came out. Luckily we had a spare. He showed us date code on backs were 2014. The tyre had split down the middle probably due to drying out in the sun. Needless to say new tyres going on tomorrow.

 

[Canalsman]

Hopefully these new tyres will be able to cope with my very long and out of proportion overhang.

Have you considered surgery?

 

[Geek]

I’d like to stick with the Michelin tyres as that’s what I put on the front and that’s what the van came with. It’s a heavy beast and don’t want to mix the tyre profiles.

I've never liked Michelin. They seem too expensive and too hard. And CP tyres have always been a terrible buy.

Michelin's budget brand, kormoran, is excellent, though only a few commercial sizes are available.

Yes, you should fit tyres of the same specification, but theylt doesn't mean being lockedv nto a specific brand.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I think this is the only van out of 12 we've had where the tyres are all the same make and type, usually they arrive with all sorts of makes but the same type.