Tough low profile tyres?

[Geeze]

Just to tag onto this thread a little, I`m now getting horrible tyre wear on my front boots. I got T Haus front spindles and coil over shocks on the front and adjustable plates on the back. Just got my bus mot`d and Nick (brill meknik) told me my front boots were chewing their inners :shock: They had covered less than 1000 miles possibly only 500 from brand new and were on the steel in places :shock: So he wacked his sight guages on to quickly assess the front alignment and we were surprised to find it spot on even , even though we`d set it at 5 min toe in less than 1000miles ago. So during the course of the mot works he chucked on an extra 5 mins. The only thing we didn`t do was re check the camber and the eccentric nuts as I couldn`t see them moving :? . So we plonked a set of steelies on in 14" with a good set of tread on and wandered off to the Plymfest fully loaded with me and my (large) brother in law in the front. Next weekend we did the Bristol fest so nice and local for me, while we were there we checked the tyres and we could really feel the chew from the inner edge still :evil: So our next plan of attack after lots of head scratching :? We are thinking that every time I take it in for wheel wear / adjustment etc, the van is completely stripped out because I`m always working on it or in the middle of something. So as a long shot, we are gonna try the wheel alignment and camber with two very large buckets in behind the seats filled with water, a bit bigger than the old rubbish bin size and see if that makes a huge difference. Not convinced at the moment as any empty panel van would be chewing up tyres like mine but it might be interesting if we glean anything. Now Nick assures me, and most people tend to agree that stockers don`t eat tyres much at all, especially with the amount of mileages that most of us do. Now is anyone else eating tyres ?? or is it just me ?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,, Thought I was there too :lol: :roll: :lol:

Ozzie,

Forgive what may seem like a silly question, but what way up you fitted the tierods at the spindle end?

Had same symptoms and was because the tierods were bolted up the stock way, not flipped....

 

[ozziedog]

Just to tag onto this thread a little, I`m now getting horrible tyre wear on my front boots. I got T Haus front spindles and coil over shocks on the front and adjustable plates on the back. Just got my bus mot`d and Nick (brill meknik) told me my front boots were chewing their inners :shock: They had covered less than 1000 miles possibly only 500 from brand new and were on the steel in places :shock: So he wacked his sight guages on to quickly assess the front alignment and we were surprised to find it spot on even , even though we`d set it at 5 min toe in less than 1000miles ago. So during the course of the mot works he chucked on an extra 5 mins. The only thing we didn`t do was re check the camber and the eccentric nuts as I couldn`t see them moving :? . So we plonked a set of steelies on in 14" with a good set of tread on and wandered off to the Plymfest fully loaded with me and my (large) brother in law in the front. Next weekend we did the Bristol fest so nice and local for me, while we were there we checked the tyres and we could really feel the chew from the inner edge still :evil: So our next plan of attack after lots of head scratching :? We are thinking that every time I take it in for wheel wear / adjustment etc, the van is completely stripped out because I`m always working on it or in the middle of something. So as a long shot, we are gonna try the wheel alignment and camber with two very large buckets in behind the seats filled with water, a bit bigger than the old rubbish bin size and see if that makes a huge difference. Not convinced at the moment as any empty panel van would be chewing up tyres like mine but it might be interesting if we glean anything. Now Nick assures me, and most people tend to agree that stockers don`t eat tyres much at all, especially with the amount of mileages that most of us do. Now is anyone else eating tyres ?? or is it just me ?

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,, Thought I was there too :lol: :roll: :lol:

Ozzie,

Forgive what may seem like a silly question, but what way up you fitted the tierods at the spindle end?

Had same symptoms and was because the tierods were bolted up the stock way, not flipped....

Thanks for the responces. Hadn`t even thought about that. Will have a look . Lost the plot at the moment with understanding geometry and stuff, and it`s even worse when you`re trying to remember what it looks like and the bus ain`t here. Glad someone else has had the same thing :shock: Exactly what I was looking for :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,, Once more into the breach :lol: :mrgreen: :lol:

 

[ibérico]

This is to scale, drawn on autocad and auto-dimensioned. Make of it what you will, but it's correctly drawn. The two lines represent the inner faces of 14" rims. I drew them with one end touching to demonstrate the other ends (rear of your rims) are 3.3mm apart. 0.5mm is 30'. It's too late to think :lol:

I always set mine tbang on 30' on a proper set of tracking guages and I've never had a problem with tyre wear, it doesn't tram-line and I can let go of the steering wheel on the bumpy fen roads at 60mph (as I'm fond of saying ).

I hope this is some help to someone.

PS I drove it this evening in a fair cross-wind with hedges and gaps windward side
(traditionally the worst scenario for blowing about for me) and it was spot on. I'm very pleased to have finally cracked this, but still need to test in a higher wind to be perfectly happy. I'm now ready for the big engine I have on order - would have been a waste of time in a wobbly blowy-about bus I thought, so been giving this some effort over the weeks.

Good to see that you finally cracked it!
I am personally not happy with the handling in my van since I lowered it with an ez rider red9 kit, but I think it is all down to getting the correct alignment, probably only camber...
You answered to me in another post, and thisvweek I am planning to have my van prioffesionally aligned again..(all fancy lasers and whatnot!) ..but my question is, what values shall I tell the guy?
He only wants a few numbers to type in his computer, and then wind my balljoints :lol: for camber and my trackrod ends for toe in...
Haynes's figures for a normal height bus? Bentley's?

Thanks for your patience Zed, and sorry to hear you dont do repair work any more

Tonio

 

[ZedBed]

Standard, lowered, raised - same figures.

 

[ibérico]

Thanks Zed...i will follow Mr Haynes then

 

[jammac]

Ozzie

I to have just had severe inner edge wear of 1front tyre pointed out to me by Mr mot! I've got transporterhaus dropped spindles to. I did put it down to my dodgy wheel alignment tho, nothing more. This is because everywhere Local said the van was to low for them to get the kit on! So I did it by eye & thought it was ok but obviously not.

Because of this thread tho ill b replacing my front rubber with the correct tyres + ill go check the track rod is fitted correctly.....& realign (by eye) :shock:

J

 

[ZedBed]

Ozzie

I to have just had severe inner edge wear of 1front tyre pointed out to me by Mr mot! I've got transporterhaus dropped spindles to. I did put it down to my dodgy wheel alignment tho, nothing more. This is because everywhere Local said the van was to low for them to get the kit on! So I did it by eye & thought it was ok but obviously not.

Because of this thread tho ill b replacing my front rubber with the correct tyres + ill go check the track rod is fitted correctly.....& realign (by eye) :shock:

J

You need a back street garage/mechanic with traditional tracking gauges.

Someone will correct me I'm sure, but it seems to me if you have the rear tracking out, it would likely wear just one front tyre. This is easy DIY check - long bit of wood against tyre should show up compared to the sill? That's my first check anyway.

Also if the camber is one +ve, one -ve (i.e. miles out) you'll always be pulling to one side or the other.

Another easy check - let go of the steering wheel and it should carry on in a straight linbe.

If it has wheels it can be set up - where are you? If you're near me you can come and set up at mine for free, I can instruct, but not lie under a bus as I've hurt my neck.

 

[mister]

Ozzie

I to have just had severe inner edge wear of 1front tyre pointed out to me by Mr mot! I've got transporterhaus dropped spindles to. I did put it down to my dodgy wheel alignment tho, nothing more. This is because everywhere Local said the van was to low for them to get the kit on! So I did it by eye & thought it was ok but obviously not.

Because of this thread tho ill b replacing my front rubber with the correct tyres + ill go check the track rod is fitted correctly.....& realign (by eye) :shock:

J

I had exactly the same issue, drove around several places till I found a back street independent who could do it. Drives straight like an arrow now.... well almost!

 

[jammac]

Which way round should the track rods go with the dropped spindles? Both mine are going from bottom to top. Or nut on top. Is this correct?

 

[sparkywig]

Which way is the taper on the spindle? That will determine which way the track rod end mounts.

 

[r73]

They fit upside down if I remember??
Nut on top

 

[Clem]

Ive been wearing tyres, Ive also been setting by the Haynes manual 5 minutes toe in , I will retry setting it to the 30 minutes quoted from Bently.

Ive been advised to use the old style kit backwards when the front is too low to get clear sight, which makes sense.

 

[ZedBed]

Which way round should the track rods go with the dropped spindles? Both mine are going from bottom to top. Or nut on top. Is this correct?

Yes for flippe spindles. Don't know for WW welded spindles. It helps with the chassis clearence and puts the track-rod angleback closer to the original geometry to boot.

 

[jammac]

Update:

I went for these Dunlop 90 rated light comercial tyres. Just on the front, the rears seem ok for now
http://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/dunlop/sp-lt30/175/65/R14/T/90/f?returnurl=%2forder%2ftyres%3fversion%3d2.0%26width%3d175%26profile%3d65%26rim%3d14%26speed%3dAny%26minpricerange%3d0%26maxpricerange%3d0%26loadratings%3d90%26displayall%3d6&tyre=11124013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The difference is night and day. I cannot over emphasise what a difference these tyres have made to both straight line and cornering. I can let go the steering wheel driving at 60 on the eneven fen roads. I can corner fast and accurately and safely, it steers where I want it's fantastic and just as it should be. 8)

It's probably still blow about in the wind though - not had a chance to see, but it's got to be better than it was.

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions.

hey zed

Ive got 185 65 14 (86) on my fronts at the mo. some good info on this thread. you say youve fitted these dunlops in the blackcircles link they are only a 175 do they look abit slim or can you not notice the difference between a 185 & 175 a a glance of course.

a pic would explain a thousand words of course

Its just i need new fronts and would rather just get a correctly loaded 185 65 14 but like you i cant find such a thing!

cheers dude

jamie

 

[ZedBed]

Update:

I went for these Dunlop 90 rated light comercial tyres. Just on the front, the rears seem ok for now
http://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/dunlop/sp-lt30/175/65/R14/T/90/f?returnurl=%2forder%2ftyres%3fversion%3d2.0%26width%3d175%26profile%3d65%26rim%3d14%26speed%3dAny%26minpricerange%3d0%26maxpricerange%3d0%26loadratings%3d90%26displayall%3d6&tyre=11124013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The difference is night and day. I cannot over emphasise what a difference these tyres have made to both straight line and cornering. I can let go the steering wheel driving at 60 on the eneven fen roads. I can corner fast and accurately and safely, it steers where I want it's fantastic and just as it should be. 8)

It's probably still blow about in the wind though - not had a chance to see, but it's got to be better than it was.

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions.

hey zed

Ive got 185 65 14 (86) on my fronts at the mo. some good info on this thread. you say youve fitted these dunlops in the blackcircles link they are only a 175 do they look abit slim or can you not notice the difference between a 185 & 175 a a glance of course.

a pic would explain a thousand words of course

Its just i need new fronts and would rather just get a correctly loaded 185 65 14 but like you i cant find such a thing!

cheers dude

jamie

I had 195 60 14's and they were too wide for the rim, it was like slipping on a crisp bag. Add to that the load rating was poor. If you like fat tyres they looked good 8) but the new ones look "right" if you know what I mean. This is the only pic I have, pity the door's open...

Or this one with a see-through chair in front. Not helping much am I? :lol:

 

[gr00veg0d]

So glad I found this thread... going down the same route with dropped spindles etc.

Think I'm gonna go for a pair of Hankook Vantra RA18s up front (175/65 R14 T load rating of 90) Heard a lot of good things about Hankook rubber and these are £51.59 each on blackcircles.com

Nice one Zed! 8)

 

[aspro]

Just read through this thread again. I think low profile tyres get a bad wrap around here and folks seem a little obsessed with load ratings.

A load rating index of 90 is excessive from a safety point of view for a EB, unless you're in a Westy, loaded to the roof, 3 kids, dog and a wife with an arse the size of small village. As mentioned earlier in this thread a load index of 90 equates to approx 600kg per tyre or 2400kg for the entire vehicle. An EB's unlaiden weight is only 1100kg. If you've got 1300kg of **** in your bus then you've got some problems that super dooper tyres aren't going to fix.

Agreed a tyre with a higher load index will add some driving comfort but it's interesting that everyone complains about ride quality after they lower their bus and change tyres at the same time. How much of this is actually the fault of the tyre?

If you're still paranoid about the load rating of your bus then get it on some scales at the local tip or truck weighing station. I think you will find that you're well within the load index of your tyres.

 

[Tofufi]

Just read through this thread again. I think low profile tyres get a bad wrap around here and folks seem a little obsessed with load ratings.

A load rating index of 90 is excessive from a safety point of view for a EB, unless you're in a Westy, loaded to the roof, 3 kids, dog and a wife with an arse the size of small village. As mentioned earlier in this thread a load index of 90 equates to approx 600kg per tyre or 2400kg for the entire vehicle. An EB's unlaiden weight is only 1100kg. If you've got 1300kg of **** in your bus then you've got some problems that super dooper tyres aren't going to fix.

Agreed a tyre with a higher load index will add some driving comfort but it's interesting that everyone complains about ride quality after they lower their bus and change tyres at the same time. How much of this is actually the fault of the tyre?

If you're still paranoid about the load rating of your bus then get it on some scales at the local tip or truck weighing station. I think you will find that you're well within the load index of your tyres.

Unladen weight of an EB is like to be at least 1300kg, unless you're driving an empty panel van or pickup...

 

[aspro]

Depends on which owners manual you look at I guess. This is for a 68 bus straight out of the owners manual

 

[Tofufi]

Depends on which owners manual you look at I guess. This is for a 68 bus straight out of the owners manual

Fair enough, I guess they got heavier through the years. Seems odd they gained 100kg in 3-4 years when I'm not aware of any real changes.

The page I posted was from a '71 manual, I happened to pick that as my bus is a '71

Personally, my bus gets laden quite heavily sometimes, so I run the standard commercial tyres despite my 4" narrowed beam and standard wheel tubs. It rubs occasionally (when traversing big potholes) when heavily laden, although this is vastly improved with the addition of an ARB. The ride quality, with dropped spindles, is really pretty good.