My Bus is a ’68 Bay & I needed new alloy’s & tyres.
Being aware of limited rear wing clearance but also determined to find a readily available tyre I went searching.
I also have a ’79 Bay & many years of tyre experience so I am totally convinced of the merits of fitting a proper commercial tyre (See also - VW Baywindow Bus Tire FAQ (ratwell.com))
Sorry, ‘slammed’ don’t rock my boat
Problem – I want to use 15”x5.5J wheels with 5x205mm PCD & I wanted to use a readily available good commercial tyre.
Searching only gave me a 15” 195/70 option as the min. width readily available from most suppliers
The 195mm width is the upper limit for 5.5J wheel rim. (see later wheel selection)
Tyre size note:
Consider most 185/** are hard to find or not proper commercial, plus you want correct engine revs then this is the only option
Asking around everyone uses undersize tyres 14 x 185/70 but at 7.6% undersize or just slammed & then don’t care
PS – an interesting point to note about size using a tyre size calculator
Compared to normal 14” 185/80 this 15” 195/70 is an identical size, however if you use a ratio of 185/82 (pre-low profile tyres) both these sizes are 1.9% undersize
Also remember the original spec was for a 7” wide cross-bias[/highlight]
My Bus came with EMPI alloys with ET=12mm & fitted with you guessed it, 185/60 R1, undersize giving 3mm inner wing clearance (see advert in parts)
Thus, these wheals were only suitable for slammed & narrowed but it gave me a reference point for a new ET value for new wheels & I needed >=23mm using 195mm tyres.
There was no definitive information on the web, or only old information & non using 195/70’s
I started with finding the best tyre that was readily available & specifically for van usage then kept an eye out for deals
Along side this I would needed suitable alloys with large enough ET value to clear the rear wing of my ’68 & allow use of the 195/70 tyres
This is my end result:
Fitted tyres below:
Look out for Kwik-fit ON-LINE ONLY offers – ie was 25% off till end of March & FREE MOBILE FITTING
Tyres:
4x Michelin Agillis 3 - 195/70R15
B economy / A wet braking / 72dB noise £334.00
4 x Wheel Balancing at £6.75 £27.00
4 x Std Valve or TPMS Valve Stem/Service Kit at £4.75 £19.00
4 x Environmental Tyre Disposal at £2.00 £8.00
1 x Mobile Fitting FREE
Free mobile fitting Sub Total £388.00
Discount £50.10
Total £337.90
Michelin Agilis 3 Truck Tyre | MICHELIN United Kingdom
Extra note about these & some advantages
• These are Michelin’s latest (not the plain ‘Agilis’ or even the ‘Agilis’ plus)
•
They boast ‘B’ grade economy – most top brand tyres are only ‘C’
• ‘A’ grade wet braking, which is when most Bus’s might need having rear engine – yep, I have run into a lorry rear stopped at lights in the rain – was not paying attention!
•
They have those extra side blocks to save on kerb damage - see picture
• They are the smallest size in their Van category so should have the stiffer walls to stop all that roll
• Should give a high mileage TBC
Keep an eye out for offers. I think we all know that low cost tyres are an utter waste of money, never mind the worse handling
See - VW Baywindow Bus Tire FAQ (ratwell.com)
The Wheels
The only 15 x 5.5J (5x205mm PCD) with largest ET=23mm were the SSP 5 slots (best 4 off price from ‘C***a**’ - 4 off £376.20 incl. Delivered incl. stainless valves & fitting bolts.
Luckily I liked the design plus it really easy to clean as no hard to reach corners
Results of fitting to Bus (see picture)
I had calculated I should get 10mm clearance with wing – this setup actually gave 7.5mm – SWEET but not too close I hope - TBC
Make a note of the above combination especially for early Bay’s with 5.5Jx15” wheels – need ET>=23 with 195/70 tyre
I think this tyre wheel combination perfect for early bay – however only the SSP Slot 5 spoke has large enough ET value of 23mm.
Why can’t all the other alloy wheels have a larger ET?
Is it because asking around everyone uses undersize tyres 14 x 185/70 but at 7.6% undersize!
Next job is to fit the CSP front disk conversion & then the only shocks I would use – the Koni’s - article to follow
I have 2 questions & hopefully you have a few old dogs around to answer
1. The official VW service manual goes to great lengths to stress that the rear torsion bars are labelled left & right handed & must not be swopped. While replacing bushes I had a look at my torsion bars – all I can see is the same VW & ‘O’ stamped on the end – any advice ? My South African Bus was a part finished project.
2. Does any one know the VW original tyre pressures for early bay & 15” wheels – even though not for radials or what pressures to use on my news sizes?
