White knuckle driving

[magoo]

Motorway driving when the wind speed is over 20mph isn't fun...it's very exposed across here in very flat East Angular.

So, I'm going to go for broke and upgrade to brand new early bay Koni shock absorbers. Whilst I'm at it, what other bits should I replace to make this upgrade worthwhile?

Should I also change my tires to 195 R14s on stock wheels to improve stability? Happy to hear 'buy these tires' suggestions.

 

[K@rlos]

I’ve always found the most expensive tyres you can get regardless of the size makes all the difference. I’ve driven a lot of buses lowered and stock, tyre quality is noticeable.

I’ve got 165/50 15 & 215/60 15 Continentals on my bus and it drives a dream. I will say though a bus will always be affected by strong winds purely due to the slap sides.

 

[gvee]

Agree with tyres.
Ensure your wheels are balanced and check your wheel alignment.
It's amazing how squirrely a vehicle can be when it's out by even a tiny amount.

 

[mike202]

Commercial tyres have stronger walls and resist sideways movement I have Hankook 185r14 c tyres.

I agree with Karlos above though, that buses will always suffer a bit in the wind because of the ‘bread loaf’ shape. Of course any vehicle does to some extent, all you can do is try to minimise it.

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[fallingoffalot]

I found that putting max pressure in the tyres made a huge difference. I barely notice cross winds now. Actually I've recently put stock wheels back on (185R14C) with Yokohama van tyres (they were already on when I bought them 2nd had from a guy on the LateBay forum). I've just noticed that they're actually 12 years old. They do look a bit hard and shiny.

 

[Coda]

Not sure you should be wearing 12 year old tyres Sir Fallingoffalot. I've got some C rated tyres on my original wheels which are not currently on the bus which are probably just as old, and I daren't use them. They are hard, shiny, and have little cracks in places. The only reason I considered it is because the newer tyres that are currently fitted (on nice pre '71 wide-5's) are NOT rated Commercial. Needless to say when we had that wild wind a month or so back, I had to pull off the M5 and go through Evesham instead because I had several gusts that shoved me out of my lane at 55mph. Scary stuff.
TL;DR - I think some Koni shocks are also in my future.

 

[magoo]

Commercial tyres have stronger walls and resist sideways movement I have Hankook 185r14 c tyres.

I agree with Karlos above though, that buses will always suffer a bit in the wind because of the ‘bread loaf’ shape. Of course any vehicle does to some extent, all you can do is try to minimise it.

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I have had the Hankook RA 08 185 R14 C tyres on the van for about 5 years now. Inflated to 28 - 38/40 psi but I think they look bulged. Did the VW tire pressure sticker allow for the added Westfalia furniture and then loaded up with camping gear? According to Ratwell, our 68-70 vans on stock wheels should have Continental Vanco 8 in size 195 R14 tyres on them.

https://ratwell.com/technical/Tires.html

 

[sparkywig]

I run 175/55/15 with 36psi in the front tyres and 195/70/15 with 48psi in the rears. Only get affected by big gusts of wind.
Have you checked for play in the steering box, idler arm, drag link, steering arm and idler pin, track rod ends, etc?

 

[magoo]

What is the load rating on those 195/70/15 tyres sparky?

Tyre chat isn't my strongest subject, but again according to ratwell, the bay window Westfalia bus weighs 1500kg - 2268kg. These Hankooks RA08 only have a load rating of 102 for a 850kg vehicle! Unless this load rating is per axle or per tyre??

https://www.blackcircles.com/helpcentre/tyres/what-is-load-rating

 

[mike202]

Commercial tyres have stronger walls and resist sideways movement I have Hankook 185r14 c tyres.

I agree with Karlos above though, that buses will always suffer a bit in the wind because of the ‘bread loaf’ shape. Of course any vehicle does to some extent, all you can do is try to minimise it.

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I have had the Hankook RA 08 185 R14 C tyres on the van for about 5 years now. Inflated to 28 - 38/40 psi but I think they look bulged. Did the VW tire pressure sticker allow for the added Westfalia furniture and then loaded up with camping gear? According to Ratwell, our 68-70 vans on stock wheels should have Continental Vanco 8 in size 195 R14 tyres on them.

https://ratwell.com/technical/Tires.html

Yes I read that article. I don’t think it matters whether the tyres are 185 or 195 much, and that’s what he says. 195 will be closer to the rolling radius but wider than the original bias ply tyre width. Whereas 185 are slightly smaller rolling radius but almost the same width as original. I prefer the 185’s as it less likely to stress the steering box, and the spare fits in the wheel well easily. The 195 is a tight squeeze, and as I often remove the spare when camping to make the most of the bed space with an infill cushion, it works better for me.
Also, the load rating which is per tyre of 102, is 850kg so 1700kg per axle. The gross weight of a loaded camper is about 2200kg max. So this load rating should be more than adequate.

 

[magoo]

Thanks Mike, what psi do you have those 185s at? I reckon I'm under inflating them and should another 10-20 psi in them.

 

[ozziedog]

Where’s our tyre supremo when you need him? Come on Pete, join in and tell us what’s what for real! :shock: :shock: :shock:

Ozziedog,,,,, Toffo, where are you ? :mrgreen:

 

[mike202]

Thanks Mike, what psi do you have those 185s at? I reckon I'm under inflating them and should another 10-20 psi in them.

This is something I’m not 100% sure about. I put 35 psi in front and 40 in rears. I could probably put more in but they seem to be ok at this level. The tyre wear seems even so I can’t be too far out.[emoji106]
Be interesting if others put what air they’re putting in on commercial tyres or others.

 

[Coda]

From what I gleaned from the various workshop manuals I think:
Cross plies - 28F 36R 3/4 load, going up to 40R fully loaded. Is anyone running cross plies these days?
Radials - 30F 36-40R 3/4 load, going up to 44R fully loaded.
There is quite a variance between each date source though, and I'd like to know what is behind it, whether its the change to radials around 1970ish or the change of the rim size from 5"J to 5-1/2"J.

 

[Huyrob]

I have 185R14C with 40psi front and 45-50 rear depending on load. Don’t suffer from too much wandering . Previously inflated to about 5-10 psi less than this and was far worse. I don’t go faster than 55mph though,
May not be to many people’s taste but I carry my spare on top, find it great and so easy to get to with foot on cab sill.

 

[matty74]

I run 195/70/15 Nexen CT8 102/104T on the rear, brilliant tyre.


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[Dirty Harry]

I have nexen CT8 195r14 who are a bit larger then the 185r14 tyres and this helps to bring the RPM’s a bit down and further i haves konis on all corners and a thicker sway bar wich helps alot but now and then you get suprised by a out of nothing wind gust though.

 

[Bluesnailman]

I got the original fit Konis from Paruzzi a few years ago and believe that made a difference. I then upgraded to a thicker sway bar and this made a difference too. Still, side winds aren't fun :-(

I'm going to increase my tyre pressures as noted above and see if that makes a difference. Next set of tyres (on back at least) will be 195's but i need to give the engine a bit more poke first

 

[trinketpimp]

Had a Devon in a past life and I will say that it is worth keeping the pop-top clips in good order as when the blighter goes up on it's own, there is no tyre in the world that will keep you on your own side of the road....

 

[ozziedog]

Had a Devon in a past life and I will say that it is worth keeping the pop-top clips in good order as when the blighter goes up on it's own, there is no tyre in the world that will keep you on your own side of the road....

I’m still wrestling with a good way to hold my Devon top down (LateBay Devon) so I’m relying on Velcro straps at present which works strength wise but is still far too fiddly and time consuming than I’d like. Overcentre clips are a pain to fit on these and the original clips came from the Wacky Races I think :shock: I might investigate some rubber toggle types as these appear a little more forgiving. This is still project number one hundred and seventeen amongst the zillions of other things to do :lol:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, I need twelve weeks off work I reckon :msn4: :mrgreen: :msn4: