Just had to replace three tyres on a Vito. I never have more weight than three people and three bikes and do about 8000 miles a year so use car tyres – 17″ alloys (it’s what came with the van.)

Van has to drive:
on building sites – I’m an electrician
Up country lanes and forest tracks – I take it to mountain bike races and strange access sites occasionally.

One tyre worn, one split and another with nail in it.

So cutting to the chase. The guy I have always gone to only had two new Bridgestone Potenzas in that were right size. He could only offer me a Continetal remould for third. £35 – I gave him cash for it.
He said he has them in because it’s what a lot of the licensed taxi drivers use in South London that go to him. One actually came and went whilst I was having three tyres changed.
He also said I might be as well with it anyway as I ruin more tyres than I wear out. But he also doesn’t want to convert a customer who buys good new tyres off him. This is true, some building sites are not good places for pneumatic tyres.

So what I am after is, has anyone had first hand bad experiences of remoulds? Do they have a shelf life or anything?

can tyres on a van- does that not invalidate your insurance?

i think if the load rating is good they should be ok.

I run part-worns on my car, £20 a corner, including fitting. Don’t last as long as a normal tyre would, but its a reasonable compromise tbh

a lot of the licensed taxi drivers use in South London

If I was doing 5-15mph around London for most of the time I’d use retreads.

If I was using motorways etc etc in a heavish commercial vehicle that I needed to rely on for work etc. I’d buy budget new tyres.

Thanks for the fright Mr Tandem, but I don’t think tyres are actually really car specific. Van tyres being more heavy duty or as 5lab says, load rated. I have a carbon hard tail you know, 26″ wheels. Not some unwieldy heavy 29″ thing being carted around in the back. 😉
And don’t go giving insurance companies ideas either.
It’s more a “How many miles are they ok for? And do I change it earlier than necessary?”
I probably do about 3000 miles a year on the motorway

Years ago I had Technics(sp?) remoulds on my BMW, they lasted for ever, which probably meant they were rock hard with not much grip. For the sort of driving I was doing though, it never bothered me. Probably no worse than cheap Chinese Ditchfinder Generals. All tyres have a shelf life.
I seem to remember being told that Concorde was fitted with remoulds.

If the van has a specific load rating for its tyres and yo buy tyres below the load rating this would invalidate your insurance I would think.

Certainly its the case with motorcycles and speed rating

Concorde was on remoulds?

Well it helped a party of Germans check into a hotel super-quick didn’t it

TandemJeremy – Member

Certainly its the case with motorcycles and speed rating

No it isn’t. Some insurers might specify specific speed ratings (though I’ve never come across it) but it’s not a general condition of insurance. It’d be a brave insurance company that decided to argue in court that using tyres that are only rated to 150mph instead of 170mph caused an accident at 30mph.

As long as the tyres are rated ‘C’ for commercial, and meet the load rating, you’ll be fine.

Check the remould has the same number of plys (normally 6 or 8 for a van) and load rating as its mate on the other end of the axle, they should be the same.

If not, and you have an accident, you could be done for having an unsafe vehicle.

The issue of remoulds themselves wouldn’t worry me too much, its common to use them on HGV’s.

Edit: It would invalidate your insurance, as you would be modifying your vehicle by fitting under-rated tyres, either load or speed. You can fit a lower speed rating for ‘special condition’ tyres, such as winter or offroad tyres. And its not just the insurance that would be interested, the police could also prosecute for an unsafe/unroadworthy vehicle.

northwind are you sure? it was always my understanding that if z rated tyres are specced and you put s tyres on then its voiding your insurance by having the vehicle in unroadworthy condition

A quick google seems to agree with that.

Comes under suitability in Construction and Use. The vehicle’s only type-approved exactly as manufactured but that doesn’t mean it’s considered unroadworthy if you vary from that. (same applies for any other modifications)

I was also under the opinion it was a complete ‘no-no’ to fit a tyre that was under-rated. Also, when you are talking about vans, the speed rating is often R which is only 106mph. So hacking down a hill in a fully laden van, with a tail wind, 95mph on the speedo and an under-inflated tyre, means you can get pretty close to the tyres design limits.

spooky_b329 – Member

I was also under the opinion it was a complete ‘no-no’ to fit a tyre that was under-rated.

Under-rated, sure- as in lower than the speed or loading it’ll be used at. But not for being under the original rating but still higher than the required rating.

Hang on…

“Tyre Loads and Speed Ratings25.—(1) This regulation applies—(a)to a goods vehicle first used before 1st April 1987 in respect of which a plating certificate has been issued;
(b)to a vehicle first used on or after 1st April 1987, which is a goods vehicle, a bus or a trailer; and,
(c)from 1st April 1990 to every vehicle, whenever first used, which is a goods vehicle, a bus or a trailer.
(2) Each axle of a vehicle to which this regulation applies solely by virtue of paragraph 1(a) shall be equipped with tyres which, as respects strength, are designed and maintained adequately to support the maximum axle weight for that axle.(3) Each axle of a vehicle to which this regulation applies by virtue of paragraph (1)(b) or (c) shall be equipped with tyres which are designed and maintained adequately to support the maximum axle weight for that axle when the vehicle is driven at the speed shown in column 3 in the Table in the item in which the vehicle is described in column 2 (the lowest relevant speed being applicable to a vehicle which is described in more than one item).

(the table is a list of assorted speeds but the highest for any of them is 70mph)

Some confusion on speed rating and load rating. Speed rating must be sufficient for the manufacturers listed maximum speed of the vehicle and the load rating must be sufficient for the maximum permitted gross weight of the vehicle. This is most likely where youll come unstuck with a commercial vehicle as despite you only having a couple of carbon bikes and a circuit testing acrewdriver, the MPGW of the vehicle is sufficient to carry much much more.

All remoulds now have to pass certain tests iirc it’s ec109 compliant but it’s been a few years since I’ve dealt with remoulds. Also not all remoulds are the same some are alot better than others.

Part worn tyres are always a bit of a gamble as you don’t know ther history but the same applies when you buy a used vehicle.

Not all vans run van or commercial tyres, some run on standard car tyres some extra load car tyres and some van tyres, it’s all down to the load rating there designed for.

With speed ratings you can fit what you like provided you don’t exceed the speed indicated on the
So in theory there is no need for anything more than a T rated tyre as you can’t legally go over 70mph