[Closed] Van Tyres

if you want to be insured you do.

Don't cheap out on tyres either.
[url= http://www.motorcaravanning.com/vehicles/tyre_test.htm ]look at stopping distances (from 50) here.
[/url] When the top tyre has stopped the el cheapo is still doing 29 mph!!

Just get vanco's and be done with it.

Just swapped from cheap van rated tyres to (van rated) Contis - so much quieter and nicer to drive

You've got van-rated alloys I hope 🙂

the van is plated with axle weights

the tires must be rated to at least this.

if not DVSA will have a field day if you get tugged.

it wont fail an MOT but if DVSA pull you its as bad as having a bald tire adn youll be issued with a stop notice... - then have to arrange low loader to retrieve the vehicle.

member of my immediate family got done when unwittingly/unknowingly they had placed a spare tire of the same size but wrong weight onto their trailer and got tugged.

Get van contacts if you enjoy being stuck on wet grass.... pay attention to tread patterns most van tires are built for motorway cruising and have crap tread on. BUT the good news is these days you can get almost any tread on any size and weight rating.

we had them contis on our old banana transit and it was easier to push the van off the grass than try to drive it off if it had rained.

True that about vancos in mud. The vanco winters are better, but you pay a slight noise penalty.

So you need the right tyres for driving off after you've dumped all the stuff you collected in the layby?

Only if your main residence also has axles instead of foundations.

Indeed.

Meanwhile in the real world I find my self often on dirt tracks to trail head carparks.

I went to quite a lot of effort to find suitably rated 50:50 road:off-road tyres.

A bit of web searching is much better than weak/under-rated tyres, especially when it might be considered to have contributed to an accident...

And to those saying it never happens...

My mates lightly loaded swb transit van still had a full on sidewall blow out a couple months back on one of the rear wheels.

Lucky it wasn't at high speed

If it’s a class 7 it will fail mot if it has the wrong rating tyres on. Class 4 it’s not checked for mot but insurance maywell be invalid and DVsa will spot it if they pull you over.

Sorted! Ws looking at the Conti van now I'm defo getting them. Thanks for ll the info and experiences. Cheers

Bought the last set of van load rated tyres from German site tyre leader. 70 quid or so a corner.

Always run correct load rated tyres please,makes the world a safer place

Plenty of non van-specific tyres also have suitable load ratings. My Combi version of a Dispatch van came with / still uses Michelin Energy tyres with an Extra Load (can't just remember the code) rating. They aren't a particularly common size, and since the new Mk4 Dispatch came out, Michelin no longer list them (although still no problem to get them locally a few months ago).

Not sure what the Conti van tread pattern is like now - I once tried some on the front of our old Scudo and found the tread pattern a bit odd and quite poor - deep very central grooves and not much on the shoulders, so they failed the 3/4 central tread rule much earlier than I'd have expected.

I've had General Eurovan (in winter flavour) and now Vredestein Comtrac. - Both proving to be grippy and long lasting, get me off soft ground and around SUV's that have all four wheels spinning in the snow. The General's in particular are really good in the wet -they seem to eject all the water sideways so you're treated to the view of two big rooster tails in your wing mirrors. 🙂

The van came with a set of 'Achillies' tyres fitted. Talk about nominative determinism - they were terrifying - fine in the dry but if the tarmac was merely wet - not standing water, but just wet with rain - they were like ball bearings. Changing down from 6th to 5th on an incline on a motorway and I span the rear wheels - at 60mph. Everywhere you went in the wet felt like driving on oil.

I went to quite a lot of effort to find suitably rated 50:50 road:off-road tyres.

On the front of my van I'm currently running Goodyear Cargo Vectors. The tread pattern is very reminiscent of the old Goodyear Wrangler AT 4x4 tyres. These tyres made the move from the back to the front after I embarrassingly failed to get into the Field at an event due to the very worn Toyo H09 winter tyres I was running down over summer.

Unfortunately the Cargo Vectors are discontinued and the new Goodyear Cargo Vector 2's are quite different with a more road focused bias. Went for Dunlop Econodrive as prefered the tread pattern and £30 per tyre saving. Not a lot of choice in 17" 103+ load rated tyres.

I used to run the H09s and liked them, current van has larger wheels so I use the light truck version of the General Tire AT, they come with high load ratings.

if you are near Edinburgh I have a set of 4 Conti Van Contact tyres 215/60/17, VGC with 7/8mm tread for sale.

If you run steel wheels, it's worth checking eBay for spare / upgraded wheels with unused tyres (i.e. people who have ordered a new van with steel wheels, then upgraded to aftermarket alloys). They're usually a lot cheaper than fitted tyres.

I replaced a pair of Avon AV 11 at 50k with a pair of Hankooks , the Hankooks are noticeably quieter , grip better and slightly better on fuel . £ 180.00 fitted balanced and tracked for the pair.

Gumtree/eBay is a great place for nearly-new (as in removed from new vehicle) tyres, as Ben H says above. I sold my Conti Vanco 2's on there easily and for good price after changing to all-seasons after the drive home from the dealer.

Pirelli Carrier All Seasons. A-rated for wet grip, has the snowflake rating, and noticeably quieter than the Conti's which was unexpected.

Hankook RA28's on my '13 T5 have managed over 85k on two sets.
They came as standard and lasted 37k so for £160 fitted I had the same.

[I]If you run steel wheels, it's worth checking eBay for spare / upgraded wheels with unused tyres (i.e. people who have ordered a new van with steel wheels, then upgraded to aftermarket alloys). They're usually a lot cheaper than fitted tyres. [/I]

I found the opposite, I sold my smart steel wheels with 18 month old Bridgestone tyres with 7-8mm tread for between £140 and £170 on ebay! I sold three and kept a spare, and this covered the full cost of van rated alloys and I just had to pay for the all terrain tyres I needed 🙂 I reckon its a hassle free way for people to buy a spare wheel for their van, it still compares favourably to dealer prices, or a rusty junk rim with ditchfinder from a dismantlers.

Maxxis vanpro on my vito. Grippy and lasted ages