wheels and tyre sizes on old vans.

[Deleted]

Hi all

I thought i would share my thoughts on wheel and tyre combos used on our old vans.
Whilst away on the recent east coast tour i managed to shred a tyre on the right side of "matilda"
The tyre was a 16x600 radial which had done a trip to Esk Qld and Morgan S.A this year plus a few short hops.. probably about 6000 miles no more than that. it was one of two new tyres that i bought from kaybee about 12 months back.

I had all sorts of hassles getting the old wheel out from under the guard and even more problems fitting the spare. Cobber and i wrestled on the side of the road outside of Gulgong for almost an hour with 4 blocks of wood and two jacks to get the wheel on .
I originally had 2 jacks packed in the van but had recently removed one to help my son like work on his 4x4 and i never replaced it.
After a bit of cussing and swearing plus a bit of good old aussie ingenuity we finally got the wheel on and made it to the van park with fading light.


Not sure how far i had travelled before i heard the wire flapping on the road and felt the vibration, as well as noticing the van "tacking" to the right slightly. at first i couldnt understand why Cobber was accelearting away from me in his stock FJ !!!!

For the next few days i searched high and low around the boondocks looking for a 16 x 600 replacement tyre .. to no avail.
Col eventually scored a 550 x 16 tyre on a prefect rim for $15 out of a property near Scone. We ended up fitting an old doubtful spare tyre to the rim with the blown tyre when we got to my place on thursday. ( thanks again for the effort Col)

The rest of the tour and Coledale saw no further problems with tyres but the issue of tall , hard to procure , scarce tyres and access to wheels on old vans stuck in my mind all the way.
So on Monday after Coledale i dug out three 15" rims that i scored off a diahatsu rocky some time back . These rims have the same stud pattern as F100 ford and suzuki 4wd. The 16" rims on Matilda are 1948 ford pilot with adaptor plates to suit the smaller yank ford stud patterns. I headed around to the tyre service and they fitted the 15's up with 15 X 195 x 70 - 8 ply light truck radials.

End result is i now have tyres which are about 2" lower in rolling diameter and about 1 or 2" wider . definitely easier to obtain if you are unfortunate enough to have a tyre blow out or destroy itself while away in areas where older odd sized tyres might be difficult to obtain. Relatively easier to fit . dont need two jacks but still need to remove the spats to get them on.



Old 16s



Fitted with 15s. You can see the difference in ride hieght. I agree that "matilda" has lost that "Vintage high heels" look . But with her new 15" joggers she sits in much lower behind the Ute and there for less likely to sway and cause wind drag.....which has got to lead to better fuel consumsion and safer towing.

And finally the biggest bonus of all. i havent got as far to fall out of / climb into the van when i am coming home/ going out after "happy hour" ;D

A lot of vans i noticed at Coledale are rolling on 1960's - 13" holden rims and tyres even these are becoming hard to find in tyre services. The days of just jumping a fence and finding a spare on that old holden in the paddock is becoming less and less common. Wreckers have bit the bullet and tossed out a lot of what they call "The old stuff".

Its OK to say "i have a spare" but what happens once you have to use it out in the back blocks and you get something a bit more damaging than just a puncture which requires a tyre replacement.
Its not a good feeling travelling knowing that your next puncture could mean a major delay in your holiday plans. Sure you can carry 2 spares but why cart the extra weight?

If you do have easy to find wheel and tyre sizes then at least check that the jack and wheel brace that you are carrying is capable of lifting the van high enough, and you do have the right wheel brace with you for the van wheel nuts. carry them under the seat in the van. The one in the boot of your car may be different.

I'm not saying go out and whip your wheels off. i'm just saying it may be wise to have a look at what shoes your old darlin' is wearing and ask yourself "what if"
Check your jack and wheel changing gear and ask yourself " does it fit,Will it do the job when asked of it ??".

Better to sort it out in your driveway than to wait for the worst to happen and have to deal with it in the middle of nowhere... with no help.. in the rain... with a nose full of flys.. a car full of screaming kids... 5 minutes before closing time at the local....
Oh stop Reddo now that really would be a horror story

Reddo - from the lower .. fatter side.

[groovy]

Reddo
With the new tyres, check the tyre pressures using the 4lb rule, (available on the NRMA website) as they will have a much higher load rating and stiffer sidewalls than the michelins you took off, so if the pressure is to high they will give the van a hell of a shaking, especially on corrugations.
Another thing, with the lower ride height, will the van travel nose high (no good) or level. Generally speaking vans tow best when either level or very slightly nose down.
Greg
PS: 13" light truck tyres are readily available at most tyre places.

[chippydave01]

Hey Reddo, my Fairland came with 4 Hardie High Way contours 6.40 x13 inch Holden pattern(one of my mates told me that his FC HOLDEN had them on it in the early 60 s ... HARDIE HANGON S they used to call them .My tyres had been on the van since new.They had been to SA QLD and plenty off NSW Trips. They still had plenty off meat on them but i decided on not using them as i hear old tyres are bad news.I priced 4 new 6.40 x13 and nearly had a heart attack .Having owned a HT Monaro for years i had plenty off HT 14 INCH rims in the shed so i picked up 4 Bridgestone 195x75x14 near new tyres and the rest is history.The Fairland tows like dream even though it sits a bit higher.I could proberbly drop the tyre profile a bit to chase the original height but id rather score a set of sway bars for when SPEEDING trucks overtake me .Here is the difference in height between the old and the new .PS KEEP AN EYE OUT ON SOME SWAY BARS FOR ME.Cheers DAVE.

[Deleted]

Hi Groovy and ChippyD

I had a yarn with Col about the way Matilda was behaving on the tour.
He mentioned the amount of sway she was bunging on while i had my back turned to her. I think she must have looked like a fat lady in high heels running down the road with her dress pulled up above her knees. especially down hill under brakes.

It has always had a "Nose down" attitude about it due to the 16" wheels. I got the gooseneckon the ute pressed up at work so that the ball was level with the middle of the number plate on the ute. still had a few inches of nose down about it. I briefly hitched it up after fitting the 15" wheels so that i could fix a few faulty lights on the back. it looked reasonably level then. I need to set it up on level concrete and see how it sits. I will use the old 1" of water in the sink trick as a spirit level.. Pull the plug and if there is any water left laying at the opposite end to the plug hole then i will know it is "nose down" .

I suppose the most important thing to remember is that i end up with a reasonable towball weight. If i can lift the van off the ball with one hand then i reckon she is sitting too high. Dunno whats a good weight but i reckon that you need at least 25kg or upwards to ensure the van doesnt start rock n rollin down the highway. I always pack most of the heavy stuff forward of the van axle as well.

I towed the van to morgan and esk with the landcrab and used the load leveler / sway bars as well. never a moments trouble.
I towed the van with the ute on the tour for 6 days and then home from coledale without the sway bars. Didnt feel as though i needed them at any stage. JBJ says he has never used them either. So i guess its a personal thing. Some people swear by them and others say they put undue load on your towing hitch/bar/gooseneck.

I had a yarn with a bloke at Lithgow who has been around OZ about 4 times with a late 80s van behind a 100 series landcruiser. He said that the average concensus with most of the grey nomads is that they change thier tyres every 5 years weather they are worn out or not.

I had been running around 30psi to 35psi in the 16s and Col reduced them to 24lbs. i was aware of the pressure increase when the tyres got hot but wasnt sure what to put in them as far as load carrying capacity v rolling resistance was concerned.

Anyway fellas it sounds like you two are aware of the issues with old tyres and have it under control. I will see if "Matilda" has given up "waltzing" on the next trip away.

Oh .. and heres one of those seniors moment i had after Coledale:
While i was trying to reverse up over the gutter onto my site at Coledale i yeld out to Ticko to flick the brake overide plate over so the brakes wherent comming on as i reversed up the gutter. I got home and found that the brake lock off plate had not been flicked back over. Bloody good brakes those 4 wheel drums.

Gunna havta get me one of them thar "pre flight checklists" like they use at Quantas.... chocks away Biggles
If you think thats silly then ask Cobber about his doormat and step that he drove off and left behind at Glenbawn dam ;D. Yvonne sorta wandered why the van door was still open when "driftwood" got past the van park boom gate. .... Its all cobberettes fault i'm told ;D ;D ;D


Reddowninthenose

[humpty2]

While mentioning towing tips, Reddo gave me an invaluable tip that I want every one to know...........................bloody trucks overtaking you tend to suck you in don't they?...................well they don't if you accellerate about 5 meteres before they get to you....not fast enough to outrun em, but enough to let the van know YOU are pulling it along, not the truck.
Worked a treat for me...........Thanks Reddo!!.

Re tyres and wheels.............Car...... EH 13 inch, Van .......EH 13 inch too easy!!

Humpty