Best Tyre - again This time 16" wheel

[torchy]

I have a set of 16" 6J mefro rims I bought a couple of years back. The van is presently fitted with original carat 14" and has just failed it's MOT on a knackerred tyre so time to invest in a decent set of BFG.

I have looked at wiki and searched the forum before posting but there is a hell of a lot of posts so at the risk of repeating an already discussed subject, what is the maximum size tyre I can fit to my 14" van with unmodified wheel arches.
From memory I think the tyre of choice is a 215/75/15 and fits without touching or rubbing, is that the MAXIMUM size available without mods?. Once I know the 15" maximum that then I can try a similar overall diameter/width for my 16" rims.

...or should I just get 15" rims anyway??

My preference is BF Goodrich.

Many Thanks for any help in advance

[BALDY3260]

hi torchy, i have these fitted to my 2wd 215/70/16 http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=104749" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; scroll through the thread to see pics

[max and caddy]

I to have 215,70,16s on my and they fit perfect...are a smidge bigger than 215,75,15s...no arch issues at all...

[torchy]

Hi Baldy, many thanks for your comments, you said in the post that you used to have 215/75/16 fitted but the 215/70/16 fitted better. Was the 215/75 rubbing anywhere when turning the wheel or hitting the trailing arm on the rear?
BFG dont do a 215/75 but do a 225/70 which is slightly smaller diameter at 28.4" but 0.4" wider.

I would be really grateful if you would'nt mind measuring the clearance you have on your 215/70 between the trailing arm and the tyre and the clearence between the tyre and the chassis on full lock.

Many Thanks in advance.

[BALDY3260]

hi torchy, i have sold the van now so cant take any measurements, but the 215/75 s that were fitted obviously caught the tops of the arches at some point in the past as they were a bit wavy, no such problems with the 215/70/16 s though hth baldy

[torchy]

Thanks for the help everyone, In the end I found some 205R16 wheels and tried them, they are the same diameter as the 215 75 16 and I thought they were OK untill a bit of heavy braking and I could here the front catching on the bodywork. only one side though?
Also the clearance on the rear trailing arm was only about 5mm on one side but on the other it was about 12mm ? Tyre treads were the same so overall diameter was the same?? what's going on there I wonder, I thought vehicles were symetrical?

Peter

[Mudlark]

Westy Lean ? Broken spring/damper?

Have you the same measurment from wheel arch to centre cap on both sides? (thinking out loud!)

[lloydy]

I had this on mine when first fitting 205/80, turned out the caster was wrong on one side! Causing the tyre to catch front of arch on cornering

[torchy]

That's them fitted 215/70/16 and all good, one question what Tyre pressure should I use? It's a 14" carravelle converted to a camper.