Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guys,

Our van has teenie weenie 14" wheels, albeit with great road tyres, but we want something bigger.

So, what steel wheels would you recommend, without requiring surgery (further van lift excepted)?

And which tyres?

Can I fit a set of 16" wheels without cutting the van?

If not, what's the biggest 15" I can get away with?

Does anyone have some spare?

from reading on here most people fit 215/75/15 tyres. I think with anything bigger you will affect the driveability of it. Especially with a ickle jx

Sounds reasonable. Are we talking off road knobblies?

on or off road. Most people get all terrain tyres . Muds are very noisy on road

Ok, so now to source some steel wheels

mefro's or merc steels (need to search for ones with similar offset and stud size)

just a rember that your van will drive its best with the 14's on. think long and hard on about what you want. i know when we met at Busfest i had the m/t's on the camper. but i have since refurbed a set of 14inch wheels, just saving up to buy a set of boots for them.

neil

What Neil says....

I have run 14"most of the 7 years ownership.. they drive well on them..
upgraded to Carat alloys and 205r14 tyres.. (stock option on Syncro's) got a better look about them and still keeping it sensible.. Its raised the gearing of my petrol to make it nice on the motorway and not really sacrificed the performance when loaded etc...

bigger wheels and tyres will gear it up.. go much bigger than the prev mentioned 215/75r15 and you will find it will struggle.. (it prob will on them in any case depending on what gearing it has)

Tyres.. I run some aggressive 205/70r15 on merc rims for muddy stuff.. but you really wouldnt want to drive 100's of miles on them.. drive you nuts..
The 205r14 I have are Yokohama Y354 all seasons.. Slight gamble on them, but after seeing Aidan in the mud at Coney Farm, I took the plunge.. did my 3 week and 6k km trip to Croatia and back without a glitch.. saw slippery mud, gravel tracks and rock boulders offroading along with mid 30's temperatures on hot tarmac and cats and dogs rain... great tyres... I reckon in all that they have worn maybe 1mm too..
Took my mudders to Syncropendence and didnt bother fitting them... Just drove everywhere on the Yoko's..

This is all good advice. We are a bit crestfallen having seen all the beefy wheels and tyres at Busfest and the Syncro Trail. But I suppose ou are correct, it is the sensible option.

What about 15" Merc Penta alloys? Are these a direct fit?

This depends on the offset. Some Pentas need a 5mm spacer on the front.

The ones I have bolt straight up but they are a rarish offset.

Winchweight wrote: What about 15" Merc Penta alloys? Are these a direct fit?

Which ones? Usually Merc Pentas are 7 x 15 or 8 x 16 as these were the two popular aftermarket sizes but they were fitted to all models so there are about six different ET values. For the 7 x 15 you should look for ET33 or very close to that figure. Also note that you might need to drill out the stud holes to suit the stud diameters and you will need new nuts

I have four 7 x 15 five spoke Ronals for sale if you are interested

They're 7J x15 and I have asked about the ET.

Ronals: Are the direct bolt on? How much? Got a picture?

PM'd