Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guys. I'm considering adding this kit to the Syncro (1.6TD on 14" wheels) to give it a bit of a lift before adding 15" wheels and 225/70/15 tyres.

What are your thoughts? Is this a good easy to fit addition? Is it worthwhile? Are my tyres and wheel choices reasonable and unlikely to over stress the existing drive train and engine/ gearbox? Do I need to alter or fit anything else?

I was originally going down the 16" steels route, but it seems not to be worth the extra strain in the van.

I think a bigger concern is can your 1.6 td pull the big wheels! My 215 75 15 mud terrains are actually bigger and heavier than my 215 70 16 a/ts ...despite what the tyre calculators say.

How does the van sit at the mo? What is in it? On some vans 30mm will bring it back to almost standard height but on others it will push it up a little to much and need some other parts to make it all happy again..

Measurements from wheel center to arch lip front and rear would be helpfull.

It sits fairly high already, looks standard though.

Currently on 185R14C M+S Van. Profile unclear though.

18" front and 18.5" rear. Westfalia conversion with pop top.

If my memory serves me correctly, no profile figure means 80 or 85.

People trying to standard-ish go 215/75/15

82 I think...a 215.75.15 is a massive increase on a 185/14 when stood next to one...

max and caddy wrote:82 I think...a 215.75.15 is a massive increase on a 185/14 when stood next to one...

it is a big increase on the 185/14, but his weekend just past i compared one of simon's 205/80/14 Yokohama's spare fitted to a carrat alloy against one of my 215/75/15 bfg m/t fitted to a mefro and there near as dam it no difference in the overall size.

going from my experience of a jx in the westy with a 5.43 final drive, the 185/14 are much nicer to drive on, the 15's with the m/t are fine but it dose lack some grunt, and you end up working the engine harder than i would like.


diverting a bit from his dose any one know why the 6inch wheel with a 205 profile tyre was and option/country spec when most 14 inch vans were 5.5inch wheels with 185 profile tyres.

neil

No idea but the 205 option was a 70 profile as standard I believe..not a 82... So not a lot of difference size wise on those from the factory.

Ok, thanks guys.

So if it was your van, would you lift it and what wheels and tyres would you fit for some green laning, snow driving and a trip to Morrocco, Iceland and Norway etc?

I have some 15" wheels lined up.

max and caddy wrote:No idea but the 205 option was a 70 profile as standard I believe..not a 82... So not a lot of difference size wise on those from the factory.

205/70/14 was the 2wd option on the factory alloys actuallyvery slightly smaller than 185R14C

syncro option was 205R14C, with the little spats fitted to the wheel arches, you can fit the 205s to both the 6 and 5.5 rims (according to the handbook), I'm running them on the 5.5s

they are about an inch and a bit smaller diameter than my 215/75/15 BFG MT KM2s which have very little wear on and that is enough to blunt the limited performance of my original engine when running the MTs

ive got 15" mefros with 215 75 15 mud terrains on and my jx ran fine with them, personally i think that the original syncro rear springs are a floored design as i rarely see them with the pigtails intact and it would be a waste of time spending money on a lift kit, much better to buy a set of aftermarket springs with a 5 cm lift( i have the gowesty springs myself) then on top of that you need to extend your shocks so they dont top out, bfg at´s seem to tick all the boxes as far as tyres are concerned

max and caddy wrote:No idea but the 205 option was a 70 profile as standard I believe..not a 82... So not a lot of difference size wise on those from the factory.

205`s were r 14´s so 80 profile

Good to know, thanks Jason.