Club 80-90 Forums

I've got a 1986 Hi top with a replacement engine (was water now air cooled). What should the tyre pressures be?

They are 15" tyres - 195/65 radials.

Got 195/65 R15s on mine.
48psi in rears
42psi in fronts

Check the max inflation as stated on the tyre wall if your tyres are 'car' tyres and not 8ply or 'C' rated.

That's a lot higher than the 30 psi I was going to go for that is in the Haynes manual. I'll go and have another look at the the tyres.
Just checked and it says max psi 44, checked tyre pressure and they are all at 32 psi at the moment.

Since the instructions on the sticker in my van are only for 14" rims, I guessed pressures for mine. I run:

Front 45 psi
Rear 50 psi

You can get a good idea of whether the pressures are ok by looking at how much the tyres bulge at the bottom - there should be a slight bulge. I think Haynes or the like has pictures of what a well-inflated tyre should look like.

If you keep an eye on tyre wear that should tell you if your pressures are ok long-term - even tread-wear good, centre (over-inflated) or edges (under-inflated) bad.

if the wheels/tyres aren't standard [as far as i know T25's never had 15 inch wheels fitted] the pressure stated in the manual won't apply.
worth checking that the tyres fitted have got an adequate load rating, the number on the tyre after the 195/65R15 bit. it should be higher than 94 for a T25, which is quite a heavy vehicle

RachelDaisy wrote:That's a lot higher than the 30 psi I was going to go for that is in the Haynes manual. I'll go and have another look at the the tyres.
Just checked and it says max psi 44, checked tyre pressure and they are all at 32 psi at the moment.

Rachel, don't forget that your van weighs in the region of 2 ton
I have scanned this from the original VW handbook for the T25. It shows, (in bar), pressures for the 'proper' C rated tyres.
In psi :- Front 44
Rear 53

I suspect, like mine your tyres are not 'C' rated so, I put just under the max psi as stated on the wall of the tyre. Please DO NOT go over the max stated.

As standard, 14" wheels were fitted on all models apart from 16" Syncros.

you are all so helpful.
Just been out there again and the codes are
195/65/R15 91T x 3 and 195/65/R15 91H x 1
all max psi 44.

As the number at the end is 91 I am guessing that these tyres aren't suitable for the van. Do I need to replace them? Aaarrgh more expense. This van will bankrupt me I'm sure.

In the meantime I will try 37 front and 42 rear.

RachelDaisy wrote: Aaarrgh more expense. This van will bankrupt me I'm sure.

Welcome to T25 ownership

You don't 'need' to replace them but your tyres were designed for a car. My tyres are similar to yours and when finance allows I shall be changing both wheels and tyres for the recommended type. I'm thinking of going back to standard steel rims with chrome hubcaps or VW Carat alloys. A lot more expence I know but it will give me peace of mind.

I think we'll look at changing them next month after our holidays as it is MOT time. They were down as an advisory when we got the van but due to all our other technical problems the van has only gone about 300 miles in the last year. And now it is behaving itself it won't stop bliddy raining

Peace of mind is definitely worth it.

C rated tyres have several advantages:

They have harder sidewalls.
The van feels less "sloppy" on the road
The tyres don't burst at the first sight of a pothole
They last longer
They are better suited for having the van parked up for longer periods without getting deformed.

C- rated tyres all the way ...especially so for a heavy camper

I got thinking after reading all the posts in the 2 questions about pressures so I changed the tyres on the van today to reinforced ones with the correct load rating. Better safe than sorry as they say

a wise decision imo
now get out camping and sod the rain,,, you won't get wet in the van