NEW TYRES

Hello

Can somebody tell me what tyres to fit on my Cruising Cabin 2.8 Campervan? What would Toyota recommend on this vehicle, the Bridgestones that came on my Camper have served me well (they were on it when i bought it) but the strange way they have worn has left me thinking that i could get better wear with the appropriate tyre? the tracking is fine and the wheels were all balanced ok i am looking to buy around the mid price range but could push the boat out given some good advice.

I'd start by asking What type of driving are you doing? If you don't need off-road or Winter performance then a standard road tyre (with suitable weight rating) will probably work best for you...
If you spend your weekends in muddy fields/beaches etc (eg towing a horsebox out of a muddy "car park" or boats off a beach etc) then it'd be worth getting a tyre designed to help you out.

I have "summer" tyres- Michelin van tyres that work really well on the van. Then a set of Kumho Winters which don't handle anything like as well (less stable) but are more appropriate for Winter conditions in Scotland in terms of grip etc.

I would definitely recommend using commercial vehicle rated Van tyres with good load ratings over even reinforced standard car tyres, though some people (especially those with the smaller versions of the Hiace, like standard wheelbase, 2WD people carrier configs) have found them OTT and get a more comfortable ride from something less industrial!
The Michelin Agilis I have (on a super-LWB, Hitop, 4WD camper conversion, I stress!) made a big difference to stability and cornering compared to the Brdigestones that came on it (or the Winter Kumhos). This is also my experience with smaller VW campers I've had in the past, BTW.

What size are you looking for, BTW? The 195R15s on my van are quite unusual in the UK for commercial-vehicle load ratings, so not easy to find. I substituted 205/70R15s (slighty undersized) when I got the Kumho-Winters: They fit fine. I've certainly seen people posting that their "standard fit" is different from mine, and the 2WD versions use different hubs+wheels (5-stud 14s) than the 4WDs... I'd be interested to know whether the speedos are actually calibrated differently between all or some of the models!!! :-)

Cheers,
W.

Hello and Thanks for the info...

I also have Bridgestone 195R15Cs on my van and i'm having a bit of bother trying to track down new ones!
I'm looking for the same size i don't really want to sit even slightly lower as i do find rocky/bumpy tracks on occasion and will certainly be looking at the weight aspect......do you know anything about the Bridgestone Dueler HT? as the bloke at my local tyre centre thinks that these would be suitable.

Thanks.

When you say "the strange way they have worn" what do you mean? Other than tracking and balance, which you've mentioned, perhaps under or over inflation has been a factor?

One brand NOT to get is Federal. My campervan came from the import company with them fitted and two of them went out of round after about 30,000km. The replacement Toyo 215/70R15s seem good but it's too early to suggest their life span. This is if either brand is available in UK of course.

toyboy wrote:

Hello and Thanks for the info...

I also have Bridgestone 195R15Cs on my van and i'm having a bit of bother trying to track down new ones!
I'm looking for the same size i don't really want to sit even slightly lower as i do find rocky/bumpy tracks on occasion and will certainly be looking at the weight aspect......do you know anything about the  Bridgestone Dueler HT? as the bloke at my local tyre centre thinks that these would be suitable.

Thanks.

Hmm, which Dueller H/T? Bridgestone use H/T as a broad category for Highway-orientated 4x4 tyres.

The d864 variant is available in 195R15, which would fit, but it's load rating is only 96, which I would personally consider marginal, at best. It's definitely underspecced for my camper going by the door plate.

What's on the tyre specification on your driver's door jamb? There should be a plate there with tyre info and pressures, though much of it may be in Japanese.

Cheers,
W.

Hi,
Bridgestone R623 - 195/R15C might suit, if you want to use Bridgestones. I suspect (would love to get this confirmed or corrected!) that the particular tyres Bridgestone supply for 4x4 Hiaces in Japan are not normally available in the UK....

Which model are yours, anyway- should be on the sidewall ( eg "D687" ). The ones on my van were not listed by Bridgestone as current anymore! Given that the van had only done 30,000 miles I suspect they may have been the originals from the factory...!

Cheers,
W.

Hello

Thanks for the input i have a 1994 Hi Ace Custom 4x4 Long Wheel Base 2.8D Campervan it has the 3L engine and a pop type top....the plate on the drivers door is indeed in Japanese!! i'll definitely give the Duelers a miss, it's the R623s that i am trying to find but even these seem to be a bit elusive i am replacing the R600s that came with the van and are now close to being illegal.

The strange wear consists of the front passenger side tyre being worn on both edges of the tread giving a round kind of appearance and the rear drivers side developing a flat spot on the tread that was only noticed when the wheels were off due to some work needed.I do tend to keep the inflation high as i sometimes carry a bit of weight so maybe that's it.

More input greatfully received.


Thanks again

Hi,
Can you post a snap of the plate?

I'll have a look at mine later on- I'm pretty sure the technical part of the tyre spec is in western script!

Cheers,
W.

A tyre tech mob here on the Gold Coast told me that these vans are renowned for wear on the front tyres ..and even with regular balances and alignments no improvements are made ..All I do now is rotate the tyres on a regular basis ..

toyboy wrote:

worn on both edges of the tread giving a round kind of appearance

Worn on the edges but not so much in the centre usually suggests under inflation. Mine is placarded at 45psi front and up to 60psi for the rear.

toyboy wrote:

and the rear drivers side developing a flat spot on the tread

Possibly a brake grabbing if the disc is out of true?

I wouldn't disagree with the vans being hard on tires though.

OK, my door plate shows two tyre sizes in western script: 195R15C 6PRLT  and 195R15C 8PRLT.

It looks like those are different specs for front & rear(!) but I'm running the higher spec all round.

The "C" suffix indicates a commercial vehicle tyre, 6PR is "6 Ply Rating" and 8 PR "8 Ply rating"`, the LT is Light Truck  (which is an American usage, I think, referring to pickups, mostly)

The pressures are given as 3.0 Bar and 4.0 bar. Someone's kindly translated that to 60 psi rear & 45 psi front on an extra sticker. You'll find that you need a commercial vehicle tyre to handle that sort of pressure, though a Reinforced one might take 45.

I got my Michelin Agilis Van tyres through Pneus online. Hard to find that size from a UK tyre dealer. There are others, of course, like the Bridgestones you've identified and also Continental Vancos. Avon, Kumho etc all do them, too, but they are likely to be a special order, at best, unless your van can get by on less sturdy rubber...

Tyre labelling is very confusing- lots of different international standards that have evolved over time. You will need at least "reinforced" or "XL" (extra load) ones. The next step up are commercial vehicle tyres ("LT" or C suffix) in "6 ply rating" or "load range C", and then "Load Range D" or "8 ply rating". They will all have load rating numbers- about 96 for a reinforced tyre, 100/102 for a 6PR/load-range-C and 106 or so for an 8PR/Load-range-D. I've seen 8PRs labelled as 195R15D, just to complicate matters!!

Check the numbers on the plate... Even the Japanese manual that came with my bus points the owner to the plate instead of citing the specs. Hopefully it's consistent with the above!!

Cheers,
            W.

Hi again, 
                  Meant to say: the flat spot in the tread on the rear could be caused by a bulge in the tyre. If the carcass has "given" a little, creating a high spot then you might see a worn patch where the tread has been slightly proud of the rest of the tyre and suffered more wear...

Cheers, 
               W.

Hi and thanks for the input from you guys out there i finally sorted my tyres and now have a new pair of Marshall 195 R15LTs on the front these are mid price commercial tyres that at least have a high weight ratio of 104/106 and i found a new Bridgestone of matching spec on ebay for £38 to match the good one on the back!!

Bridgestone no longer make this size/spec tyre and have no plans to do so in the immediate future.

I have since found out that Marshall are sponsers of Man Utd FC....I am trying not to let this bad news get to me.

WG....my door plate would appear to be the same as yours and i to am now running the higher spec all round when we took off the Dueler it flopped around like a floppy fish so i was very glad to get that off it most certainly would not have lasted much longer.

I think rotating is also a good idea and i think i'll need to keep a close eye on the tyre pressure.

Thanks again for all your input now it's just another MOT.