Hiace unsteady in wind

Been owner of Hiace Campervan for a few years. Drives lovely except when wind blows up. Then it seems to get unstable and is not nice to drive so I drive it very cautiously. What is wrong ? any ideas.

This can be caused by under rated tyres. The sidewalls need to be stiff enough to keep the van upright and on track.
Good van tyres are expensive,  so people often cut corners.  Even if the tyres meet the minimum spec for your van they may not provide the stability you want. It can be hard to find the right sizes for some imported models,  too, which doesn't help!

What van do you have? Hiaces range from modest  people carriers to off road trucks so what works for a 2wd SWB petrol version with minimal interior won't work for a 4WD SuperLong HiTop diesel laden with camping gear, fresh water tanks, gas bottles, food etc...

Cheers,
             W.

Thanks WGWarburton. Well, this is what my wife has said to me again and again.  But what would she know !  I think it may well be the cause, as I don't know if these tyres have been changed from when it was new, as it was imported on very low mileage. I have just added van specs to my profile. A 2.8 litre hiace (2wd) poptop. Not the long version, just normal with a AM Craft shower and wardrobes fridge ect. So some weight including seats.

Hi again,
            OK: have a look at this thread:
https://hiace-super-custom.forumotion.com/t2574-new-tyres?highlight=tyres

... and see what you have as the spec on your drivers door jamb. If your van is 2WD it will be a bit lighter than a 4WD one and the wheels are different (5 stud hubs, lower ground clearance on the suspension), so it's quite likely that the tyre spec will be different to mine.

Could be your tyres are perfectly adequate but it's definitely worth checking.
It's a balance between stability and comfort, to some extent, as the front wheels are directly under your seat, so if the suspension and tyres are too stiff then every bump goes straight up your spine!!
I ran softer shocks on the front of my last VW camper to get a good balance, after upgrading the roll-bars to get better stability( ! ).

On some lighter vans commercial-rated van tyres will be too stiff for comfort but on big tall versions they will make for a much more stable ride. Be aware that the tyre quality makes a difference as well as the actual rating- my winter Kumhos have the same load rating as my summer Michelins but the van rolls notceably more with them on, despite them being slightly undersized on the sidewall height (205/70=143.5mm cf 195/80=156mm)...

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
W.

Also tyre pressure makes a difference of course.
I would also like to know if air suspension (on the rear axle only) would help.

I'm running a set of Avon Ranger tyres on my wagon and it's not too bad in the wind (2.8 litre diesel 4wd pop top). Typically vans always get buffeted by the wind so if you've only recently picked up your Hi-ace it could just be a case of getting used to it?

toldsimply wrote:

I'm running a set of Avon Ranger tyres on my wagon and it's not too bad in the wind (2.8 litre diesel 4wd pop top). Typically vans always get buffeted by the wind so if you've only recently picked up your Hi-ace it could just be a case of getting used to it?

What size and spec are these,  please?  Michelin have dropped their Agilis tyres in my size and I'm looking for an alternative but I can't see these Avons listed either...!

I have 195R15Cs and need a 6-ply load rating at the front and 8-ply at the rear,  though I've been using 8-ply all round. Also a 4x4 2.8 diesel,  though mine's a high top lwb... I've yet to work out a direct correlation from the old ply ratings to modern load ratings but the Michelins (and my winter Kumhos) are 106/104 I think...

Edit- meant to ask about tyre pressures! My van specifies 45psi/60psi, which means a standard car/4x4 tyre can't be used,  as they have a max inflation pressure below that... are the Avons you have rated to that sort of pressure,  or does your van run lower inflation?  I'm thinking that if it's swb it will be lighter!

Cheers,
             W.

Only just seen this message, sorry for the delay, I'll double check them tonight.

Okay, my Avon Rangers tyres say the following on them 96H 195/80R15 M+5. These tyres cost me circa £80 each.

I need to double check what the pressures are I'm running but I think it's similar range to yours.

Hope that helps.

toldsimply wrote:

Okay, my Avon Rangers tyres say the following on them 96H 195/80R15 M+5.  These tyres cost me circa £80 each.

I need to double check what the pressures are I'm running but I think it's similar range to yours.  

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info- unfortunately, they would definitely be underspec for my van :-(

Looking at the various tyre specs I found (at cars-directory.net), it seems Toyota specified various ratings, which makes sense, I guess, given the wide variety of vans. Most seem to be either 215/70R15 load 98; 205/70R15, load 95 or 195R15 LT (light truck or Commercial) but pre-1992 they have lighter ratings, including some on 14"rims...

Rule of thumb seems to be:
2WD+SWB: 205/70R15 (95)
4WD+SWB: 215/70R15 (98)
2WD+LWB: 205/70R15 (95)
4WD+LWB: 215/70R15 (98)
2WD+SLWB: 195/70R15 (LT)
4WD+SLWB: 195R15 (LT)

All the 4WD variants after '92 seem to need at least a 98 load rating. The superlongs all seem to need light truck/commercial tyres (ie "195R15C" or "195R15LT" for the 4WDs and "195/70R15C" or "195/70R15LT" for the 2WDs) I think the "C" suffix is European and the "LT" American... but it's all very confusing!

The 2WD shorts and 2WD longs use a 205/70R15 in a 95 load rating; and the 4WD shorts & longs a 215/70R15 in a 98. Presumably the idea it that they need a stronger, slightly taller tyre.

I'd be interested to know what the plate on your drivers door jamb lists! My guess would be 215/70R15, possibly reinforced, and I'd be surprised if a 96H tyre would take 60psi...

Cheers,
W.

Hi Crafty, I have the same problem. Very wobbly in a cross wind. I have a SWB pop top. The original tyres were low
profile car tyres. I now have decent van rated tyres fitted but unfortunately it didnt make any difference.

MOT last year advised that the ball joints needed changing. I haven't done them yet but I'm hoping maybe that
will make a difference?

good luck

Happyjack
(Mike)

OK I changed tyres a couple of months ago to a "new type of tyre"  "TOYO NANOENERGY" from Japan. A "light truck tyre", that the tyre fitter recommended and pumped up to 60psi on the back and 40psi+ on front pair. Apparently the back of these campers have some weight. So 60psi is recommended. This has made a difference, as I was pumping up 45psi on front and back. At least driving in normal weather. (Have yet to drive in heavy winds) the drive is a lot better. Before if there was a gust of wind or uneven road, the old tyres would not satisfactorily respond, it seemed to me, now there seems to be more balance. My campervan driving experience also improved after an expensive engine repair was undertaken,when an engine coolant leak (or my forgetfulness) caused smoking and a pickup truck recovery (another story). The mechanics fixed the engine and replaced lots of burnt out stuff from the engine. And did something with the drive shaft that seemed to help the steering. As before I was scared to take hands off steering wheel due to instability. Now that *crunching noise* at low speed has been cured too. Although they said a new drive shaft would be the perfect solution.

Low speed steering/tight turning would create a *crunching noise*. Not very nice to listen to. Mechanic said: "..van steering seemed fine, but when we got it up on ramp for MOT, and turned the wheel the steering (without the vans weight on ground) was stiff, if you turned the wheel completely around." They cleaned it up wherever and no more crunching noise.