First Trip of the Year

Batman wrote:

Wow - that sure was some hit with the lowering stick - how's the suspension since Cap'n - not too hard?
It looks completely incredible - I love a lowered Brazi - so cool!

Hi Batman, thanks for the comment, Jane and I are very pleased with the look The suspension still feels the same I did wonder if it would end up like the splitty "spine shattering" fortunately the guys at T2D know what they are doing

Skytiger wrote:

How did T2D drop the front was it beam adjusters or dropped spindles and was the rear turned on the splines, adjustable spring plates or boomerang plates?

Interested to hear what shocks you got to replace the originals

Also what size are your tyres and are they the same front to back?

Skytiger my apologies the tyres are; front 175/55/15 rear 165/80/15. sorry for the confusion me harty Haa HAAARR!

thesplitsombrero wrote:

the tyres are; front 175/55/15 rear 165/80/15.

Do you mind me asking what is the make and model of your front tyres and the load index and speed rating. It should read something like this 175/55R15 77T but the number and letter may be different to my example after the size.

I only ask as while on the B- roads to the Northern England meet at the weekend there, my 185/65R15 88H tyres were rubbing on the arches going over some bumps.

Have you had any rubbing with your size of tyre since being lowered with drop spindles on the front?

Hi sky tiger great to see you both at weekend ,I noticefom your thread that you are having issues with tyre rubbing , I too have this problem ,but ours are 84 rated and in process of trying to find ones to fit but with decent rating, I have a spare at 88 but never tried it on, are the tyres actually taller at 88 rating?

No not taller the 88 is the load rating which equates to 560kg and 84 is 500kg.

For example my tyres are 185/65R15 88H

"185" is Width of the tyre in millimetres

"65" is Height of the tyre sidewall as a percentage of the width. In this case 65% of 185mm. Also know as the aspect ratio or profile.

"R" Radial Construction

"15" The diameter of the tyre's inner rim in inches

"88" Tyres load rating in this case 560kg

"H" Speed rating in this case 130mph

thesplitsombrero has 175 which is narrower and 55 which is less sidewall or lower profile than I have so the difference in overall diameter is 47mm so that gives me more clearance. I'm just concerned about the load rating of the tyre is it sufficient for my kombi.

What size of tyres do you have lilyvdub?

Hi same size as you but 84

Hi skytiger and lilyvdub, the speed rating (H) and load rating (88) shouldn't make any difference to the size of the tyre, just its composition.

Your tyres skytiger at 185/65R15 88H are tyre width 185mm with an aspect ratio of 65% Radial ply, 15" wheel diameter with a speed rating of 130mph and a load rating 88 which I can't remember at the moment.

With an aspect ratio of 65% this means that the tyre height is 120.5mm (65% of 185mm). Double this, and add it to 381mm (wheel diameter) and you get an overall wheel size of 621.50mm

Splitsombreros are 573.50mm and 645.00mm respectively. (I hope my maths is right, its late at night)

Its such a complicated thing to get right I would get some expert advice as I have been told that there even slight differences between manufactures and even they need to use calculator charts.

Another reason to get it right is that the overall diameter may affect your speedo readings.

Hope I haven't complicated matters.

Apologies Skytiger, I have just repeated what you have said, I was typing while you added your last post.

Another thing to consider is have you put different alloys on, I had a similar problem, and I put it down to the offset meaning the tyres were getting too close to the arch in a sideways direction.

Thanks DL, my tyres are from new ,and they have always hit the arch on the near side,I was wondering if with them being 84 they are too soft and flex more, they came with the alloys fitted ,I am looking at changing them v soon ,my spare which I had to get ,as had to change one tyre due to damage caused by tyre catching arch!! Is same size but 88 rated

Avast ye I ventured out in the rain and gale force winds to get the rating off me tyres. The front are 77 & the back are 87, so far there is no sign of abnormal wear, the problem with low profile tyres is they are notdesigned for commercial vehicles. Ask any t2, t25, t4 or t5 (especially the 4/5) owner the tyres wear out quicker but when fitted to a sexy set of hubs they look ship shape!

I've just been out to look at ours which came with the van from Danbury.

It looks like they're: 205/40R17 84WXL

It looks as though you have a smaller overall wheel diameter than skytiger, Martin.

Although you have 17" wheels (431.8mm) as your tyres are low profile, (40% of 205mm = 82mm then double it (164mm) and add together to get overall diameter of 595.8mm.

Your load rating is 500kg per wheel (84) and speed rating is 168mph (W) which is reassuring.

The XL means extra load, which doesn't mean you can carry more kit, it just means the ply construction is reinforced because they are low profile tyres.

I may be talking rubbish, but that's my understanding of it.

Thanks John - very interesting. I'll try and keep below 168mph though!

Thanks captain, would ye be brave enough to venture out once more into the gales and let me know the make and model of the tyres as Dizzy said manufacturers can differ and since you have the same suspension set up as me with no issues I'd like to get the same one's.

Really appreciate your help with this as I will be travelling a lot in the next few weeks and want to get it sorted.

Haa haaar! No problem shipmate as soon as I'm alongside after me day of swashbuckling I'll check em out

Has haaar! Well me bucko I ventured out on the pontoon and I can report the following;
Fronts are Evergreen EH 23's ( advertised as summer tyres) rears are Federal supersteel 657's (all season) there are reviews on't internet so give them read before buying. In my case I didn't choose them they were supplied by T2d & I have faith they know what they are doing

Thanks captain, good sailing to you on the next voyage. I will check them out online.