Stuffing the widest tires

[deronmoped]

Well I have been working on installing new tires and wheels on my 70 Bus. I'm doing this so I can get a better gear ratio for my 3.8 liter V6. I picked up some Audi 16" rims, went to the junk yard and got some stub axles, hubs and drums for the rear. Got some P235/70R16 tires installed on the rims. Installed everything and man these tires are as wide as you can go. Have maybe 3/8" on the outside and all most nothing on the inside. The rims had pretty much the perfect offset. Had to make a couple of spacers (.020) for the hubs as it was either that or get the backing plates off a newer Bus, this made it so the drums did not rub on the brake shoes and the backing plates and also moved the tire out so it did not rub on the inside.

The Bus drives better then before, even with the tranny built with tall gears, first was still too low and it pulled more RPM's then I wanted on the freeway, got rid of some of the sway I had in the rear. Running the tires at 36 PSI but I can go as high as 44 PSI, going to try different pressures to see how it rides.

With the correct offset you can cram some pretty big tires in the wheel wells, these are like 9.5" wide and 29" tall. You can go taller. To go wider you would have to flare the wheel well with more offset to the outside.

The tires are rated for 2,000 Lbs, are designed for SUV's, light duty trucks, small vans.

In general, does anyone know if just going from a smaller tire to a larger tire ups the load capacity?

Now to tackle the front.

Deron.

[camit34]

[barryman]

I want to see pix of your wheels...I'm about to buy some Audi 5 spokes and 215.65.R16 tires rated at 1657lbs. Would like to see the engine too.

[i_am_cool_fred]

[deronmoped]

I have not done pictures in a long time, so give me a while and I will see if I can get some of the wheels and the engine.

Deron.

[NASkeet]

[NASkeet]

[barryman]

I ran the tire sizes that I could find here that would support the weight restrictions for a bus in the tire size calculator and it actually gives you a good indication of how far off the speed would be. I considered painting a spare speedometer I have with new markings to match the new tire size.

I'm also going to install blue LED's in the dash...we'll see how that goes.

[NASkeet]

[Rick73Super]

[NASkeet]

[Randy in Maine]

More important than the speed issue, is the amount of additional load the oversized diameter tires and the "gearing up" of the drive train would have on the cylinder head temperatures.

You might be OK running a 002 transmission like Nigel is in his 73 bus, but a later model 091 might be a big problem.

I will bet that his little 1600 engine has to work hard just to move down the road. Be glad you are not driving it across Wyoming with a 30 mph headwind.

[myrusty69panel]

I've got some 8.5 x15 rims and was wondering if you can offer up some advice as to how I can adapt them to my stock 69 bus

[NASkeet]

[NASkeet]

Refer to the following link, for other discussions about 16 inch wheels & tyres, for the 1971~79 VW Type 2:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=232663

Tyre sizes 195/65 R16, 205/65 R16, 215/65 R16, 225/65 R16, in commercial-van & light-truck load ratings, are readily available, here in Great Britain, having seen them on a few relatively modern vehicles. Here are a few examples I have noted during the past couple of weeks, including typical load & speed ratings:

195/65 R16C 100/98T – external circumference 2073·1 mm (+ 1·27% larger than 185 R14)

Vauxhall Vivaro & Renault Trafic


205/65 R16C 103/101T or 107/105T – external circumference 2113·9 mm (+ 3·27% larger than 185 R14)

Vauxhall Vivaro, Ford Tourneo, Mercedes Vito & VW Eurovan T5


215/65 R16C 112/110R – external circumference 2154·8 mm (+ 5·26% larger than 185 R14)

Renault Master


225/65 R16C 109/107T – external circumference 2195·6 mm (+ 7·26% larger than 185 R14)

Vauxhall Movano


235/65 R16C 115/113T – external circumference 2236·4 mm (+ 9·25% larger than 185 R14)

I am not sure on which vehicle this van & light-truck tyre is used, but I found it listed on the British website, for Continental branded tyres.

16 inch wheels with 65-series tyres, are becoming increasingly common on commercial vans & light trucks and I suspect these will be the norm in the not too distant future. I have also come across at least one 75-series van & light-truck tyre size, as follows:

215/75 R16C 8PR 113/111R @ 69 psi – external circumference 2289·9 mm (+ 11·86% larger than 185 R14)

2003 Citroën Relay

Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

[NASkeet]

[NASkeet]

[VWDruid]

I have 15 on my 70 westy atm and wanted to get the stock or stockish 14in, now Im wondering if i can use 16in with out moding my back end how wide can you go on stock 14in vs the 16in? may be this has been explained in the tier sticky but my dyslexia kicks in with seeing all the # going around, about # this what i have in the back dunlop 165 r 15 86s... is that spelled right?
any way they are narrow and it's scary to drive over the Bay bridge in a crosswind, should i post this in The Tire Sticky?

[volksterii]

Hey Deron,

Those are the rims that are on your bus now, correct? They seem to fit good. I did not realize that they were that big.

John, your neighbor around the block.
_________________
71 Westy Hardtop, 1915
2005 Touareg V8 air susp.

[NASkeet]