Increasing wheel size

kayakkingoz

kayakkingoz

Active member
Front mud flaps have to be modified or taken off. When turning , especially in reverse, the tyre hooks up with flap. That is with the size I have. It only gets worse the wider you go. Others have wider though
 
Frewey

Frewey

New member
OK, I have a Van Compass 2" lift kit being fitted right now to my 313 LWB (903) 2005 van. Van Compass suggests wheels and tyres 255/70/16. I'd need wheels to suit of course. Does anyone have experience here? Seems there are lots of wheels in USA that suit, but I'd prefer a local supplier of course. The tyres I'm guessing would something like a BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A® KO2 255/70R16 120/117S.. I have a mate with a Ford Ranger and he loves 'em. It's a starting point anyway.
 
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owner

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
There are no easy local options for that width. The ducato maxi wheel option (if you can find some as they are no longer readily available new) is out, because they are only 6" wide. Thats enough for 235 at most.

These days most Oz tyre fitters will balk at putting 255 on a 6" rim.

You will probably have to go with some kind of aftermarket load rated wide alloy wheel.

FWIW I have T/A KO2 on the rear axle of my LWB T1N. In 225/75r16. They are really loud, they wear unevenly on the circumfrence, and I probably wouldnt get them again. By contrast the Toyo Open Country V1 in the same size they replaced were faultless.
 
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Frewey

Frewey

New member
owner said:
There are no easy local options for that width. The ducato maxi wheel option (if you can find some as they are no longer readily available new) is out, because they are only 6" wide. Thats enough for 235 at most.

These days most Oz tyre fitters will balk at putting 255 on a 6" rim.

You will probably have to go with some kind of aftermarket load rated wide alloy wheel.

FWIW I have T/A KO2 on the rear axle of my LWB T1N. In 225/75r16. They are really loud, they wear unevenly on the circumfrence, and I probably wouldnt get them again. By contrast the Toyo Open Country V1 in the same size they replaced were faultless.
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Thanks... I don't even know the width of the std wheels off hand... I guess they are 5". I know they are 15" wheels, which Van Compass reckon is only on the 118 wheelbase:
Wheel Facts:
5 x 130mm
Stock tire size: 225/75/16 on 140” and 158” wheelbase
118” wheelbase vans have 15” wheels and smaller tires. The front suspension is also 1.18” lower than the 140” & 158.” Tires over 30” will require front fender trimming for clearance.
Thanks for the comments on the Goodrich... I'll look into the TOYOs. All that said, I might end up staying with what I've got... certainly the Light Truck R623 Bridgestone are hard to fault, except for their 225 footprint and lack of aggressive tread.
Thanks again
Steve
 
owner

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
The stock 15" sprinter steel wheels are 6" IIRC. Going 16" wheel you will get a bigger footprint from the bigger OD. So even if the width is the same its still giving you more contact patch/grip, and the better kind of grip than just increasing the width. Fuel economy wont really suffer either like it would by just going wider.
 
Frewey

Frewey

New member
owner said:
The stock 15" sprinter steel wheels are 6" IIRC. Going 16" wheel you will get a bigger footprint from the bigger OD. So even if the width is the same its still giving you more contact patch/grip, and the better kind of grip than just increasing the width. Fuel economy wont really suffer either like it would by just going wider.
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Thanks... I hadn't considered the increase in footprint length-wise from a 16" At the end of the day I just want 'a bit more' and the lift kit too hopefully will allow me more choice with an all-terrain tread... that said, the Bridgstones that are on it are not that bad. They just don't like mud and soft ground.
Thanks for the input.
 
owner

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
Having said that, I assume you are having to get it engineered for the lift kit?

So you may as well get it done for wider tyres at the same time then, even if you dont end up going wider due to lack of suitable rims.

I beleive in USA they modify them to run up to 265 width.
 
Frewey

Frewey

New member
owner said:
Having said that, I assume you are having to get it engineered for the lift kit?

So you may as well get it done for wider tyres at the same time then, even if you dont end up going wider due to lack of suitable rims.

I beleive in USA they modify them to run up to 265 width.
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Engineered? The kit is from Van Compass in US. It's been fitted by my mechanics.
Van Compass offer their suggestions with notes about trimming and problems. https://vancompass.com/pages/frequently-asked-questions

Modification regs are attached if you are interested (section 13). It's going to be an interesting quest.
 

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owner

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
Ok so a 2 inch lift appears to be permitted without engineering. But a move to bigger tyres is not. With a 2WD you are legally stuck within 15mm OD of 225/70R15. Which is tiny.

I have worked around this by installing an official MB tyre placcard from a NAFTA van. So my "stock" size is now 225/75R16, and I could technically go 15mm bigger than that. But then I also have ESP so maybe not. I wouldn't want to push the envelope too far on this because its already into a grey area.

I'm happy with 225/75R16 its perfect for a automatic 316. And that size is extremely common so they are readily available everywhere and lots of different tread options that are load rated.
 
Frewey

Frewey

New member
owner said:
Ok so a 2 inch lift appears to be permitted without engineering. But a move to bigger tyres is not. With a 2WD you are legally stuck within 15mm OD of 225/70R15. Which is tiny.

I have worked around this by installing an official MB tyre placcard from a NAFTA van. So my "stock" size is now 225/75R16, and I could technically go 15mm bigger than that. But then I also have ESP so maybe not. I wouldn't want to push the envelope too far on this because its already into a grey area.

I'm happy with 225/75R16 its perfect for a automatic 316. And that size is extremely common so they are readily available everywhere and lots of different tread options that are load rated.
Click to expand...
Thanks... I have the van in with mechanics at the moment so don't have access to it's info... I know on that VanCompass link they state the stock wheels are only 15" on the 118 wheelbase. I need to see the van and the manual... and maybe I'll contact MB. I'm still torn between the robustness of the LT tyres but will be happier if I could find one that works as 16" and maintains that robustness. A bit of muddy grip would be nice.
 
Frewey

Frewey

New member
owner said:
Ok so a 2 inch lift appears to be permitted without engineering. But a move to bigger tyres is not. With a 2WD you are legally stuck within 15mm OD of 225/70R15. Which is tiny.

I have worked around this by installing an official MB tyre placcard from a NAFTA van. So my "stock" size is now 225/75R16, and I could technically go 15mm bigger than that. But then I also have ESP so maybe not. I wouldn't want to push the envelope too far on this because its already into a grey area.

I'm happy with 225/75R16 its perfect for a automatic 316. And that size is extremely common so they are readily available everywhere and lots of different tread options that are load rated.
Click to expand...
I should have asked... where did you procure the NAFTA placard??
 
owner

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
I got my NAFTA "tire" placard from eBay. Search for sprinter fuse box cover. Its just a sticker on the plastic cover.

Shipping is pretty steep for something thats virtually worthless.

Someone else on the forum imported a few of them and sold them all locally. You can search and find the threads.
 
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