Tyres

[johnandrew70]

I ordered 2 new tyres for my passat today for the rear, it got me thinking why dont we need to put reinforced tyres on the rear of the towcar the same as we do for the caravan?? i know there is a good reason for not doing it somewhere but just got me thinking as there must be a fair bit of weight on the back wheels / tyres of the towcar.

John

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello John,

The car manufacture sets maximum permitted axle loads for their vehicles. The tyres fitted need to compliment the maximum axle loads and speed ratings.

If you were thinking that the weight of the trailer needs to be considered, well yes it does, but only the nose load. This has already been accommodated by the car manufacturers specifications.

There should be no need to fit higher load rated tyres to domestic cars if they are towing.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi John,
it's down to simple mathmatics a 1500kg MTPLM s/a van carries 700 kg per wheel, ie 1500kg - 100kg n/w divided by 2 = 700kg
a 1500 kg MAM tow car carries 350kg ie 1500kg divided by 4 = 375kg so reinforced tyres are not needed.
plus a car manufacturer will calculate the max load per axel, and fit the appropreate tyres to carry the load this does not alter when towing a van as the noseweight what ever it is has to be taken off the max rear axel weight. the only requirment is to adjust the tyre pressures for maximum load.

 

[johnandrew70]

Thank you both for your replies, i must have sounded thick asking that question but thought i would ask anyway, i havent had them fitted yet as i am waiting to have to car 3d tracked (4 wheel track & camber adjustment) then i can get the tyres fitted fingers crossed they will be ok (cheap) but have heard good things about them, anyone else heard of Primewell Tyres??

John

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi John
We have used Primewell tyres on our firms van,they are reinforced for van use,and they have been very good in terms of wear rate,only slight negative there was a bit of road noise when they were new,otherwise I would recommend them for value and performance.

 

[johnandrew70]

The ones i have bought are the PZ900 performance tyre they say they will last for 40k miles, £40+vat per tyre was a steal i thought, i found that the premium brand tyres always go out of shape (stepped) on the inside edge, its happened to 2 different vehicles with a certain premium tyres i have owned and the cheaper tyres dont go out of shape.

John.

 

[otherclive]

My XC 70 has 99 LI tyres but some websites offer extra load 103 LI tyres, but owners who have fitted them say they give a harsher and noisier ride. Uneven wear could be due to wheel alignment, which should be checked annually, or those truncated road speed humps which skew the wheel outwards are notorious for causing inner edge wear if you go over them with wheels on both sides of the hump. Its better to put one set of wheels onto the center line of the hump and the opposite wheels on the flat road surface.
Is the reason cheaper tyres dont wear out so quick is that they tend to have a harder compound which doesnt conform so well to the road contours. Which when you read the tyre tests in Autobild tend to indicate inferior performance in braking and sharp handling. I had Wanlis on a Mk3 Mondeo that I bought ,and they had a great looking tread pattern, but were all over the place, so off they came. I dont ever skimp on tyres or tread depth, even the van has Firestone Vanhawks made by Bridgestone. If they are good enough to endure WVM they will do me.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello John,

There is certainly no need to fit higher load index tyres to the rear of your Passat, and I think there is good reason not to do it:- I think the possible cost saving to be a false economy, as it will reduce the cars safety under braking, and in doing so it may increase wear on the front tyres, and they will transmit more road noise into the car.

What price the safety of you and your family?

 

[johnandrew70]

Wanli tyres were notorious for being a bit iffy, another tyre is Velocity Extreme and i can tell you they were very extreme on a supercharged Mercedes

the slightest drip of rain and the rear end of the car would pass you by on a bend, saying that though they were on my car for 4 years and looked like new when i replaced them for Nexen's in fact a friend at work put them on his Vito and ran them for a while until he could no longer deal with them.
I have been told that Primewells are a good tyre good in the wet and low road noise so we shall see,
The premium tyres that were going out of shape were on an Xtrail i have the same make on the passat at the moment and those too have gone the same. i sooner think its the tyres as on the Xtrail i put Nexens on and they were fine for the time i have the car. i do think that sometimes you are paying for the name.

John

 

[RogerL]

There are some tyre review sites that give owner's subjective comparisons of different tyres - they aren't all the same! http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/
As good as it is, ignore Tirerack as many tyres sold in North America have different compounds than when sold in Europe - this messes with the comparisons.