New tyres v's alloys

[scotty73]

My o/s/f is on the wear marker so it's time for a new one but just noticed my n/s/f is only about 2mm better so with this mind and the fact that two tyres are going to cost me over £100 I'm thinking of getting a second hand set of alloys with tyres, I've noticed plods for £130 but then I'm looking at another £50 in diesel (i think)

Problem is I've never bought alloys before so have no idea what size to go for, weather i need anything like spacers i hear you fanatics talk about .... Oh insurance is another thing and i need tyres that will last a good while as i think we're on a very tight budget from next week

Do i just buy two new 195/65/15's or look for a good deal on alloys?

[highlander]

If you buy alloys, make sure you know what the offset is before you buy them. The offset of the wheel will basically determine whether or not you need spacers. For example, if the offset of your car is ET12 (as it is on the Coupe) and you buy wheels with offset ET20, then you will need a pair of 8mm spacers. If you don't buy spacers, you may find the wheels actually fit, but rub against the wheel arch lining while turned to near full-lock. Worse is when you buy wheels and find the spokes don't clear the brake calipers.

If you do need spacers, make sure you buy hubcentric spacers. Normal "shim"-type spacers are flat pieces of metal with holes drilled in them. In this case, the entire weight of the car is placed on the wheel bolts, rather than on the wheel hubs - under extreme circumstances it is possible for the bolts to shear and the wheel to part company with your car! Hubcentric spacers have a ridge at their hub that the wheel sits on, allowing the weight of the car to mostly rest on the hubs rather than solely on the wheel bolts. They are typically more expensive than flat "shim"-type spacers, but it is worthwhile. When I bought my 19in alloys, they were supplied with spacers - but they were "shim"-types and so I never used them (unlike the V6 Coupe they came off, my 2.2 Coupe doesn't have the Brembo calipers, and the wheels cleared the Lucas calipers without needing spacers).

My advice to you would be to source a set of alloys + tyres, but unless you really want to go the after-market route and tell your insurance company about it, just ensure you get a set of alloys from a 406, and stick with the 195/65/R15 tyre sizing that the car was originally supplied with. If you do want to go the after-market route, make sure you tell your insurance company about it. Some of them don't actually charge you extra for having after-market alloys, but if you don't declare it and they find out about it during a claim, they may refuse to insure you and you'll be really buggered.

[scotty73]

Cheers, I'd rather stick to the same size if I'm honest and get wheels off a 406, a bit like the starfish ones for sale on here but that's a trip to Southampton i could do without the expense of... Why is there never anything local when i need it god damnit

Thanks for the advice on spacers the hubcentric spacers sorta speak for themselves don't they.

[rwb]

I'd stick to 195/65 R15 because tyres in other sizes get very expensive.

[Welly]

I would think about at buying part-worns if you're on a budget (I've done it quite a few times) if you get to have a really good look at them first to check there's no bulges/tears/nicks most reasonable part-worn dealers would not sell you anything like this anyway.

I've just had 4 x Winter Tyres fitted on Saturday which came off someone else's Volvo last year (they look brand new but have done 'about' 3000 miles) I looked at the all very closely for ages at home and they balanced up lovely down at the place and I watched them rotate on the machine so I'm happy with them (cured my wheel wobble too).

I've no idea if they've been treated well but then again if you hire a car you don't know what the tyres are like do you? and we're all driving on part-worn used tyres aren't we?

[scotty73]

I been looking at part worns on ebay but then i have to pay probably £10 per corner for fitting, just phoned the place i normally go to and the new ones are £48 part worn are £25 to £35 and he said he's got about 150 of them down there and most of them are crackers.. His words.

I normally go for new but as you say we're all driving on part worns... Oh what to do.

Another thing is my o/s/f has worn uneven, not sure if this is tyre presure or an alignment problem?

[steve_earwig]

I've just had 4 x Winter Tyres fitted on Saturday which came off someone else's Volvo last year (they look brand new but have done 'about' 3000 miles) I looked at the all very closely for ages at home and they balanced up lovely down at the place and I watched them rotate on the machine so I'm happy with them (cured my wheel wobble too).

Oooh, taken the plunge have we? What breed are they? I'd ask what they're like bit I don't suppose you've got anything to compare them to... Does the car sound like it's got 4 wheel bearings in need of changing?

Check the dates too, it's probably worth pasting the whole bit on here:

As part of the DOT code (G in the tyre marking above), there is a tyre manufacture date stamped on the sidewall. Oddly this code is sometimes only one one sidewall so you might need to get under your car and look at the inward-facing side of the tyre. Take a look at yours - there will be a three- or four-digit code. This code denotes when the tyre was manufactured, and as a rule-of-thumb, you should never use tyres more than 6 years old. The rubber in tyres degrades over time, irrespective of whether the tyre is being used or not. When you get a tyre change, if you can, see if the tyre place will allow you to inspect the new tyres first. It's not uncommon for these shops to have stuff in stock which is more than 6 years old. The tyre might look brand new, but it will delaminate or have some other failure within weeks of being put on a vehicle.Reading the code. The code is pretty simple. The three-digit code was used for tyres manufactured before 2000. So for example 1 7 6 means it was manufactured in the 17th week of 6th year of the decade. In this case it means 1986. For tyres manufactured in the 90's, the same code holds true but there is a little triangle after the DOT code. So for this example, a tyre manufactured in the 17th week of 1996 would have the code 176triangle
After 2000, the code was switched to a 4-digit code. Same rules apply, so for example 3 0 0 3 means the tyre was manufactured in the 30th week of 2003.

From here http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html#ixzz2C1wHSw9g

[Welly]

They're week 40 of 2011

The make is Uniroyal M+S Plus 66, V-rated and in Xtra Load flavour and in 17" pretty rare.

The car feels a bit squidgy now and needs more steering input - I guess that's the tread blocks squidging around. They are very quiet to be fair (quieter than the summer tyres) but do make strange noises when accelerating/driving in the wet. When coming to a rest there's the slightest of hints of a wuh...wuh...wuh sound but I expected this.

[Welly]

I been looking at part worns on ebay but then i have to pay probably £10 per corner for fitting, just phoned the place i normally go to and the new ones are £48 part worn are £25 to £35 and he said he's got about 150 of them down there and most of them are crackers.. His words.

I normally go for new but as you say we're all driving on part worns... Oh what to do.

Another thing is my o/s/f has worn uneven, not sure if this is tyre presure or an alignment problem?

I'd go for part-worns to tied you over, it's by far the easiest and cheapest option and you can forget about it then - you don't hoon around like an loony do you?

You should probably get the tracking checked too if you've got tyre wear (again you need to keep the cost down to cover this).

Like I said before, you don't hire a car and insist all the tyres are replaced with new do you? the first sign that something's not right would be a wobble/noise but if you drive steadily at reasonable speed I can't see an issue.

[scotty73]

I don't generally hoon about but do have the odd right leg boost now and then but i blame that on the engine needing de-cobwebbing

I understand the 406's need 4 wheel alignment don't they? if so maybe Dai knows someone local I'm sure in 10 years he's had to have it done.

[steve_earwig]

They're week 40 of 2011

The make is Uniroyal M+S Plus 66, V-rated and in Xtra Load flavour and in 17" pretty rare.

The car feels a bit squidgy now and needs more steering input - I guess that's the tread blocks squidging around. They are very quiet to be fair (quieter than the summer tyres) but do make strange noises when accelerating/driving in the wet. When coming to a rest there's the slightest of hints of a wuh...wuh...wuh sound but I expected this.

M+S? No snowflake on a mountain? I did read recently that there are no standards for M+S tyres, so manufacturers can stick this on any tyre they like.... A quick Google image search later - they sure as hell look like winter tyres anyway. Aha! I can see a snowflake http://www.imgbox.de/users/public/images/SQ4uW0Iu0v.JPG

My original Sava Eskimos that had been on both Pugs were fairly noisy, the current Klebers are as quiet as but unfortunately they're rubbish (hey, they were very cheap ) but the Bridgestone Blizzaks on the yoyo are unbelievably loud Not really the sort of noise you'd expect from chunky tyres, more the grinding, singing noise you'd expect to hear as your differential bearings disintegrate. When I picked it up from having the latest emissions f+ck-up sorted it was so intrusive after driving the silky smooth Pug I had to turn the radio on (and listen to the awful dirge that passes for popular music here )

One thing I would say about the Blizzaks is the car feels much more stable on them than it does on the summers (which are also Bridgestones but I can't remember which) so kind of the exact opposite to what you're experiencing.

[Welly]

I'll do a new topic I think instead of trampling on this one

[scotty73]

What you recon on this then? I phoned King David tyres over where Dai lives and they have new 195/65/15's on special at £40 a corner and £24 for 4 wheel alignment.

[Welly]

Sounds fair to me, I've just spend £10.00 per corner fit-only and £49.00 alignment

[scotty73]

Sounds fair to me, I've just spend £10.00 per corner fit-only and £49.00 alignment

That makes it sound like a bargain, the bloke has put two away for me i may well pop over in the morning and get him to put them on the front and i'll have my n/s/f one back off him for a rainy day because it's got about 5mm on it.