Duetto tyres

Hello everybody. I'm new to this but have had the Duetto for three and a half years. I have to replace a couple of tyres that are getting a bit perished. I have been offered some budgets from local dealers at very keen prices. Anybody ant thoughts on this. I dont have a car so use the Van and a motorbike as daily transport.

Hi,
My 1998 Duetto has 195R14C tyres I replaced them almost 2 years ago with Avon tyres which are premium ones for less than £70 a tyre. The previous ones had plenty of tread but were at least 10 years old. I have had no trouble at all with Avon. If you are only changing 2 you are supposed to put new ones on the back even if front wheel drive.

Pete

Hello Pete. Thanks for your help. I was hoping someone might have had some experience of budget tyres on a van conversion. Things are tight at the moment so want to get the best I can for the least money.
Thanks agin.

I have to admit I buy budget tyres for both the Symphony and my car(s). Always have and always will, I can't afford top brands. The last one I bought was a Nexen, very similar tread pattern to Michelin and cost £50. Other brands on at the moment are Event (widely available) and Milemiser, all wearing evenly. On the Symphony, the chance that the tyres will wear out before they need replacing due to age are very slim as I only do under 5k miles per year. I only buy 8ply commercial tyres and make sure that the load index is correct.

This can be a controversial subject!

We have just had to replce all 4 tyres on our Trident - they were 9 years old and starting to crack. The maximum reccomended age I think is 7 years. We went for cheapish no-name tyres - but made sure that the load rating was correct.

It's horses for courses... I generally wouldnt put really cheap tyres on my road car - I do a lot of miles on bendy mid-Wales roads I have have no doubt that the adhesion is not as good.

In our Trident we only trundle along at 55 so I'm not so worried.

Steve

Paulmold's advice is sound.

Remember a Duetto or similar vehicle weighs aound 3 tonnes, so commercially rated tyres are essential.
Do not be tempted to fit saloon car type tyres.

bumperman

Thank you Paulmoulr,Scrumpyjack and Bumperman. It kind of settles my mind a bit on this one to know you have experienced budget tyres and they have been ok. I understand the need to have 8ply 106 rated tyres so I will give them a go and let you all know how i get on.
Thanks again for your help and advice, regards, David.

One thing I don't skimp on is tyres.
There are my only contact with the road and I like to know that I've got a reliable product between me and it.
I have a liking for Conti Vancos.
Bet you don't put cheapo tyres on the bike

Frank

boxerman wrote:One thing I don't skimp on is tyres.
There are my only contact with the road and I like to know that I've got a reliable product between me and it.
I have a liking for Conti Vancos.
Bet you don't put cheapo tyres on the bike

Frank

Hello Frank. You are right---there is no such thing as a cheap bike tyre I have never come across a budget bike tyre. But when I was a courier---best year was 86000 miles in a cavalier hatch back---I ran budgets and had no problems. The thing was they never got cold or stood still for long. I will look up Vanco though as I have read about them in one of the mags. Thanks again Frank, regards, David.

d.l.hunter wrote:Hello everybody. I'm new to this but have had the Duetto for three and a half years. I have to replace a couple of tyres that are getting a bit perished. I have been offered some budgets from local dealers at very keen prices. Anybody ant thoughts on this. I dont have a car so use the Van and a motorbike as daily transport.

From experience i've found nothing wrong with 'budget', particularly for the van. If you use a good reputable tyre fitter he will advise you. I've used the same local tyre fitter for the past twenty years....a small business with good prices that values it's customers and likes to keep them!

I first went to him after i'd recently bought a car fitted with fairly new Pirelli's, only to have one tyre completely disintegrate on the motorway.

Also used to work with a chap who had worked at Michelin Tyre factory who told me that it was common practice to manufacture 'new' tyres from old rubber.....and these were marketed as new.

Bulletguy wrote:Also used to work with a chap who had worked at Michelin Tyre factory who told me that it was common practice to manufacture 'new' tyres from old rubber.....and these were marketed as new.

Well he told you half a tale - probably didn't know enough about "rubber" compounds to know the full story.
It is common to use what is known in the trade as "reclaim" (which is processed cured compound) as an ingredient when mixing "rubber" compounds. This is a far cry from making "new tyres from old rubber"
Although we didn't manufacture tyres, we supplied compound to some tyre manufacturers. Several different compounds go into making a good tyre, the inside, the carcase, the outer covering and the tread are all made from different compounds, moulded together during production.

Frank
(40 years in the rubber industry)

Well he told you half a tale - probably didn't know enough about "rubber" compounds to know the full story.

Frank
(40 years in the rubber industry)

He'd had thirty five years manufacturing on production there so why/how should I argue with that?

I used to work in Defence before retiring. There are many things which went on that nobody 'on the outside' would know about, and ever will.

Bulletguy wrote:He'd had thirty five years manufacturing on production there so why/how should I argue with that?.

I had thirty five years in manufacturing in the mixing department, covering every job in the department. I then had five years in the laboratory, testing compound and finished products.
I have no axe to grind, but I can tell you now that your friend was mistaken.

Frank

boxerman wrote:Although we didn't manufacture tyres, we supplied compound to some tyre manufacturers. Several different compounds go into making a good tyre, the inside, the carcase, the outer covering and the tread are all made from different compounds, moulded together during production.

Frank
(40 years in the rubber industry)

As stated before...he worked on production manufacturing tyres from raw process to final. A well known branded tyre......and as that's what OP's question was about plus from previous experience, 'budget' tyres are fine, particularly for a Camper van.

Bulletguy wrote:As stated before...he worked on production manufacturing tyres from raw process to final.

Have it your own way, your friend used to do all the weighing, mixing, milling, calendering, frictioning, extruding, build up, moulding, inspection, testing and dispatch. But somehow, having years of experience of how rubber manufacturing works, I doubt it.

I really don't give a monkeys but you obviously need to have the last word,so I'll leave this thread and let you have it.

Frank

Hi All,
One thing to watch out for with tyres for motorhomes is the load index. this is a number on the tyre wall to tell you the maximum load the tyre is designed to carry, put tyre load index into Google and you will get an index chart, then divide the the axle load by 2 to get the wheel load and ensure that your chosen tyres hve an index at or higher than that given on the chart for your wheel load.

Brian2

murph wrote: Hi All,
One thing to watch out for with tyres for motorhomes is the load index. this is a number on the tyre wall to tell you the maximum load the tyre is designed to carry, put tyre load index into Google and you will get an index chart, then divide the the axle load by 2 to get the wheel load and ensure that your chosen tyres hve an index at or higher than that given on the chart for your wheel load.

Brian2

Thanks Brian2. Yep, the load index for all the 195/14 van tyres are 106/104, which is the same as what was on there.

Thanks everyone for your help and input. I had a set of Enduro budgets fitted yesterday for a very reasonable price. I will let you know how they perform. The tread pattern seems to be good for wet grass---in fact I am sure someone blogged on another site that Enduro are good off road. I also had my bike mot'd and that need a new front tyre so with £107 for that I am now to poor to go away in the van Still we can always kip in it up the garden and pretend.
Thanks again all, regards, David.

Hello again everyone. Just a quick note for you all regarding my tyre post a couple of weeks ago. Did a run up to Wigan and back last weekend and the tyres i had put on ( Enduro Runway ) work very well. Quiet and smooth ride. Off to France in a fortnight for a week if I can get the guttering trim fitted that started flapping on the way up to Wigan and stop the leak in the upper window ( causing me no end of drama).Will keep updated with wear rates and such. Thanks again to all those who helped me. Regards David