Help with tyres and timing belt. (Please!)

[mikelamb]

Hi All,
Have'nt posted for a while, but been doing lot's of reading on here! Anyway I have finally managed to get some multispoke alloy's , they are 17" with low profile tyres, I paid £127.00 for them, I'm hoping I did ok! ( If someone can give me instructions on how to upload a picture of them I would be greatfull! They are in my pictures at the moment.) Before I go ahead and fit them I was just wondering if the low profile tyre's make allot of differance to the ride quality? (If that was a stupid question I appologise in advance! )
On a differant topic, I also need to get the cam belt done, Where do you get your parts from to do this job, I would like the cheapest route but obviously without losing the quality. I can see on ebay it would cost about £45.00 incuding the spring and tensioner. Thanks for any advice on these couple of issues.
Mike.

[scanner]

Before being able to answer that you need to answer two questions

1 "How low?"
i.e. what profile?

2 What load index?


How to find that info is explained here.
http://www.blackcircles.com/general/sidewall

[missfixit70]

you don't have to go low profile, Mike & I have both got 215/55 17, which still gives plenty of clearance in the arches, comfortable ride & the accellera tyres that I have, have got an anti kerbing type protruding inner ring. You need to be at least 96 & 92 rear & front, minimum of S rating. Mine are all 98W Xl (extraload).
The lower the profile the harsher the ride & & the more chance of killing your rims on potholes

There are instructions on how to upload photos in the guidance section at the top of the forum, you need to open a free Photobucket account, set the size to 800 by 600 I think, upload the photos then click on the lowest of the 4 options below the image once it's uploaded, then paste it into the page on the forum. sounds complicated, it isn't really - Honest

[scanner]

It looks like the wheels have come with low profiles on Kirsty.

I'm trying to find out how low and the load index to see if they are worth him keeping them.

I made the mistake of buying alloys with tyres already fitted and found out they weren't worth keeping.

Luckily I was able to sell them on.

[mikelamb]

Just dug out these figures Scanner for you and Kirsty to mull over! As you said the tyres are already on them and are virtually brand new. Rears are 225/45/17 fronts are 215/45/17. They came off a 2wd Bongo. I will have to check the loadings in the morning as I have not unloaded them yet. Got a horrible feeling I jumped in too quick with these!

[mikelamb]

A picture for you to cast your eye's over. Hope it's worked, thanks Kirsty.

[missfixit70]

Nice wheels, even if they're the wrong rated tyres, sell them on & put new tyres on, they aren't too expensive for 17" wheels, I'm no expert on the low profile thing, I'm sure someone'll be along who is, probably BDC when he finishes work Increase the pic size in photo bucket a bit, just a bit small to see properly

[missfixit70]

I think there have just been a couple of threads on cam belts if you do a search on "cam and belt" that may help you on that one. Mine was done when I bought it, so haven't had to mess with it

[mikelamb]

Regarding the cambelt Kirsty, The guy I bought the wheels off owns a garage, he said he would do the cambelt for a £100.00 including the belt tensioner and spring. Seems a fair price to me, what do you think? I may not reply to your reply tonight, as thinking of heading up the wooden hill to my pit! Look forward to reading any reply's in the morning, nite, nite.

[missfixit70]

Doesn't seem to bad a price to me, as long as it's done properly. My friend just had her rover cambelt done by a back street mechanic, sounded like something being castrated with a blunt, rusty knife because they'd seriously overtensioned it

[scanner]

Just dug out these figures Scanner for you and Kirsty to mull over! As you said the tyres are already on them and are virtually brand new. Rears are 225/45/17 fronts are 215/45/17. They came off a 2wd Bongo. I will have to check the loadings in the morning as I have not unloaded them yet. Got a horrible feeling I jumped in too quick with these!

looks like they will be at best marginally under rated on load index highest I can find for the 215s on the front is 91 and it should really be at least 92 and for the 225 rears the highest I could find is 94 and they really ought to be at least 96.

That difference is closer than some have used.

But that is only what I could find from a quick search, it's not conclusive, yours may well be OK.

[madmile]

Hi Mike - I wouldnt say you jumped in too quicky as a nice set of wheels without tyres are easily worth £125.
The tyres are a common size on most sports cars and will easily sell second hand, you maybe even able to have a deal with a tyre fitter who does some part worns. 45 profiles on 17's look a bit skinny on a bongo and load ratings aside, will be a bit harsh on the ride.
As kirsty said, 215/55/17 work well, and a few makes are available with 98 load ratings at around £60 a tyre (not a bad price IMO). You will also keep front and rears the same allowing tyre swaps.

Good price for the cam belt!

[mikelamb]

Thanks for your advice madmile, Scanner was spot on with the ratings he suggested, 94 and 91. Although the tyres do have extra load written on the outer wall's. I think my next port of call when I am ready is to call at my tyre centre to see what he can offer me. There is some curbing on the wheels that I would like to tidy up if I can. I can see some kits on ebay to do this job, have any of you tried them? Or can you suggest how to go about it, I would like to have a go myself to try and do the job fairly cheaply.
Mike.

[scanner]

94 and 91. Although the tyres do have extra load written on the outer wall's.
Mike.

That is a lot closer than some folk use and probably within a reasonable margin of error unless you are in the habit of carrying a welsh rugby team and a full conversion at the same time.

If you can get a decent part exchange deal take it but if not I think I'd risk using them up and then changing them.

[mikelamb]

I was thinking along those lines Scanner. No conversion on board with me so I think I will give them a go. I will have to spend some time first and tidy the centre caps, so planning on calling in Halfords to see if they stock Alloy paint to match the wheels. (or similar)