off road tyres

[timmyK]

Hey everyone...

Had a query, and I'm interested in hearing peoples opinions...

I'm about due for four new tyres on the beast.

I was going through the garage the other day, and found some off road tyres that came with my old Suzuki. I was just about to put them on ebay, when i looked up the manafacturer.

They are C-Trax Colway 50/50 on/off road tyres, 195/80/R/15, which have only been used once or twice.

From looking at the members factsheet, Bongo standard tyres are 195/70/R/15 (and 205 rear).

Now would I be ok driving on the C Trax, on the road? I will be doing off road driving in the summer with work, but over winter I'll probably be just city/town driving.

My dealer friend says that they will be fine, but I will lose a bit of grip on the road, and they will wear down faster than road tyres. However, if I want to buy new tyres I'm looking at about £150, so I may as well just swap them over, no?

Does anyone know if it will bare any difference on fuel/MPG?

Thanks in advance Bongo crew!

Timmy

[scanner]

Is the load rating OK?

How old are they - over 5 or 6 years and they are past their roll by date.

[trevd01]

I think you will find they are only 94 load rating. They are a retread copy of a BF goodrich AT or MT depending on model. The MT type are very noisy indeed on the road. I had some AT type Colways about 3 Landies ago, and my last Landie had the BFG ATs, which I have to say were brilliant, but I would think too noisy to be acceptable on a Bongo.

See them and other tyres in this size here: http://www.4x4tyres.com/index.php?show= ... ile=195/80#

I think the Maxxis ones on the above link which do have a 96 load rating look OK for a Bongo also @£45 each.

[timmyK]

Cheers Trev,

I've checked the tyres and they're 4404, so Oct/November 2004. I'm assuming that they will be alright for another couple of years unless they get worn by then (probable).

Thanks for researching other tyres, but the reason I wanted to use these was to save myself some dollar. Even if I got £50 for them, I'm looking at at least another £70 to replace with new. I can get a guy to swap them over for a fiver a wheel, saving me a ton...

I'll probably give them a go until either the noise becomes unbearable or I've got some cash kicking around...

[trevd01]

The tyres don't have the load rating to 'legally' use on the back, if they are the same as the ones in the link I posted.

In that case: bit of a risk then.

Here's a simple risk assessment with yes/no answers:

• If you were to ask your insurance company if they would honour your policy if you were using tyres below the manufacturers load rating what do you think they would say?
• If you didn't inform them and you had an accident, do you think they would pay out?

Only you can decide whether you want to take the risk, or I guess you could actually ask your insurers .

On the other hand if they have a sufficient load rating, and you are willing to accept the road noise, sounds like simple cash saving.

[M 80NGD]

The tyres don't have the load rating to 'legally' use on the back, if they are the same as the ones in the link I posted.

In that case: bit of a risk then.

Here's a simple risk assessment with yes/no answers:

• If you were to ask your insurance company if they would honour your policy if you were using tyres below the manufacturers load rating what do you think they would say?
• If you didn't inform them and you had an accident, do you think they would pay out?

Only you can decide whether you want to take the risk, or I guess you could actually ask your insurers .

On the other hand if they have a sufficient load rating, and you are willing to accept the road noise, sounds like simple cash saving.

Hi Trev,is there a "legal" load rating for tyres on any car? Honest question by the way! I know there's legal

tread depth,but I've never heard off a legal load rating! Cheers,Lee.

[trevd01]

Hi Trev,is there a "legal" load rating for tyres on any car? Honest question by the way! I know there's legal

tread depth,but I've never heard off a legal load rating! Cheers,Lee.

I don't think it is literally legal in the purest sense, that's why I said 'legal'.

[mp3oplecarrier]

From personal experience, if an insurer can find a loophole to avoid paying, they will! I had a car vandalised to the point of being written off and my insurers tried to say that my 35 year old driving licence was invalid because a mistake had been made by the DVLA and the driver number did not match my birthdate... and I hadn't even been driving my car at the time anyway!

Steve

[bigdaddycain]

Those tyres sound suspiciously like a chunky set fitted to my mates old vitara... There was virtually no grip on a damp worn road surface, it was scary how slow he had to negotiate a turn without some element of slide Good in mud though!

I recall a story of the chap that had his Mark 1 fiesta 1.1 popular nicked,the insurance wouldn't honour the claim because of an undisclosed fiesta "supersport" decal on the sides of the car...They argued it made the car more attractive to thieves ( couple of stickers?) The ombudsman agreed, he never got paid.