Bongo Fury

Wonder if my rear tyre wear at 40psi was due to not having enough weight in the back. I'm on 15's..... they seem soooo small what with you lot talking about 17's and 18's.

If thats the case how come i've not needed 40psi in my front tyres, due to the weight in the front. ( and I dont mean the engine )

blimey i think i should run 1 side on 35psi and the other on 40psi and see which side wears first

brorabongo wrote: Wonder if my rear tyre wear at 40psi was due to not having enough weight in the back. I'm on 15's..... they seem soooo small what with you lot talking about 17's and 18's.
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I reckon that would have been the cause, don't you? I'm certainly not crying about having the original (steel) 15" wheels, giving a more comfortable ride, better load rating, and the originally designed sufficient grip levels - compared with low profile tyres on bigger diameter wheels. Low profile tyres on big wheels are intended for high performance vehicles, to give increased cornering grip at high speed, while sacrificing comfort, load bearing capacity and bank balance. Is the Bongo a high performance vehicle? Somebody's been doing some clever marketing to the Bongo community IMHO

Ron Miel wrote: Somebody's been doing some clever marketing to the Bongo community IMHO

No, it's just that bigger wheels look better 15 inch were probably fitted as that's the "standard" size for vans and the tyres are cheaper.

francophile1947 wrote:

Ron Miel wrote: Somebody's been doing some clever marketing to the Bongo community IMHO

No, it's just that bigger wheels look better 15 inch were probably fitted as that's the "standard" size for vans and the tyres are cheaper.

Well yes, "the tyres ARE cheaper". Assume you don't mean bigger wheels AND bigger tyres but bigger wheels with smaller sidewall width low profile tyres, as above?

Ron Miel wrote:Well yes, "the tyres ARE cheaper". Assume you don't mean bigger wheels AND bigger tyres but bigger wheels with smaller sidewall width low profile tyres, as above?

Yes indeed I use 225/55x17 tyres that, although they are bigger than the standard tyres, make my speedo accurate, instead of reading higher than my actual speed.

francophile1947 wrote:

Ron Miel wrote:Well yes, "the tyres ARE cheaper". Assume you don't mean bigger wheels AND bigger tyres but bigger wheels with smaller sidewall width low profile tyres, as above?

Yes indeed I use 225/55x17 tyres that, although they are bigger than the standard tyres, make my speedo accurate, instead of reading higher than my actual speed.

Comfort, load factor, cost, marketing I have seen the pic of yours in Caravan Motorhome and Camping Mart, BTW John, and it's very pretty.

Cheers

David

Comfort isn't much different to standard tyres as mine aren't very low profile. Cost ain't too bad either, unless you get branded tyres from Kwik Fit - they wanted £183 each for Pirellis (I didn't accept their offer )
With the tyre size I've got, your unlucky to find any with a low load rating - mine are 101

francophile1947 wrote:Comfort isn't much different to standard tyres as mine aren't very low profile. Cost ain't too bad either, unless you get branded tyres from Kwik Fit - they wanted £183 each for Pirellis (I didn't accept their offer )
With the tyre size I've got, your unlucky to find any with a low load rating - mine are 101

OK John. How about spend more on the motor, and less on modding it? I know it takes all sorts, and I'm really just having a little stir, but my own approach is to get out on the road with minimum mods, minimum add-on cost, and minimum maintenance, if I can. I admit it, I'm lazy and I'm mean Pimping, for me, has only extended to making our dark coloured Bongo more visible with 3M retroreflective tapes - took all of 20 minutes! Seriously though, after tracking the forum for a bit I could see the danger for me in making the Bongo the hobby, rather than touring in the Bongo as the hobby - and so I firmly plumped for the latter. Look forward to meeting and learning, some time Cheers, David

I didn't pimp mine - it was like it when I bought it. The only thing I've done is fit a low coolant alarm and take the rear seats out

francophile1947 wrote:I didn't pimp mine - it was like it when I bought it. The only thing I've done is fit a low coolant alarm and take the rear seats out

Yep. I even knew that - it's in the magazine article isn't it Fact remains that's why i don't see any point in paying the wheel merchants for expensive alloys, etc. Mikeonb4c keeps saying he's mean - he aint seen nothing yet

on the other hand a nice set of 18's with a chrome lip do look the muts nuts

You've Been Bongod wrote:on the other hand a nice set of 18's with a chrome lip do look the muts nuts

So does my mota with just a good coat of polish

Yea but no but. Although I bought my Bongo so I could 'do lots of stuff', I still regard it as an object of great (potential) beauty, and I've loved doing stuff to make it special. One area that lets the Bongo down 100% in my view is the standard wheel trims. I mean, they are just so DULL


A nice set of alloys sets a Bongo off nicely. Mine came with the beauts I now sport. I meant to sell them to make a bit of dosh (tightness again) but just couldn't do it - they were just so yummy. the rest of my bling is 'practical bling' but its bling nonetheless (right down to the National Trust sticker in the windscreen).

Slurp slobber slobber

Ron Miel wrote:

francophile1947 wrote:I didn't pimp mine - it was like it when I bought it. The only thing I've done is fit a low coolant alarm and take the rear seats out

Yep. I even knew that - it's in the magazine article isn't it Fact remains that's why i don't see any point in paying the wheel merchants for expensive alloys, etc. Mikeonb4c keeps saying he's mean - he aint seen nothing yet

Expensive alloys?...............I got a set of pukka Mazda 17" alloys of e-bay for £52.00.

And no they didn't come from Essex.

Took a couple of months bidding at a price I was prepaired to pay being a tight a**