Bongo Fury

hi all,
i was after new tyres so that i could get some snazzy alloys. i found a site called tyre shopper and i managed to get four 215x65x15 supplied and fitted by national tyres, all for £156 inc. they supplied me with 4 nangkang tyresport 611 tyres.
the site was easy to use with plenty of choice and national bent over backwards. iam very happy

regards

alex and jan

Good price but they don't have the pressure or load rating for my needs. I ended up with Marshals because they will go up to 50psi and take a lot more weight (semi-commercial).

I have used Nangkangs for quite a while now with no problems at £39.00 each fully fitted and am well chuffed with em. Happy mtoring.

Having had two high speed rear blow outs , one of which rip my rear bumper and damaged the wheel arch, simply because my bongo was supplied with the Japan standard Bridgstone tyres which were not rated to take the extra weight of the conversion, I can only stress how important it is to ensure the correct tyres are fitted.

Does anyone know what a conversion + two people + luggage, cooking pans etc, might weigh, compared to the original rear seats + rear air con unit + eight people and some luggage?

Those original seats are pretty heavy (so I hear), and six people in the back at, say, an average 75kg each would be 450kg

Our water tank is 25 litres and the waste is 20 litres, even if they are both full that would be 45kg plus the weight of the fridge, cooker, sink, gas bottle (8kg) and then the cupboards and r-n-r bed. Vohringer 15mm ply weighs only 23kg for a 2.5 x 1.25 sheet, by the way.

I need to get down to a weighbridge and find out I suppose, but my guess would be that a conversion would not be heavier than a fully loaded eight seater.

(we run on 100H Yokohamas btw)

You are probably right trev - I expect the furniture installed in your conversion is not any heavier than the 2 bench seats taken out. If the 2 rails have also been removed from the floor then they probably weigh more than the ply and lino that replace them. Add this to the fact that you can only carry 2 rear seat passengers and you would probably be hard pushed to load the van any more than if it were used as MPV only.

Have to agree there Trev. We have a Wellhouse conversion too and can't see it weighing in heavier than the seats.
I had new tyres put on at Wellhouse, they are 215/65/15 all round with the reccomended load ratings and are branded Sonar.
http://www.sonartyres.com/
£45 each inclusive and have had them for over a year with little wear showing. I have alloys and these tyres have a good overhang, if thats the right expression, which prevents you from scraping the wheels on kerbs etc.

MV

Ah peeps, mine is just a bog standard flat top, P reg so no extra weight to worry about until it is packed for hols. Happy motoring.

We have a full coversion plus still have six seats, the main weight seems to be all the food, camping gear, BBQ's etc as well as the people.

I think the other big difference is the speed that we drive here compared to Japan.

Yes would be interesting to check the weight though.

I'm moving this thread to 'Techie', as it is a pretty techie thread...

have been quoted £310 for four brand new alloys with nangkang tyres fitted (five spoke alloys) (tyres 215,65,15) what do you think is that a good price ?

Well you've got about £180 worth of tyres and fitting. So the wheels are only £32 each! Sounds good.

here is a 215/65 15 Nangkang on my 'blingy' alloy spare: