Bongo Fury

Hi all,

Just registered and I'm looking to take the plunge and buy my first Bongo soon (just got to sell the Land Rover first !).

Quick question - When I get my Bongo I'm not looking for Landy like off-road performance but do want to maximise what the Bongo has got in terms of traction and ground clearance (I live in the back of beyond !). I'd like to fit some All Terrain tyres but am not sure what, if any will fit. Most like BF Goodrich, General & Yokohama AT's only do 215/75/R15's and up so I'm concerned these will be to 'tall'.

I'm fine on all the issues of front / rear combos, rolling radius's etc so don't need to resurrect that forum topic !!! but not having a Bongo to check out yet can't bottom out what the 'highest' tyre size on a 15 rim you can feasibly fit on a Bongo ?

Any advice folks either on tyre sizes or AT tyres ???

Cheers,

Matt

Matt B wrote: what the 'highest' tyre size on a 15 rim you can feasibly fit on a Bongo ?

215/65x15 if you want to stay legal - your speedo will under-read with 215/75x15s fitted.

Hmmm,

Well my ex-military Landy has 245/75/R16's & I got the speedo re-calibrated to resolve that. Assuming the speedo issue can be resolved through re-cal or change for a different unit could I fit some tyres a tad taller or would it foul the arches / impair the lock ?

Cheers,

Matt

Did you haev a look at those pics from DemonAV in the Russian Bongo club. They seem to be into big rims with even bigger tyres, imporving ground clearance and they also seem to operate in a lot of snow etc (well they would wouldn't they!). Can't remember what the thread was called (but it was recent - anyone help me out?)

Thanks for the tip - Just had a scan through the forum and found one DemonAV thread with a web link with some nice pics of a Bongo with some decent tyres / rims in the snow but I'm struggling with the Cyrillic !

Assistance / advice still needed me thinks....

Looks like you may have to PM DemonAV for advice. His english is very good considering his contributions to this forum, not to mention his technical knowledge.

Hi Matt, and thanks folks for good words
http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... 297#146297 here i wrote all i know about tire size on Bongo. Calculate your size on my formula (Without rubbing overal tire size < 680-685 mm (IMHO)) and you will get result.
Our Friendee owners set 225/75/15 and cut front bumper corner.
If you put 215/75/15 that will be OK (when you cut front bumper corner).

Brilliant,

Thanks Dmitry - great advice and thanks to everyone else who pitched in. When I get it all sorted I'll post some pics for you.....

For my first time on the forum you guys seem like a really friendly bunch & you know what your on about which ain't bad either !

Seak later,

Matt

hi, i had the same idea as you a few months ago.
in a nutshell i now have " general grabber at2s" in the
following sizes:
f 205/75/15
r 225/70/15
the speedo is now accurate, according to tom-tom,+-1mph
speedo was undereading by 4mph at all speeds on standard
tyres.
the standard f/r size difference ( +-1%) is the same.

Hi,

Thats great, thanks. I've got General Grabber MT's on my Landy and they're unbeatable so it was General AT's I was really looking to get for the Bongo.

Sold to the man in the corner !!!

Hi Matt, welcome aboard, since you haven't yet bought your Bongo, and your looking for some off road capabilty, it is worth taking the time to source one with the limited slip diff option, no centre diff lock on a Bongo.

Hmmm, you right !

I've been doing my research and it was only looking through the forum threads that I found out some had LSD's at all - I'd never seen one advertised.

Will it be hard to find one do you think ?

I wouldn't want to compromise on condition, spec etc to get one if they're rare. If they're based on the B-series pickup then maybe once I found my Bongo I could retrofit, if the diff casing, half shafts etc are compatible...?

Cheers,

Matt

Fairly rare, but they do come up, I'd also be interested in if you can retro fit standard parts as this could be a good option.

hi Mat,
I really like the AT2s . Haven't tried too much off road yet.
Not as much as I'd like anyway.
I've not got stuck yet, touch wood
toughest test was all wheels in thick, sticky mud uphill
having stopped in it. almost didn't get through but did
with a bit of change of line.
Which brings me to your diffs question.
I found out mine has LSDs front and rear when it was
serviced. took it to a landy specialist coz they're close
to me as much as anything, but assumed they could
deal with the 4wd system if needed.
They looked inside diffs to tell when they did the oil.
I asked them to check coz i wasn't sure.
From driving it I thought the rear might be LSD (and reading
the forum).
was pleasantly surprised about the front.

hope any of that helps, James

Hmmm,

The plot thickens. Sounds like you did well there James, the combination of AT's, 4WD and LSD's should get you far ! Right, my research will continue, hopefully I can bag a good one with LSD's in the next few months, if not I know my way round live axles so if its possible to retrofit I'll give it a shot and let you guys know (you never know, might even be able to fit a locking diff - ARB or detroit maybe).

I'm trying to restrain myself from buying yet, despite looking at the for sale section every day !!! I should sell the Landy first....

Cheers,

Matt