Bongo Fury

Hi all

Some of you may know I'm new on here. I just bought a Bongo and think that the wheels look a bit puny. By puny I mean...if you stand at the side of the Bongo I think that the gap between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch is quite large. Maybe this clearance is intentional, but then how have others got around this by fitting some sexy alloys?

Baring in mind, that I need at least 2 new tyres on my new Bongo I may as well buy my replacement Wheels now, rather than replace the tyres now and then have to buy new tyres for replacement (Bigger) Wheels in 6 months.

Like I said, I'm new to Bonging so I haven't got a clue what Wheels I've got on at the moment. All I know is that I've checked that all 4 tyres are the same and indeed they are all identical:
215 / 65 / R15 100H XL (what do all the numbers mean?)

Now, after reading through other Wheel posts on here I take it that I am able to just go out and buy some 17" Mazda Alloys but my big worry is getting the load right (reading from other posts). A couple of questions...

1. Based on the tyre sizes of 215/65/R15 100H XL what size are my Wheels? 15" ??
2. If I want to upgrade my Wheels to 17" or 18", what is the maximum size Wheel I can go to? I guess it would be 19", which I assume would make the clearance between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch a lot smaller??? Am I correct?
3. Suppose I do upgrade my wheel size to 17", 18" or 19" what is all this about making sure you've got the right 'Load' tyre? Is the load the.. '100H' that is shown on the tyre or the 'XL' that is shown?

Sorry if this has ben answered previously. If it has please post the link.

Thanks all.

Your 15" rims are standard. If you go to 17" or 18" you'll be fitting lower profile tyres so that the rolling circumference isn't altered to any great extent. The gap then between the top of the tyre and the wheelarch won't have changed.

Thanks Muz

Not being an expert...What's the pro's & Cons of Low profile tyres and how will it affect the load restrictions? I want to make sure I get the correct tyres for safety and insurance purposes. I have never heard of this load thingy on a tyre before today. I have a company car so when I ever encountered problems previously I just took the Car to ATS and asked them to change the tyre like for like.

Whatever you fit it needs to have the right load & speed rating otherwise your friendly insurance may refuse to pay out - which could be a bit of a problem if you mow a bus-shelter full of schoolchildren down.

The Bongo is heavy, so to get the load rating you often have to go for van tyres, and not many vans use blingy wheels & low profile tyres. The end result is you don't have many options and the few tyres that fit aren't cheap. Having said that, I'm running a standard 15" setup but not with budget tyres so mine aren't cheap either.

With bigger wheels & low profile tyres you should get a firmer ride.

If you're 4WD running wider rims you'll scrub the fronts off quicker as your viscous coupling is probably well past its best.

As said the load rating should at least match Mazda specification (which is located on one of the door pillars) ..

When talking wheels / tyres the usual criteria is the .. 'Bongo is heavy' .. but according to the handbook the general ex factory weight (ie a none camper van conversion) .. rates from 1770kg for an ATF 2.5 litre diesel down to 1540kg for a plain 2.0litre 'tin top' ...

So when compared to normal sized family cars that weight is not excessive .. but how many 'normal' cars have maybe eight lives depending on those alloy rims .. rubber tyres ..??

This might be useful
http://www.goodyear.eu/uk_en/tire-advic ... a-tire.jsp

Handy little tool here for comparing tyre sizes.

http://www.club80-90syncro.co.uk/Syncro ... ulator.htm

Bear in mind, getting the correct load rating in the larger / lower profile tyres gets more tricky and therefore expensive.

Personally, I'm happy with the standard later style 15" Mazda wheels, especially after a refurb and powder coat.





Combined with new discs and refurb'ed calipers, they look quite good: