Putting larger wheels on MH

[Lucky]

Is this fact or urban myth? I understood claims could only be rejected if it was proven the changes made to the vehicle were the cause of the accident and resulting claim. Otherwise insurers would have no basis for denying a claim. If they tried I suspect the Ombudsman would put them right.

 

[Paul and Val]

Is this fact or urban myth? I understood claims could only be rejected if it was proven the changes made to the vehicle were the cause of the accident and resulting claim. Otherwise insurers would have no basis for denying a claim. If they tried I suspect the Ombudsman would put them right.

Well that has always been my understanding and I asked dome years ago if I could run a car on a different speed rated tyre which was much cheaper that the Y rated tyre fitted as standard.

The response was that even though the car was not capable of exceeding the maximum speed of the lower W rated tyre that I would not be insured if they were not Y's.

Even if that is just one Insurance companies decision, and lets go further that the person that I spoke to made an error. Think about this.

If you have an accident in a vehicle which is a fraction 'taller' due to tyres with longer sidewalls, there is a very strong argument that you had made the vehicle more unwieldy and more un-manoeuvrable. That is the very reason why most modern cars have a lower aspect ratio than the standard 80. I think you would find that you would have a great deal of trouble convincing any Ombudsman that you were in the right and given a choice between an Insurance company writing a cheque for 30 or 50k it is much more economical to refuse the claim.

It would be good if you could find the time to ask your own Insurance company and report back. I am in France now so what happens here may be very different but it would be good to know if I am wrong or not.

 

[Landy Andy]

Is this fact or urban myth? I understood claims could only be rejected if it was proven the changes made to the vehicle were the cause of the accident and resulting claim. Otherwise insurers would have no basis for denying a claim. If they tried I suspect the Ombudsman would put them right.

Ive has a few accidents over the years, some my fault some not, and how many times has my vehicle been checked by the insurance company. Never, to my knowledge.

 

[stevewagner]

Thanks for the comments. What concerns me most is the potential loss of power and potential increase in fuel consumption. I'm surprised manufacturers put 15in wheels on such big vehicles. Is that why most new MHs now have 16in wheels?

You could have the ECU remapped which could save you fuel.

 

[Paul and Val]

You could have the ECU remapped which could save you fuel.

A very sound idea. Anybody concerned about fuel consumption OR performance/drivability (you can't have both sadly) would be well advised to re-map any diesel.

And now I await the normal onslaught of posts from worried members who tell wild stories of slipping clutches and broken gearboxes due to the 'wild schoolboy antics' of 'tearaways' who 'soup up' their camping cars. Except that none of these people have ever had a vehicle chipped, and those that have report zero problems and much improved fuel consumption or performance.

Re-chipping is the way to go my friends. Taller tyres? That way lies madness!

Drive safely my friends.

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[Richard n Ann]

Our 2004 Vito work van was chipped and the clutch slipped like buggery.. It did wheel spins in 3rd gear in the wet at first

 

[Paul and Val]

Our 2004 Vito work van was chipped and the clutch slipped like buggery.. It did wheel spins in 3rd gear in the wet at first

Yes but the clutch was knackered to start off with I fear. It's you maniac boy racers!

Mild engine tuning has absolutely no impact on clutches or gearboxes. I think I am right in saying that the feeble 130bhp FIAT unit has exactly the same gearbox in the more powerful variants (or used to have anyway). While I understand that they are fairly weak gearboxes they have had no extra wear issues with the added power.

I strongly recommend anybody thinking about re-mapping to have it done asap. The drivability of the vehicle and fuel consumption will both be better.

 

[Lucky]

He gotcha

 

[Paul and Val]

He did have a point. I have never heard of a 2004 works van with a knackered clutch...……………...

 

[lekkerSA]

Having spent 40 years of my previous life doing vehicle development with OEMs, particulary chassis, suspension, brakes, wheels etc, around the world, I'm concerned that whilst many want16 inch wheels but only one person has mentioned ensuring that the wheel rated load selected is sufficient. Fiat's alternative wheel will obviously type approved but if using another, check the rated load at which the wheel has been approved as having satisfactorily completed the necessary rim rolling and bending moment fatigue tests.
Thisrating should be shown on the rear face of an alloy wheeel; alternative steel wheels are more difficult as there is usually no rating shown so it's then necessary to know its designed fitment application

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[Plumb]

Hi yes what I can say is that I had an slk which had 16" wheels as standard ,so I ordered the car with 17" upgrade this was in 2007 and the consequence of that was a change in the emissions !That altered from 223 kgrm to 227 kgrm and the implication of that was a different road fund licence bracket which at the time made little difference but now the road fund fee is twice that of the original 16"wheels !It now costs me £565 a year BIG MISTAKE

 

[cornevisagie]

I replaced my 15inch steel wheels to 16 inch alloy wheels on a 2016 fiat Ducato , no problem at all .

Hey, do you think the handling / body roll was better after? Or is it more just cosmetic?

 

[cornevisagie]

I change ours from 15" steels to 16" alloys, but there is not a lot of choice if your wheels are 5x118 PCD that are rated for commercial and motorhome weight.


I fitted these. https://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/supermetal/hammer/grey-polished/16-inch




View attachment 400240

Hey, do you think the handling / body roll was better after? Or is it more just cosmetic?

 

[Two on Tour]

Hey, do you think the handling / body roll was better after? Or is it more just cosmetic?

The main reason for changing was to gain the higher load rating on the tyres when we up-plated to 3850Kg by fitting 225 wide tyres as 215 are the widest for standard 15" rims on our Peugeot Boxer chassis.
In turn, this has allowed me to reduce the tyre pressures for a more comfortable ride, but the body roll is controlled by the semi-air fitted to the rear suspension, and of course the alloy's look pretty.

 

[EdwardFT]

I've posted this elsewhere but before we went to France earlier in the year we bought one of the below as I had changed the profile of the tyres and the speedo was very accurate.
I didn't want to give the french Gov. one cent in fines.
It worked well and and is adjustable to give a tolerance.
View attachment 400264

Bought it for single figures on Ebay.

It was fitted right in front of my sight on the steering wheel cover immediately in front of the Fiat speedo

I use my old iPhone 4 for that.

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[Lanerboy]

I found the speedo always read a bit fast on the 15inch wheels but upon changing to 16 inch wheels it read correct according to the gps speedo .

I did exactly the same and also found the speedo more accurate on the 16 inch wheels checking it with a gps speedo
This was on my old 2016 Rapido and it made the van feel more stable on the motorways

 

[Northernraider]

I thought this was common practice when raising the weights etc

Mine has 16" wheels as standard


As for all the other points folk have been raising ....ive fitted larger wheels to all manner of vehicles for years and never noticed any loss in performance etc

I changed 15" wheels on VW T4 vans to 19" and 20" etc

 

[Howard H]

Hey, do you think the handling / body roll was better after? Or is it more just cosmetic?

The body roll was reduced on my van by fitting air assist suspension I dont think the wheels contributed to the improved ride at all, they where changed due me increasing the gross weight of the van and of course they looked a lot better imo .

 

[bridgedino]

I hope this isn't a daft question but is it possible to replace 15in wheels (on a 2011 Ducato) with 16in wheels? Reasons being, have always though the 15in wheels look small and because we'd gain a little bit of ground clearance.

how have your 16” wheels and tyres been?

 

[Emmit]

It will also affect the gearing on the van.
Just as the speedo which may have been optimistic will become either accurate or illegally pessimistic.
(That can be circumvented by installing a digital sat. nav regulated v.cheap speedo)

The gearing difference can be more problematic. It depends on the power to weight ratio of the 'van.
You may find the performance is barely changed when on the flat but on hitting the inclines, you may find that hills that could be taken in a certain gear will not longer be achievable.

I noticed that on our 15" tyred 'van just by putting larger diameter tyres on it with the same profile (ie 70%).
The difference made just 3% difference to the circumference.

I've just reread my post and noticed a glaring error,( Loss of Brownie points to you lot for not bringing it to my attention)
I DIDN'T PUT " larger diameter tyres on it " I put on our 'van, tyres with a wider width, '225' instead of '215' with the same profile.

This had the effect of marginally increasing the circumference of the tyre.

This had two results. As previously reported it had a slight effect on the climbing ability on gradients.

It also reduced the margin of optimism on the Speedo to the point where, at 60 mph (shown) I am now doing 58-9mph.

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[mry716]

Look at this site.

Rim & Tire Size Calculator. Custom Offsets

Tire Tech Information - The Wheel Fitment, Tyre Stretch, Rolling Radius and Speedometer Error Calculator. Play with specs, try different settings, compare results

www.wheel-size.com

You can put in wheel size and tyre size and get a rolling circumference for different combos
Most useful

 

[AndyVW]

Hi The boring bit ....
Comparing 215 70x 15 to 215 65X16
There is a 0.6 % difference in speed (faster for the 16inch)
The speedo electric,s will not differentiate this small margin. why would they when a 10% tolerance is accepted across the industry
Power keeps being mentioned The power of the engine as we all know is decided into to measurements
BHP and Torque. Torque is the most important.
Torque = the "strength to turn" with an increase of 0.6% in diameter, you will have a decrease in Torque of 0.6% ....... you will not feel this.
with respect to you all, you will very really use your mean BHP as this only come at high rpm as this is an engine measurement it is not changed.
However the increase in diameter brings with it the obvious other benefits. Load rating of the tyre will increase so heaver loads can be accommodated.
On this particular size,s you can get the same load rating in a smaller the circumference however they are more expensive.
That why Fiat .Co. offer many tyre wheel combination on the same van .... for different loads.