Analytics

Sunday 21 February 2010

Show Report - Dubfreeze 2010

Dubfreeze has a great habit of living up to its name. This year was no exception. Parts of the M65 were down to one lane, and the M6 down to two due to snow - at least we didn't camp!

With nothing really to purchase for the van, the trip was used as a good excuse to nosey around other people's rides, look at what was on offer from the traders, have a brew or two, and meet up with friends that we haven't seen for a while.

The car park seemed busy with a few more T5s than last year - a good opportunity to check on what tyre sizes other people are running on their aftermarket alloys - what looks right, what doesn't; all food for thought before ordering our new wheels.

By lunchtime the snow was melting fast and by 2pm we were ready to head back home. Although Dubfreeze isn't that much of a 'show' in the traditional sense, its a nice feeling knowing that Spring is just around the corner - beers and barbecues won't be far off now. Just need shut of this snow!

Thursday 11 February 2010

Wheels are go!

After quite a bit of email-tennis with Gary at Rimstyle, I'm pleased to announce that the original wheel choice is do-able!

TSW have said the Montage has a weight limit of around 1900lbs per wheel, translated into new-money that equates to about 860kg - 860 x 4 = 3440kg: more than enough for our van and its camper interior.

Next to decide on is tyre profile; the standard package from Rimstyle is 255/35/20, but a tyre with such a low profile can look a little lost under the van's arches, not to mention a harsher ride quality. This is why I'm probably looking more towards a 255/40/20 tyre - although this will knock the speedo (and ultimately the mileometer) out of kilter?! Decisions, decisions...

Check out this fantastic guide at Carbibles for everything you ever wanted to know about wheels and tyres!

Tuesday 9 February 2010

A wheel dilema...

Its coming up to the point where I'd like to get the wheels swapped. For me its one of the biggest modifications to make; they say 'the wheels maketh the car' and I certainly believe the right (or wrong) wheel choice can affect the appearance of the whole vehicle.
As a regular reader you'll know the van is already lowered by 40mm, not only has the sharpened the handling up a little, it has also removed the big gap between arch and wheel (as in the picture above - no photoshop job here!)

First consideration is proportion. The right wheel size will be determined by the final rolling diameter - this is important so as not to throw the speedo out of kilter - for example: 16" steel wheels with a 205/65 tyre have approximately the same overall diameter as a 20" alloy wheel with a 245/35 tyre. To make sense of all this take a look at this handy tyre calculator. More wheel, less tyre...

But its a fine balance. Too little sidewall is a compromise on ride quality. Too much sidewall means a smaller wheel - not worth the upgrade. Some vans look okay with 17 and 18 inch wheels, but they're not for me. 19 inch tyres seem to be ridiculously expensive; I think thats because they're not fitted to many modern cars - some website deals show 19" wheel and tyre packages dearer than 20"!!! Ideally I'd like to fill the arches with a 20 inch wheel running a 40 section tyre.

All sounding straightforward so far, isn't it?

So what else is there to consider? Well, its a van, so load-ratings should be taken into account. As our van is a T30 it has a 3000kg load capacity which equates to 750kg per corner - this is what the wheel has to carry. As our camper-conversion will be nowhere near that weight I'm a little unsure as to whether load-rating might be overkill. Naturally most alloy wheel retailers won't sell you a wheel that isn't spec'd for a T5 due to potential liability issues.
Load rating on the tyre will be taken into account though, enough to cope with the van's kerb-weight.

Tyre width - this usually varies between 8.5J and 10J for a 20" wheel, ideally I'd like to keep it nearer the 8.5 or 9J mark, a 10 inch wide front tyre starts to get a bit hefty.

Standard PCD or adaptors? Our old T3 ran Porsche Design 90's which had a PCD (Pitch Circle Diameter - the distance between the bolts) of 5x130. These needed adaptors to fit to the T3's PCD of 5x112. Great until you have a puncture and need to fit a standard spare - wheel off, adaptors off, wheel on...
This time I'd like to fit direct to the T5's PCD of 5x120. This is the same as BMW, Range Rover and Land Rover. I've started to see a lot of 'tarted-up' T5s running these wheels and for that reason, I won't be fitting wheels from any of these vehicles.

So, after scouring the v-dub shows and surf-spot car parks, I finally found the perfect wheel. It is listed on a major alloy wheel retailer's website as being ideal for the T5 - so I inquired about maybe changing the tyre profile only to be told the wheel isn't suitable due to it not being load rated and shouldn't have been listed on their site.

Annoying to say the least.
Everything was right and now I'm back to square-one. Even more annoying is that I have seen this wheel on the internet fitted to T5s and Touaregs so surely it can handle the weight of our barely-laden van?!?!

Here's the wheel in question:

TSW Montage in Black with polished rim. If you've seen them fitted to a T5 could you let me know, likewise if you know of an alternative I'd be most grateful if you could point me in the right direction, thanks.

Monday 8 February 2010

February update

Just a quick update on what's been happening since the New Year.

The new stereo (partly funded by Christmas donations) has been purchased and is waiting patiently to be fitted - more details soon.

Alloy wheels - the first enquiries have been made - watch this space!

We've also made our first visit to The Campershak for preliminary discussions about our interior requirements.

Suddenly putting a date in the diary (albeit in pencil) has focused the mind towards the interior; sink, hob, electrics, stereo, heating, tv, not to mention all the other camping stuff we cart around with us - all of a sudden the van seems very small!

Similar to old T3 interior, we're going to keep a fairly minimal theme' not too many lines, no cubby-holes, just a simple layout down the driver's side of the van. Having a twin-slider may cause a few head-scratching moments - initially we wanted access to the storage and utilities from this side but this may compromise overall strength - back to the drawing board? Its okay if this is not possible - it will still be nice to be able to put a pan of beans on the hob and be able to cook with the door open!!!

Again, watch this space for more details - the van is provisionally going to them at the beginning of June - but there's loads to do (and source) before then...