Tyre condition advice please

[CamperCaz]

A good question they don’t look good, from the above picture the valve position has been marked so the tyre may have been off the rim for a repair as well. I get my tyres online from likes of my tyres .co or black circles, they usually list recommendations for fitters in your area.

Yes, I noticed that mark, I will have a look for fitters in my area, many thanks

No, you missed my point. I meant you should buy from here not getting from Halfords.

Oh yes of course........thank you

I think from the pictures your existing tyres are 215/65/R18, a size that VW Transporters came out of the factory on.
It's a common size, you'll have no trouble finding replacement tyres, any reputable tyre dealer will be able to supply new tyres, just make sure you get the appropriate load rating for your van.

Dave, Thanks you so much, I've just had a look and it says 205/55 R16 which means nothing to me, do you think this is a common size too, I have a Kwik Fit quite near to where I live, would be easiest for me.....

 

[CamperCaz]

Dave, Thanks you so much, I've just had a look and it says 205/55 R16 which means nothing to me, do you think this is a common size too, I have a Kwik Fit quite near to where I live, would be easiest for me.....

Dave I was wrong, they are 215/65 R16 so I hope that's a common one too

 

[Captain Quick]

To tell the date of manufacture look for the three letters DOT on the sidewall below the word Goodyear. To the far right of this you will find four numbers moulded into the rubber. I can’t read it clearly from your picture but it looks something like ‘1418’. The first pair of numbers (14) indicates the week in which it was made and the second pair ‘18’ tells us the year of manufacture. So a tyre bearing the mark ‘1418’ was made between Monday April 2 and Sunday 8th April in 2018 so would be nearly 6 years and 4 months old, and if correct were probably the original set fitted at the factory.

The cracking around the sidewall isn’t necessarily an MoT fail so, unless the fabric is showing, the MoT could well be kosher. However, as others have said, I’d definitely replace those tyres asap.

 

[CamperCaz]

To tell the date of manufacture look for the three letters DOT on the sidewall below the word Goodyear. To the far right of this you will find four numbers moulded into the rubber. I can’t read it clearly from your picture but it looks something like ‘1418’. The first pair of numbers (14) indicates the week in which it was made and the second pair ‘18’ tells us the year of manufacture. So a tyre bearing the mark ‘1418’ was made between Monday April 2 and Sunday 8th April in 2018 so would be nearly 6 years and 4 months old, and if correct were probably the original set fitted at the factory.

The cracking around the sidewall isn’t necessarily an MoT fail so, unless the fabric is showing, the MoT could well be kosher. However, as others have said, I’d definitely replace those tyres asap.

Captain, thanks I think it says 2015 for the tyres, near the Goodyear logo, and the van was born in 2014 (December) so that is very interesting, no tyres since new, nice to know thank you very much for the help

 

[Lubrown]

215/65 R16 so I hope that's a common one too

That’s what my t28 has. It’s fitted with Hankook R28 but they seem harder to get now. Michelin are my go to after years of motoring and trying a few brands. Decent grip, excellent comfort and longevity and they are a bit more eco as a company than some, noting all tyres put out huge amounts of microplastics as they wear.

BlackCircles is a great site for price and choice and there will be reviews for all the fitters in your area. You can also just enter your reg and search for tyres - just double check the suggested size matches (although 205 would also fit width wise).

There is a website called TyreReviews which is fantastic - you can weight scoring on tyres to suit your preferences. He has a YouTube channel with group tests too. And he, like many of us, will suggest you don’t buy budget brands - they are almost always rubbish. Why have an expensive vehicle and risk it by adding 5m or 10m the stopping distance? Cheap tyres just risk a bigger spend on repairs/future insurance premiums in my mind.

As for why did it pass the MOT the guidance is unless cords are exposed cracks don’t mean a fail. They don’t look at age either I don’t think, despite general consensus being anything over seven years old ought to be replaced. MOTs need improvement in my mind - too many cars on the road and some that shouldn’t be for various reasons.

 

[CamperCaz]

That’s what my t28 has. It’s fitted with Hankook R28 but they seem harder to get now. Michelin are my go to after years of motoring and trying a few brands. Decent grip, excellent comfort and longevity and they are a bit more eco as a company than some, noting all tyres put out huge amounts of microplastics as they wear.

BlackCircles is a great site for price and choice and there will be reviews for all the fitters in your area. You can also just enter your reg and search for tyres - just double check the suggested size matches (although 205 would also fit width wise).

There is a website called TyreReviews which is fantastic - you can weight scoring on tyres to suit your preferences. He has a YouTube channel with group tests too. And he, like many of us, will suggest you don’t buy budget brands - they are almost always rubbish. Why have an expensive vehicle and risk it by adding 5m or 10m the stopping distance? Cheap tyres just risk a bigger spend on repairs/future insurance premiums in my mind.

As for why did it pass the MOT the guidance is unless cords are exposed cracks don’t mean a fail. They don’t look at age either I don’t think, despite general consensus being anything over seven years old ought to be replaced. MOTs need improvement in my mind - too many cars on the road and some that shouldn’t be for various reasons.

Hello Lubrown, thank you I absolutely agree with everything you said, these are expensive vehicles and I am not going to skimp on tyres coz I want to feel safe, great advice and information, thank you very much

 

[CamperCaz]

Hello Lubrown, thank you I absolutely agree with everything you said, these are expensive vehicles and I am not going to skimp on tyres coz I want to feel safe, great advice and information, thank you very much

Yes they've got the Hankook on Blackcircles thanks so much for that info, and also the Michelin Agila which Whodat recommended too, and I'll have a look at the reviews, everyone's so helpful on this forum thank you

 

[CamperCaz]

Peeps, thank you so much for all the help, I've now looked at the two front tyres and it says Made in China on them, and the two back ones say Made in Germany, think I'll replace them all to be on the safe side, bummer when you've just paid 35k for a van

 

[Lubrown]

bummer when you've just paid 35k for a van

Not ideal but then a new set should last you a good while and might improve your overall comfort a little, maybe even just with reduced noise and the peace of mind.
BlackCircles tend to have special offers every so often too.

 

[CamperCaz]

Not ideal but then a new set should last you a good while and might improve your overall comfort a little, maybe even just with reduced noise and the peace of mind.
BlackCircles tend to have special offers every so often too.

That would be nice Lubrown coz I do like comfort and low noise, yes Black Circles have an offer at the moment 10% off for the Continental ones four season, I have learned quite alot today

 

[TrevorK]

That would be nice Lubrown coz I do like comfort and low noise, yes Black Circles have an offer at the moment 10% off for the Continental ones four season, I have learned quite alot today

What have you seen, you will need C rated (van) tyres or 101+ load rating. I can't see C rated 215/55/16 available online.

 

[CamperCaz]

Don't skimp on tyres. The only things that keep you pinned to the road with a bit of help from Newton and his confounded apples.
Get some Michelin Agilis CC2 - fantastic tyres.
However, you have to put the good ones on the back, again to stop that part of the van from flying off the road, so then you end up with not as good on the front.....
Which means...... 4 x new tyres = £650-700 depending on the size.

Whatever happens - make sure they are paired front and back, so don't just get 1 tyre.

How does one get cuts on a tyre like that?

 

[Lubrown]

What have you seen, you will need C rated (van) tyres or 101+ load rating. I can't see C rated 215/55/16 available online.

The Hankook I have are C rated (as I say I don’t think they do the R28 any more?) but I know many of the official sizes - those posted on the door pillar sticker, aren’t available in C rating and never have been.
The load rating and speed rating are most important.
I would also say C rated tyres are not comfortable.
I have OE springs, no lowering, with Koni Special Active shocks (supposedly the best set up for comfort) yet the ride is still poor. I put this down to the tyres.
In fact, and maybe something else @CamperCaz might want to consider?, I will look at changing wheels to one of the sizes listed on the sticker that doesn’t suggest C rated tyres - just for the added comfort. 17” would suit me best I imagine.

Sticker on door pillar…

 

[CamperCaz]

Oh I didn't know that, I saw these...

 

[CamperCaz]

The Hankook I have are C rated (as I say I don’t think they do the R28 any more?) but I know many of the official sizes - those posted on the door pillar sticker, aren’t available in C rating and never have been.
The load rating and speed rating are most important.
I would also say C rated tyres are not comfortable.
I have OE springs, no lowering, with Koni Special Active shocks (supposedly the best set up for comfort) yet the ride is still poor. I put this down to the tyres.
In fact, and maybe something else @CamperCaz might want to consider?, I will look at changing wheels to one of the sizes listed on the sticker that doesn’t suggest C rated tyres - just for the added comfort. 17” would suit me best I imagine.

Sticker on door pillar…

View attachment 252463

It says C rated on the tyres that are on van at the moment, but I don't know what it means exactly

 

[Lubrown]

It says C rated on the tyres that are on van at the moment, but I don't know what it means exactly

This Link has a brief description.
It means commercial rated tyres and they generally have more plys in the manufacture to withstand higher pressures. They often have stiffer/thicker sidewalls for robustness too.

As the linked website says the most important figure though is load rating. This is the number such as 104, 109 etc on a tyre sidewall and this relates to the weight a tyre can bare. The higher rated tyres (104 upwards) will sometimes have XL for ‘extra load’ too.

There is no real need to go for a huge load rating as long as two criteria are met - 1) your tyre ratings at least cover the maximum axle load for your vehicle (this will be both tyres combined on one axle) and 2) you don’t overload your van past it’s rated axle weight (you shouldn’t do this for a number of reasons, not just for tyres).

As that stuff isn’t always the easiest to find and work out manufacturers work it out for us and as you will see from the sticker on the door pillar (sometimes in the fuel filler flap or in the logbook) they give us tyre sizes, ratings and pressures.

If VW are happy for non commercial rated tyres in some configurations then we should be too.
Mine are C rated but because of that the load rating is a massive 109 - if I loaded my van up to the weight capacity my tyres can withstand I would have exceeded my axle rating and would likely be breaking springs! You can see from the sticker in my T28 that 104 is the max load rating VW actually require for my t28.

Modern tyres from decent brands are very safe. They pass the load limit testing, they don’t rely on them only just meeting it.
C rating is most important, in my mind, for courier type vans that are fully loaded every day and bounced up and down kerbs.

Having said all that, the four you posted a screenshot of do seem to be commercial rated. All 106 or 109, all have a tick against van/commercial (the C rating) and are either 6 or even 8 ply.
Presumably you searched by registration?
A T30 or T32 van will likely require higher load ratings than those shown on the sticker in my t28.

 

[CamperCaz]

Hello Lubrown, thank you very much for the link, and the information, it's all beginning to make sense now, my sticker (I found it ) is the same as yours

I can see this is very important (there were no advisories on the MOT certificate regarding the tyres ). So I now understand the max load rating, thank you

I think I searched by numbers on that website (screenshot of tyres), not registration, nevertheless those tyres would be okay, I am very re-assured by what you say

Do you think Kwik fit could do the tyres, best I have them all done for peace of mind, and presumably they would make sure all the pressures are okay

Thank you so much for the advice I now understand this sticker ..........haha!

 

[Lubrown]

Hello Lubrown, thank you very much for the link, and the information, it's all beginning to make sense now, my sticker (I found it ) is the same as yours

I can see this is very important (there were no advisories on the MOT certificate regarding the tyres ). So I now understand the max load rating, thank you

I think I searched by numbers on that website (screenshot of tyres), not registration, nevertheless those tyres would be okay, I am very re-assured by what you say

Do you think Kwik fit could do the tyres, best I have them all done for peace of mind, and presumably they would make sure all the pressures are okay

Thank you so much for the advice I now understand this sticker ..........haha!



View attachment 252525

Mine came from KwikFit and I used the mobile fitting service.
Left him to it.
When he rang the doorbell and said all done I walked out to check - he fitted Hankook but not the model I ordered. Same load rating etc. His comment was ‘they’re just the same’. However, none of the three scores (for wet handling, mpg or noise) were the same so I insisted I wanted what I ordered and paid for. He left those on the van and popped round next day with the actual tyres I ordered.

So yes, they should do the tyres you want but double check before you drive off, just in case.
As for pressures they should do that as part of the fitting. I’d just point out the pressure label/sticker to them or tell them where it is so they can get it right easily.

 

[T6Bob32]

General Information - Wheels & Tyres

More nicely laid out information on wheels and tyres here

 

[CamperCaz]

Thank you very much T6Bob and Lubrown, I am very well-informed now and I'll feel safer Much appreciated