Wheel experts

ksam, Dec 22, 12:29am
I have a 96 Hiace van and would like to put alloy wheels on it, the thing is the guy I use for mechanical work says you end up cutting through tyres due to the way these vans work, I don't carry huge weights, any one suffered this or have solutions!
kcf, Dec 22, 12:48am
It isn't a wheel issue it is a tyre issue, it's just that the suspension on the commercial vehicles like the hiaces is going to give you reasonable tyre life out of heavy duty commerial tyres, but will be quite hard on tyres designed for cars.Cars are typically a lot lighter, and have very different suspension than the vans - which are of course engineered with tradesmen type loads on board.

If you stick with commercial designed tyres, then you should not have an issue, be it on mag or steel wheels (assuming of course that your mag wheel fitment is the right size and offset).
ksam, Dec 22, 12:58am
Thanks kcf
richard198, Dec 22, 1:05am
I've owned a Liteace and a Hiace. I remember they used to chew up the front tyres really bad (Courier U-turns!)
I don't think mags will make any difference to tyre wear though.
ksam, Dec 22, 1:09am
It seems it's more to do with wheel size.
mrfxit, Dec 22, 1:46am
Rim width & tyre pressure will definitely have a bearing on tyre wear as will the type of shocks the van is currently running.
If you don't want to upgrade the shocks & get a wheel alignment done along with the wheel change, then I would suggest you leave it as is.

I had a good condition high top townace a few years ago that used to chew out 175/70/13" tyres on a regular basis
Swapped over to wider mags (biffed the steels)185/70/13" tyres / changed over to heavy duty double acting shocks & ran the the tyres at 40psi on the front + plus of course a wheel alignment to suit.

Made a hell of a difference all round.
Remember that It's a package deal when playing with rims/tyres etc on a van
mrfxit, Dec 22, 1:47am
A good "SET" package makes a big difference. it's what most ppl forget.