New tyres on the Jayco ready for the lap...

[Hitting the road]

I had new rubber to our JJOB today further readying for the lap in 4 weeks time. ...I gotta admit I wasn't that wrapped in the original Aventuro 235 75 R15 AT's that Jayco fit to these things. anyway.
Soooo...I have fitted the new Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme 31 x 10.5 x R15's. Decent LT construction with 160 kmh speed rating and over 1000kg load rating...all good.
I wasn't interested in going to a mud tyre...a good All Terrain is plenty enough on a tandem axle caravan imo...I don't do mud!

I gain an extra inch in ride height too as the Adventuro's were only 28.9" diameter where the new Hankooks are 31" diameter...as well as a wider footprint and a deeper sidewall. They also fill the wheel wells nicely and look pretty neat. The van did have a very slight nose up when hooked up the tug, so that will sort that out too.

 

[Drover]

I always laugh at vans with muddies or real aggressive off road tyres, with lazy axles you need something with good water dispersal, aggressive treads wear more and are little help if you need to throw things around...A mild ATR is the best option.

 

[Hitting the road]

Yep, Mud tyres will wear faster due to the "aggressive" tread pattern, make more noise on the road, and are more expensive to purchase...nuts. Besides as you note Drover, all you need is a decent tread pattern that will disperse of water... and wear evenly.
I'd like to see the wear on some of the aggressive mud tyres some manufacturers are fitting to their vans after even 30,000 kms...

 

[JamesW]

I have these fitted to my 13.42-1 Outback. About 8,000 k's under the wheels in all types of roads and weather conditions and no issues yet.

235/75R15 JOURNEY WR097 116/113S TL TYRE​

JOURNEY TYRES​

Light Truck Tyres​

 

[Drover]

Yep, Mud tyres will wear faster due to the "aggressive" tread pattern, make more noise on the road, and are more expensive to purchase...nuts. Besides as you note Drover, all you need is a decent tread pattern that will disperse of water... and wear evenly.
I'd like to see the wear on some of the aggressive mud tyres some manufacturers are fitting to their vans after even 30,000 kms...

The thing is they don't do anything, a lazy axle just drags along behind, there's no drive so traction isn't needed, an aggressive tread gives more rolling resistance, so harder to drag, more fuel burn and when turning that same resistance puts more load on suspension components, they will also chip more on rocky roads as well ..... have a look at a semi no matter highway or bush runner, steers are mild ATR type for water displacement and rubber on the road, trailer is the same or highway pattern with less drag for turning and good water displacement and the most rubber on the road, the drive which needs traction is a more aggressive tread pattern for grip and water displacement ..
BUT they look cool in the sale yard, I'll admit that.

LT is the preferred tyre in my books and not because of the ply rating or side stake ability, it has more upright sidewall so less lateral movement and the best pressure is usually about half its max compared to a P rate tyre which in lots of cases the ideal pressure is very close to the max........... the tyre placard is usually too low and only applies marginally to the original tyres..

Go for a skid pan run if you can and they run various tread patterns, you quickly learn what tyre is better and muddies win in mud and fail everywhere else, take spare undies though its scary stuff...

Nothing wrong with that rubber @JamesW no need for anything more aggressive...........

 

[Hitting the road]

Piccy of the new shoes on the Jayco...choice of tread pattern was not only to add as little drag as possible, but have a decent All Terrain tyre that will be reasonable off road as well as on road...

 

[Drover]

They are very much like the Geolanders I have on Jeep and Big Mal.. @Hitting the road .

 

[chartrock]

I wear Hankook tyres on my BT50 with the same tread pattern. Done well for me so far.

 

[DRW]

@Hitting the road did you get the new tyres balanced? The local Bridgestone dealer told my I was mad when I asked him to do it, lost a customer straight away

 

[BJM]

Have had the Adventuros on both J Outbacks,last four got for the 17.58 got for a bargain price >done over 30000 klms combined and never had a wear problem or blow out etc.The Adventuros are an AT LT rated tyre.However as Drover said you do not really need a knobbly treaded tyre !

 

[BJM]

@Hitting the road did you get the new tyres balanced? The local Bridgestone dealer told my I was mad when I asked him to do it, lost a customer straight away

Only last week my mates Truma ac packed up on his J 17.58 Outback.Took it to a van AC guy up at Caboolture who told him unbalanced tyres are the biggest killers of the roof top Acs on vans!

 

[Hitting the road]

Yeah, had all 5 balanced with new valves before being fitted to van...I'll also be having a laser wheel alignment done before heading off...Last thing I want is irregular wear after spending my hard earned on the new rubber...

 

[Drover]

Only last week my mates Truma ac packed up on his J 17.58 Outback.Took it to a van AC guy up at Caboolture who told him unbalanced tyres are the biggest killers of the roof top Acs on vans!

Sounds a good possibility, unbalanced giving a shimy thru the rig could do some damage, vibration is a killer of many things ........... wouldn't do any fridge gear much good.

 

[Hitting the road]

...had a wheel alignment carried out on the van today. The wheels were pointing in all different directions of course, as I doubt it has ever had an alignment done since leaving the factory. I don't think they actually carry out an alignment at the factory anyway, just use templates to set it up close enough.
Anyway, all good short of the right rear, the Tech ran out of adjustment and he said it is still has about 2mm run out, and will probably lead to some abnormal wear...which it will of course.
They were the original tyres that I took off, the previous owner had already swapped out the left rear for the spare as it was showing signs of scalloping, but then all the tyres were showing signs of alignment issues when they came off the other day.

I am sure I had read somewhere that with these Jaytech suspensions can run out of adjustment for alignment, which would come back to the original mounting set up I guess...not sure how to fix that one. I'll just have to monitor it, and ensure regular tyre rotations...as we do.

 

[Drover]

2mm is a lot of I assume toe out ??? ......................... It could be the adjuster cam has a worn spot or possible the thread is gummed up so can't get the last bit of movement needed, ............. recheck wheel bearings are tight ........................ keep that tyres pressure up as well, low pressure more chop... If it does show wear might have to do rotates at 5K better than throwing money at new tyres.

Could always square off the axles then cut off and refit the offending hanger so the adjuster works, actually not a hard thing to do once you mark off the square, so long as you don't blow holes in the cross member with the welder .... wonder if susceptable to a bit of heat and a big hammer ????

Mine has Knee Suspension when it wears you cut it all off and replace the whole shebang they reckon, no adjustment at all other than replace springs....... Ive replaced the springs but needed a tad more so shimmed the spring ends, surprised it actually worked, shim wears just hammer another in place should be good for another 80K kms.

 

[Boots in Action]

Could always square off the axles then cut off and refit the offending hanger so the adjuster works, actually not a hard thing to do once you mark off the square, so long as you don't blow holes in the cross member with the welder .... wonder if susceptable to a bit of heat and a big hammer ????

Could be the best answer @Drover to fix the problem for good, even if a bit drastic!!! You would need to be sure to use someone who not only knew what they were doing, but also had the equipment to do that very accurately. Cutting off the offending hanger from the cross-member/chassis rail to re-attach in correct position on hot dipped galvanized frame is not for the amateur welder, not to mention possible weakening the frame at the weld point.

@Hitting the road, probably not enough time to research what @Drover said with a proper alignment person?? I guess you may have to see how much wear occurs on your lap before deciding on such action. Good luck.

 

[Drover]

not to mention possible weakening the frame at the weld point.

On my 14.44 when I replaced the complete spring set up, I found one of the hangers was badly welded, too hot and they had actually cut into the chassis, when I ground back the weld you could see a big gouge and crack, put my skills to the test as I had to weld a plate over the whole section then weld the new hanger on, all while horizontal, a job I wished I had not started ........................ On these J-techs and my Knee job the suspension is usually on a sub frame affair so you don't actually touch the chassis .................. Not a job I would do unless I had a pit, laying down is not ideal position to work.
You would be surprised how accurate you can get with a good measure of square, mm's only no need for thou's....................

 

[Hitting the road]

Could be the best answer @Drover to fix the problem for good, even if a bit drastic!!! You would need to be sure to use someone who not only knew what they were doing, but also had the equipment to do that very accurately. Cutting off the offending hanger from the cross-member/chassis rail to re-attach in correct position on hot dipped galvanized frame is not for the amateur welder, not to mention possible weakening the frame at the weld point.

@Hitting the road, probably not enough time to research what @Drover said with a proper alignment person?? I guess you may have to see how much wear occurs on your lap before deciding on such action. Good luck.

I thought to myself yesterday, the suspension seriously shouldn't be such ex factory that it cannot be set up to be correctly aligned anyway.

Not really keen to start cutting suspension arms off, you'd want to be sure you are getting everything absolutely spot on when welding back together as well as a fat wallet. I wouldn't bother to be honest as regular tyres rotations and maintaining tyre pressures will keep any major wear at bay.

Besides, there really shouldn't be that amount of wear and tear to have flogged out the adjusting cams. I have been under there myself a couple of times greasing and checking things over, have had wheels off bearings done and everything is a tight as a drum.The van has only done around 40,000 kms I estimate given what the previous owner told me...and what I have done since...it has never been off road, the underneath is still like new.

Fortunately my family live in Perth so will be easy enough to sort anything out being lucky me I also have a brother with a mechanical workshop, so I'll have it all checked again when I do a service on the van.

 

[Boots in Action]

I also have a brother with a mechanical workshop, so I'll have it all checked again when I do a service on the van.

@Hitting the road , sounds like a good plan.

 

[Hitting the road]

2mm is a lot of I assume toe out ??? ......................... It could be the adjuster cam has a worn spot or possible the thread is gummed up so can't get the last bit of movement needed, ............. recheck wheel bearings are tight ........................ keep that tyres pressure up as well, low pressure more chop... If it does show wear might have to do rotates at 5K better than throwing money at new tyres.

Sure is in the scheme of things...as I wrote above, I can't see the adjuster being worn, they have an "eccentric" type adjuster on them so adjustment is finite. It isn't impossible for the trailing arm to have been attached a tad out of whack in the first place though....

I'll have it checked again when in Perth...I am hoping that there was no sideways pressure on the tandem as I didn't move the van to where it was, the bloke at the storage shed did. I had asked that he move it out and run it back and forth a couple of times to ensure there is no stress or tension on the axles, but I don't think he did.
I'll soon find out when I hit the road if it was and the alignment is now way out of whack...I wasn't watching the blokes when they did the alignment, but I would have expected they jack each wheel off the deck to ensure it isn't dragging, and to make any adjustment easier...