Alloy or steel wheels for a vito?

[dean707]

Hi
I have a vito 110 cdi with 15 inch standard wheels. Thinking about getting some 17 inch alloys. Will this reduce the maximum load I can take or will it make no difference?

Thanks
Dean

 

[whitenemesis]

Reckon it will be the tyres you fit that determines you load limit

 

[dean707]

really? The ones I am thinking of buying have 245/40/17 with continental tyres. Would commercial ones be better for courier work?

Thanks
Dean

 

[Blobcat]

Hi & Welcome,

There are a few commercial owners on here. Coulsdon Eagle has alloys on his vito - pictured here in post 4

 

[whitenemesis]

really? The ones I am thinking of buying have 245/40/17 with continental tyres. Would commercial ones be better for courier work?

Thanks
Dean

You should check the load rating for the tyres, commercials will have greater reinforcment and almost certainly last longer. It may even be a requirement for commercial vehicles to be fited with commercial tyres, check MOT rules to be safe.
You should be able to get good looking alloy rims suitable for commercial tyre sizes. I've seen some wicked rims on HGVs

 

[simon 4166]

Vito Wheels

Hi
I have just put ML wheels on my Vito and it looks and drives great, I reckoned that the ML is a big heavy truck and from the safety point of veiw the wheels should be able to take the weight of a loaded Vito. you will need to buy longer studs though. I bought 33mm long ones. the standard ones are M14 x 1.5 thread and 28mm long. I have enquired with various wheel shops and they all say that when you do a stud up you should have a minimum of seven complete turns.
By the way mine have the offroad tyres on and are 16 inch x 225.
Hope this is of some help.
Simon

 

[Sprint'n'Go]

Hi
I have just put ML wheels on my Vito and it looks and drives great, I 'reckoned' that the ML is a big heavy truck and from the safety point of veiw the wheels 'should' be able to take the weight of a loaded Vito.

Dont mess about guessing and estimating! Some O/E wheels will display a Max load weight somewhere on the rim and if not you can only safely assume a rating of half the highest axle loading (usually the rear, this info is on the vin plate) of the vehicle they would have originaly been fitted to, assuming front and rear rims/tyres are the same. As an example, the rear axle of a pre 2006 sprinter is rated at 2240kgs. The rear tyres are rated to 1120kgs when on single wheel axles so the rims must also be rated to at least 1120kg. If you get this wrong your insurers will refuse ANY claim if they realise, and if someone died as a result of an underrated rim failing I presume you could end up facing a manslaughter charge. ML alloys probably would be ok but check this is definitely the case rather than just assuming. Aftermarket rims are available for the Vito that are correctly rated. Try here for a start - http://www.tyresave.co.uk/alloyvan.html Always check the load rating of any aftermarket rim you may purchase. The responsibility is as much yours as the sellers, they have a vested interest that may lead them to sell you unsuitable rims if they are less than reputable.

and this is a usefull chart to help equate tyre load ratings into actual kg figures - http://www.tyresave.co.uk/tyreload.html

 

[simon 4166]

Yeah thanks for that:roll:

 

[Coulsdon Eagle]

Dean, if, like me you're a courier, you will obviously be carrying weight, make sure the tyres are 8 ply, suitable for commercial applications,