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Legality of having different tyre types/sizes on a van


scotslad
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Alright folks

 

I'm looking for a wee van to run alongside my 4x4 as it is too dear to run for the miles i cover, but i do need the 4x4 for certain jobs i do.

I had an old scrapper 2wd pick up that was a bit of an experiment to see if a 2wd drive would be up to it, It has recently been scrapped and ran it on winter tyres all year and was amazing the places it would go and it was generally pulling a trailer too

 

Is it legal to put All terrian tyreson the front (driven wheels) and have more normal standard tyre on back?

 

This is probably a stupid question but.... Do tyres have to be the exact same size all round? ie in a quick search the smallest i can see is 185 in 15" i would guess most van tyres will be more 155 or 165 socould i run say 185's on front and 155's on rear? Or would i have to put the AT tyres on all 4 corners

 

Finally should i be telling the ins company it has winter or off road tyres on the front

 

 

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I may be wrong here! But I was led to believe, off road tryes are not of manufacturers spec, there for it comes under a modification catagory! Also lower profile tyres etc or lower load or speed rating! Of course, you would have to be pretty unlucky to be caught out with the latter! But off road tryes, as far as I know, could cause your insurance to become void.

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There's a poster in my local tyre and exhaust place which goes at great length to explain why the tyres with the better grip should be on the rear axle. If you're going to do a good few miles in this vehicle as you suggest, it may just pay to have a word with where ever you're going to buy them from. Or, for the worst case scenario, put the money you save towards a box. Yep, they're only tyres but they're all you've got keeping you on the straight and narrow.

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There's a poster in my local tyre and exhaust place which goes at great length to explain why the tyres with the better grip should be on the rear axle. If you're going to do a good few miles in this vehicle as you suggest, it may just pay to have a word with where ever you're going to buy them from. Or, for the worst case scenario, put the money you save towards a box. Yep, they're only tyres but they're all you've got keeping you on the straight and narrow.

 

 

I am surprised, I always thought the tyres with the best grip should be on the driven axle, whether front or rear. :rolleyes:

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Cheers for the replies so far.

 

I have heard that for winter tyres u are actually better with winter tyres on all 4 wheels, i'd imagine it is so either the front steering wheels don't slide and go straight on (if rear wheel drive) and to stop back sliding out if front. When i ran the old pick up on winters all the time the local tyre boys weren't worried as i had normal ones on back (that pick up was only 13" rims so to small for any grippy tyres) it was not winter performance i was looking for more just a bit of extra grip for parking and driving throu muddy gates etc.

Althou when i hit a pothole and knackered 1 :sad1: of the winter tyres i had to replace both off them as if i only replaced the knackered 1 it would have to much grip compared to the other, guessing could affect trackinig or diff

 

Not wanting to go against advice but i can't see how not having AT tyres on the rear of a front wheel drive motor will make any difference to grip on the tarmac, i'm not planning on putting slicks on. the rear. In fact u might have more grip as many folk say that the more AT or MT the tyre is the less grip u get on tarmac as less rubber in contact with surface

I'm really just wanting a bit off extra grip for parking it on wet roadsides or for going throu muddy gates or tracks (that are perfectly hard in below)

 

If i end up with 2 slightly different tyre sizes on the different axles, Wot happens with the spare? Do i need 2 for MOT? I would imaginre the spare will origanally be the smaller sized tyre, coulkd i use that on both axles for short distances at slow speeds? u do get them stupid space saver dinky tyres so i'm guessing ok at sensible speeds and distances

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Re the size of your spare wheel/tyre as for the MOT you do not even need to have a spare wheel the size is only a problem if or when you put it on to the car as you must have as you said the wheels/tyres on both sides of each axel the same size or you could have problems controling the car.

 

I remember years ago the old cars used to have town and country tyres on the rear more or less AT type and normal tyres on the front but then all cars was rear wheel drive.

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