Azzvan

[BusyKiwi]

You can also gain/loose some width in the type of rubber choosen as the rounder side walls tend to make the tread smaller

[jesus_is_alright]

You can also gain/loose some width in the type of rubber choosen as the rounder side walls tend to make the tread smaller

Yes very true. Whilst in the tyre shop, they had some 245-(30or40)R17's which should be the same width as my 245's, but they looked a lot wider on the tread width because of their smaller and stiffer side-wall. I'm kinda glad because going from a 5.5" rim on the front to a 8.5" is probably going to make non-powered steering a lot tougher. Will certainly try to avoid dry steering as much as possible

Anyone with big wheels on the front have difficulty in carparks?

[ben]

Anyone with big wheels on the front have difficulty in carparks?

anyone with small wheels on the front have difficulty in car parks?

...yes:) i recon the offset makes almost as big a difference to the weight of the steering as big wheel little wheels do. the more centred the wheels are over the bearings the lighter the steering will be.

put some standard wheels on and the steering will be light as. have you ever driven a standard lwb? steering is so light its not funny!!! look at the geometry of how the wheels are a negative offset and actually sit straight over where the bearing are taking the load.

cheers
ben

[jesus_is_alright]

have you ever driven a standard lwb? steering is so light its not funny!!!
cheers
ben

No, never driven a LWB but i was surprised just how small a turning circle the standard SWB has.
Good point about the offset, My fronts are 8.5 wide with a 3.25 backspace so i think thats an offset of 1" positive.
Also read somewhere that bedford vans use the same type of steering as the London taxis- Ackerman? Steering

...The numbers required to calculate the turning circle explain why a classic black London taxi has a tiny 8m turning circle to allow it to do U-turns in the narrow London streets. In this case, the wheelbase and track aren't radically different to any other car, but the average steering angle is huge. For comparison, a typical passenger car turning circle is normally between 11m and 13m with SUV turning circles going out as much as 15m to 17m.
Read more: http://www.carbibles.com/steering_bible.html#ixzz1C5BNOnBW

Looking at a brochure from the UK CF site, a SWB beddy has a turning circle of 34ft 7in or 10.5m and a LWB of 40' or 12.2m
Considering my Barina has a turning circle of 9.9m and my wife's old Magna had a horrid turning circle of 11.2m i think these numbers are more than acceptable

[gazza]

g,day fellow ozzie vanners have a great mid week day off  DID YOU KNOW  the short beddie is the same length as a GEMINI sedan!!! AZZVAN your vans looking great mate have we got any interested S,A,vanners interested in a meet up

[BusyKiwi]

is easier to turn while moving so you can bounce steer out of tight spots

[jesus_is_alright]

So photos as promised are in my gallery as i couldn't drop them into the post
http://www.buga.com.au/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=8&g2_itemId=26928&g2_page=2

So got all the brakes done, tyres and wheels fitted and even got my chrome air-cleaner on

The 15x8.5's on the front i fear are too wide, they are slightly wider than the rears (outside of tyre to outside of tyre) and they don't quite fit under Ben's Fibreglass flares. I'm also worried they look a bit dicky. Please look at my gallery and let me know your thoughts / offer advice. Perhaps i'll need to go steel flares. Busy did you have photos of this?

Plus now i'm down to about $5500 to get all my flares, bodywork and paint finished. I fear i'm going to run out of money before that all gets finished though. Glll

[John Abbott]

Azzvan....Yep front mags are to wide for the front maybe hunt around for 2x narrower mags,    but the rears look sensational  gotta fill those arches some how.

[BusyKiwi]

no photos but a description
easier to explain in an auto.
 if you pump the brake while in drive (or reverse) the van will bounce, when the brake is off steer then, so brake off, steer as brake on, brake off, steer as brake on .... after you've done it a couple of times it will become second nature

with a manual its the clutch as well, but brakes still the bouncer (unless your on a hill)

[BusyKiwi]

or you mean photos of my flares?

I don't have many for a how to look but Garry (sundowner) does at http://www.vanz.net.nz/workshop02.html

the bedford track (axle width) is wider at the front than the rear, on my standard CF I have 14x8 at the back and 14x7 at the front and the front is a fraction wider still (don't tell anyone though).
On my custom van I am running the same 14x8 on the front as on the back of the standard CF to even out the 15x10's but this has made the van really wide, standard van is about 1960 mm wide, custom is a little over 2.1m.
I haven't driven the custom van around yet (just up and down the drive) so am hoping the front wheels are going to be ok for body rub as the standard CF rubs (on edge on mudflap) on half lock