Wheels and tyres are on!

The long Winter-wait is at an end; the Helios are finally on.

Tyres were sourced from Camskill - great value for money on brand-name tyres, good stock availability and cheap, quick delivery makes these my first choice every time for buying tyres.

Money saved here has meant we can jump up a level, quality-wise; spec'ing a set of four Falken FK452 in 235/35/19 to perfectly match the 19x8.5 wheels without any impractical stretch of the previously fitted wheels. These also have little effect on the speedo being within 2% of the same rolling diameter as the stock 15" steels.

But who to fit them? Our local tyre-fitting shop don't seem to like us walking in with our tyres - there's no money to be made for them - so after some inquiries and a word-of-mouth recommendation, we got in touch with Stuart at Unique Tyres.

Stuart turned up in his kitted-out Merc Sprinter, fitted a brand new head to his fitting machine and had the four wheels built-up and balanced in no time. For the total sum of £60, a cup of tea and plenty of v-dub chat, the wheels were then checked and mounted in a matter of minutes.

Visually, the front needs to come back down a bit - maybe the back a touch too. It's also apparent that the rear wheels are pulling forwards in the arch; common for modern lowered Volkswagens with a beam rear-end. Hopefully a quick trip to see JC at JC Motors should rectify these.

I'm absolutely over-the-moon with the way the Helios wheels have transformed the look of the Caddy. They keep that whole 'factory' OEM look - and the rarity-factor of not seeing many sets about appeals in a world of endless BBS replicas and cheap Supermarket alloys.
In particular, I like the way the centre-cap matches the centre of the steering wheel - the way VW would have done it if they were building a Caddy without budget constraints:

So there we have it; just a few more lows and a tweak of the stance and we're almost there! Time to turn my focus back to the interior...

2x Tyres for sale

After changing the two mis-matched profile tyres, I now have the other two surplus to requirements. The are Vredestein Comtrac Van tyres in 195/70/15 size.
Suitable for many 15" van wheels - they look hardly used.

Brand new these tyres are around £75 each. So, with these being part-worn I'd be looking for offers around £80 for the pair.

Based in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Or available for buyer to collect from Leeds, Mon-Fri.
Comment below if interested, or email: rpcreative@hotmail.com

Winter steels

I've always been one for swapping my alloys for the original steel wheels at the end of a season; salty UK roads don't do any favours for pricey alloys.
So I was really happy that when buying the Caddy that it came with the original wheels. One down-side was a mis-match of tyre profiles - 2x 195/65/15 and 2x 195/70/15. Not ideal.

Knowing that I can move the wrong tyres on, an order was placed with Camskill (probably the prices for tyres anywhere on the internet) for two replacements of the correct 195/65/15.

So now we're on to prep; hours of sanding, smoothing and masking. I would ideally have done this with tyres removed but I'm up against a deadline to get the wheels swapped.

More time taken at prep should result in a better result further down the line. Then, after one last clean, on with the primer.

With barely a dribble or run in sight. I've laid it on fairly thick; first a white etch primer, then a good couple of layers of matt grey primer. Images of the final colour and lacquer coats will be posted tomorrow.

Wheels & Tyres for sale - now sold

Having had the van for less than a week, you may think I'm slightly mad for wanting to sell the Bentley alloys so soon. With Winter approaching and the van being used daily, I'll be swapping back to the steel wheels and starting the hunt for an 18" or 19" replacement for next year.

So here's what is on offer:
A set of four Bentley 20" wheels (part number RT253) as fitted to the GT and Flying Spur manufactured as a one-piece aluminium wheel by Ronal.
Centre caps are included in the sale.
Stud pattern is 5x112 and ET (offset) is 41. Rim width is 9J.
This makes them suitable for many VW, Audi, Mercedes (and Bentley!) applications.
Tyres are Falken 225/30ZR20 and have been fitted in the fashionable 'stretched' style.

Update: One of the tyres is badly worn around it's inner edge and will definitely need replacing. The other three have loads of life on them.

The cost to replace one of these wheels from Bentley is £475 (without centre cap).

Some pics with the asking price below (click for bigger pics):

Given the 'just less than perfect' condition of the wheels I'd like £1600 for the wheels and tyres.

These have now sold - thanks for looking.