Upgrading the Wheels is it worth it?
It seems to be fairly popular to change to larger more rugged tyres. I have seen a few vehicles particularly off-grid campervans that have had this upgrade. But is it worth it?
Why Change them?
I once had a situation in my car were it got stuck on wet grass. The grass was fairly flat and although it was wet the car didn’t sink in mud. With some wheel spinning I managed to break free but another car wasn’t so lucky and had to be towed off by a pickup truck. What surprised me was just how easy it was to get stuck, I think that because the grass was short and wet it added to the problem. My camper-van will be going into such places and I didnt want to repeat this event.
Positives and Negatives:
Negatives: Lets start with the Negatives. Firstly, the costs, if you add the alloy wheels then its going to cost around £1100 (about $1500). Then there is the increase in fuel, my tyres will add 0.03mpg in other words for every 100 miles I drive it will cost me 3 miles. Then there is the additional noise. Peugeot recommend a tyre that is rated to a 71db sound level and my tyres will give 74db sound level. The Peugeot Boxer Tyres are 15″ and my new tyres are 16″ which may give a speedo discrepancy.
Positives: Rugged Tyres will get you out of rough parking-trouble unless you do something stupid (common sense applies). They can also last longer than standard tyres, mine are rated with a life span of 50K. Also they ride the UK roads rather well and potholes are never a problem (fewer punctures hopefully) as they have much tougher side walls. They may also increase the height of the vehicle (Peugeot are 15″ mine are 16″), this is ideal especially as I have under-slung water tanks. Above all they are very tough and practical.
Which Tyres? I decided on a set of BF Goodrich All Terrain KO2 with a set of Inter-Action Alloy Wheels, they are available from Elite Wheel and Tyres and come ready to fit (Balanced with Locking Nuts).
https://www.elitewheels.co.uk/
Are they more noisy?
Actually I was surprised, they are the same as my previous set or maybe even quieter. This may be because my previous tyres were a mixture of unbranded tyres. Its likely they were not rated highly for sound and so I didn’t notice any difference. Others have also reported that the BF Goodrich KO2 are fairly quiet, I have to argee these tyres are not loud in any way.
