[kaynmantis]

Time has come to change tyres. People often upgrade tyres. I decided to downgrade to 15". For those interested, Here is how I went about it.

BTW. Easier way is to find 15" alloy and plonk in the tyres. I wanted steel rims, hence, some work has to be done. Without further ado. Here goes.


15"steel rims on 215-75 R15, 16" alloys on 215-65 R16.


Here is a front view on how they stack up. The difference should not be so dramatic if the old 16" tyre was not so worn out. The wheel wrench is there to prevent the tyre from rolling.

The 15" steel rims are sourced from Mahindra Scorpio new model with 114.3 PCD, at least that's what the tyre shop told me. People upgrade their tyres to alloys and they dispose the old ones, and those are the ones I got for INR 1000 each. As mentioned earlier. Get alloys if you don't want to go through the hassles I went though as described it below.

NOTE to anyone thinking the same route I took. Mahindra has different steel rims, same size, same PCD, and looks almost identical. Maybe from KUV, Scorpio etc. I did try the KUV ones, It did fit the Duster, but I could not tighten the nuts completely, as the duster nuts were wee bit too long. With the Scorpio rims, I did not have the nuts issue but had some other issues as you will see below. No doubt KUV rims will also face same issue.

I fitted the Scorpio rims on the front. It fitted perfectly. I was elated, only for a moment, as I found out, the rims were pushing against the brake callipers. and the car was struggling to move.
So I went to the lath machine workshop and have the made this for me.


Wheel spacers, They are 3mm thick, I figured they should suffice. Made two of the, just for the front. The rear has no issues.

I fitted all tyres, all seems fine and was heading back home when I noticed some scraping noise. I knew the rims were scraping against the callipers again, but the noise was not so bad, besides the car was moving effortlessly, so I just went ahead. The noise eventually died before I reached home. Anyway I thought I would look into it. And here's what I found out and did to solve the problem.


Left callipers. Notice the scratches. They were not more than scraping the paint off.


Left rim. Notice the scratches. I ran my hand over it, they were no more than scratching the paint.


Right callipers, The scratch on the right were more than the left. But we are talking in fraction of mm.


Right rims. The scratch here also were higher than on the left. I ran my fingers over them but could barely notice any deformation.

As I already mentioned, the scraping noise disappeared before I reached home. Anyway, I decided to make sure the never come into contact again.


I took out my angle grinder and grind off the callipers on both side (see pics above circled in RED). Don't worry the grinding here is in paper thin depth, so structural integrity of the callipers should not be compromised.


Finally, here is how it looks.


Here is another view to get an idea on the Off-set of the steel rims.

Had driven some since then. All seems fine. Ride quality over bumpy road has noticeably improved. Tyre noise of the new A/T tyres cannot be ascertain yet as I have not had the opportunity to push the car on a decent stretch of good paved road . But this is precisely why I am going for A/T tyres with higher side walls. Cheers.

[Sheel]

I see one of the steel rim is bent, did not try to go for another example or straighten it out?

What brand of tires are these?

[kaynmantis]

Originally Posted by Sheel

I see one of the steel rim is bent, did not try to go for another example or straighten it out?

What brand of tires are these?

Noticed that too. So far they seem fine. I have to check them properly on a machine some day.

They are Chinese made tyres "Comforser", very popular here among Boleros. And yes, bolero tyres or more accurately 15"tyres are almost half the price of duster tyres or 16"tyres. Makes sense for me. Did my own research on Comforsers using google, They seems ok.

[adg_andy]

Hi Folks,

I have a 2016 85PS RXS done about 45000 kms. Tyres are almost gone with ocassional skidding happening over slush and stone chips. I am thinking of Conti Comfort Contact 235/60/R16. I know that many of my friends have done this change on 110PS Duster and are happy. Is there anyone who has done this on 85PS? Is there significant drop in mileage expected?

PS: With worn out tyres, mileage has significantly reduced in my car.

[mh09ad5578]

Originally Posted by adg_andy

Hi Folks,
Is there anyone who has done this on 85PS? Is there significant drop in mileage expected?

I've just upgraded to 235/60R16 maxxis bravo AT 777 on my 2015 85RXL. No noticable drop in performance or mileage. Have only done 600kms post the upgrade. Looks nice and more cushioned ride. Have posted more details on the duster official review thread.

[adg_andy]

Originally Posted by mh09ad5578

I've just upgraded to 235/60R16 maxxis bravo AT 777 on my 2015 85RXL. No noticable drop in performance or mileage. Have only done 600kms post the upgrade. Looks nice and more cushioned ride. Have posted more details on the duster official review thread.

I am looking for a plusher ride. So will go for HT most probably.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by Tgo

Any upgrade since then? I am currently on the same G055 SUV tires which are nearing the end. They gave me a comfortable running of 40,000 KM. Tires have become stiff and the wear indicators are about to indicate replacement in the next 5,000 Km or so.

I went for Michelin LTX force for the AWD and for Primacy SUV (repeat) for the 2WD. I have found the ride of the LTX force wheel to be a bit harsher and road noise a bit higher compared to both Yokohama Geolandar SUV and Primacy SUV. Will try to play around with the tyre pressure a bit and see if there is any change.

Originally Posted by kaynmantis

Attachment 1888698

Wheel spacers, They are 3mm thick, I figured they should suffice. Made two of the, just for the front. The rear has no issues.

I hope these spacers are just for a test fit purpose only. Get some made from thicker (6mm) metal stock (billet - NOT sheet) and machined down to 3 mm to ensure decent flatness of both surfaces. Making them out of 3 mm sheet metal will have the residual stresses of the sheet show up. The spacers will act as a spring washer either damaging the lug bolt threads or will induce wobble if the wheel lug bolts.Especially the grinding for burr removal from the bolt holes has thinned the sheet out making the flatness for for a shot.

- Just a suggestion from a mechanical point of view -

[Kartik Kumar]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Check Michelin and Yokohama, there are road biased SUV tires with them.

Michelin website doesn't show anything for my Duster in 215/65R16! There are so many choices I'm confused.

There is the Continental ContiCrossContact LX 2, Yokohama Geolander SUV, Michelin LTX Force. There maybe some Goodyear and Bridgestone models as well.

In general I want a good ride without compromises in handling (slight should be OK) and atleast 40K kms life.

Also what should a dealer offer besides a good price? Balancing and alignment thrown in for free? At least 50 bucks per tire for the old ones?

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Kartik Kumar

There are so many choices I'm confused.

Do you want an AT [all terrain] or an HT [highway terrain]?

If you stick to very good roads for a majority of time, get the HT, if roads are not good and you do a bit of soft-roading or venture into unknown, narrow down to AT's.

If Michelin LTX Force is available, I would pick that, else GoodYear Wrangler AT's would be my choice.

[Kartik Kumar]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Do you want an AT [all terrain] or an HT [highway terrain]?

If you stick to very good roads for a majority of time, get the HT, if roads are not good and you do a bit of soft-roading or venture into unknown, narrow down to AT's.

If Michelin LTX Force is available, I would pick that, else GoodYear Wrangler AT's would be my choice.

Definitely HT, although Bangalore roads would certainly quality as AT category


Will check for the Michelin LTX Force.

[Kartik Kumar]

Bought Michelin LTX Force for my Duster after just a little over 49K kms. Damages of Rs. 9700 per tyre.


Initial impression is that cushioning effect is more compared to the previous Apollo Hawkz shoes and tyre noise is less as well.

[Altocumulus]

Replaced the Stock MRF Wanderer HTs of my AWD with Good Year Wrangler AT Silentrac. This is a new launch from Good Year replacing the Silent Armour range they had earlier. It has 2 years unconditional warranty and following 3 years pro-rata.

Initial impressions, much plusher and better ride and very silent compared to the MRFs. It's an AT tyre which is biased for Highway which is perfect for me. Time will tell about the performance and how silent they remain. Best part, the tyres are hot off the oven. Manufactured during the week commencing 2 Sep 2019.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

Replaced the Stock MRF Wanderer HTs of my AWD with Good Year Wrangler AT Silentrac. This is a new launch from Good Year replacing the Silent Armour range they had earlier.

Slapped on new tires on new car and didn't even share a picture...? Not cool. Please share your ride and most importantly, new tires pictures.

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Slapped on new tires on new car and didn't even share a picture...? Not cool. Please share your ride and most importantly, new tires pictures.

I had uploaded a few of the car in the Duster AWD thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4660258 (Renault Duster AWD : Official Review)

I got them on 23rd and left for Delhi the next day. The tyres are really good and compliments the car well. Best part, very silent for an AT even on noisy surfaces like on YEW. Since it rained for a significant part in the trip, got a chance to test dry as well as wet grip and it came out with flying colours.

A couple of pictures from the trip along with the tyres.

[subuiyer]

Got the stock Wanderers replaced with Goodyear Wrangler AT Silentrac for my 2015 AWD.

The stock ones may have lasted a bit more but with 49K on the ODO I had dragged them too long already and didn't want to risk anymore. Tyre noise was bad and frequency of punctures on the front tyres increased a lot.

After the switch road noise has perceptibly reduced (and now hear more of the other noises!). Have driven about 400 kms now and the ride is relatively smoother particularly over paver blocks and concrete roads. The large tyre blocks are flicking small stones/pebbles on to the underside, which is occasionally disconcerting.

Cost - 8750 per tyre
Air Valves - 250 per valve
Warranty - 2 yrs
From - a Goodyear dealer
For old tyres - got nothing

Replaced the spare too even though the older one was never used. An Innova driver, who was getting the 8th change for his with steed with 325K on its ODO, kept shaking his head when he saw my unused spare being replaced. He said I was wasting money.