spikes
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Post by spikes on Aug 24, 2010 19:58:27 GMT 2
Hi Marius, Not intended as a"skimp" at all. I just find the carbibles website interesting and useful. How are lambs doing? season over? regards Spikes
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Post by marius on Aug 24, 2010 20:48:42 GMT 2
Hi Spikes Sure - I just wanted to show my intend as far as the tyres go. It is just a little too quiet for my liking at the moment. Lambing season is over and peace has prevailed Regards Marius PS - congrats on your 100th post!
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Ventzel
Senior Niva Petrol Head
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Post by Ventzel on Sept 1, 2010 0:30:39 GMT 2
Hi Gentlemen, Very interesting discussion, really. There is nothing more harmful to our Ladas than the incorrect tyres. Most of your problems with steering, suspension, transmission, come from the wrong tyres.
Here is one fairytale, actually real fact, which happened at the end of 1999, beginning of 2000. We just began to import and distribute Lada countrywide, to Botswana as well. Our headquarter and PDI station was in Pinetown. The beginning was promising. But soon a lot of cars returned for some not expecting repairs, of course claiming warranty. We fixed whatever was necessary, but it was endless story. Later we discovered that the reason for all troubles was that the owners of these cars replaced the wheels with big and fat ones. The general manager were furious. And he issued an additional warning sticker inside the service/warranty book which was with short and clear text - "If the vehicle has not factory approved size of tyres, the warranty is invalidate". Whatever warranty, you may have wiper mechanism inoperative or antifreeze leak - nothing, nothing is claimable. Complain to the President or to the UN if you wish. If somebody still keep the blue service book from Swedish Car Distributors let look inside for curiosity.
The best tyre for Niva is the original factory 175/80R16. For Sidekicks with very big compromise and long discussion with the factory, was decided 195/80R15; because 10 years ago 195 was the thinest one 15". Of course we preferred thinner one, but no chance. And the alloy rims were imported from Germany especially for the posh Sidekicks. We were not happy with the offset of all local mag wheels or traildusters.
People here like big tyres. OK, everyone has free choice, but the big wheel does not make your vehicle better off-roader, very often just the contrary. Probably looks more aggressive, but definitely more troublesome.
Regards Ventz
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juranhuman
Junior Niva Petrol Head
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Post by juranhuman on Sept 1, 2010 8:26:25 GMT 2
Jee....Hercules,
I wish I read your post before I took my Lada for a service? Would it be ok with Lada Centurion??
It's freakin expensive....I hope I get a job well done!
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Post by marius on Sept 1, 2010 8:29:01 GMT 2
Hi Ventz Nice to see you back on the forum - and yes I actually agree with you 100% - that is why I am trying to import 175's for the Niva. I remember during the first Melkbos meeting the guys with huge tyres struggled in the soft sand - and the 175's just sailed through. I even forgot to engage the diff lock a couple of times with no problems To my mind most mods and tyres are just cosmetic - and in many cases makes the car perform worse in off road conditions Regards Marius
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Post by ronnie on Sept 1, 2010 14:00:45 GMT 2
Hi Ventz
Nice to see you on the Forum. I have a standard Niva with side kick rims and 195 R15 100s Khumo tyres. These i am sure are wide enough for any one and the steering is not too heavy. I would have been happy with a set of standard 16" rims but at least I have a choice of tyres with the 15".
Ronnie
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Post by danie on Sept 1, 2010 18:34:06 GMT 2
Hi Ventz Thanks for your comments. I do agree - many of our locals prefer bigger wheels, and I must admit - I am one of them. I must admit though - I do have spare hubs and a spare steering box - so I am not really worried about premature failures at the moment.......... Regards Danie
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Post by danie on Dec 12, 2010 16:22:36 GMT 2
Here is one fairytale, actually real fact, which happened at the end of 1999, beginning of 2000. We just began to import and distribute Lada countrywide, to Botswana as well. Our headquarter and PDI station was in Pinetown. The beginning was promising. But soon a lot of cars returned for some not expecting repairs, of course claiming warranty. We fixed whatever was necessary, but it was endless story. Later we discovered that the reason for all troubles was that the owners of these cars replaced the wheels with big and fat ones. The general manager were furious. And he issued an additional warning sticker inside the service/warranty book which was with short and clear text - "If the vehicle has not factory approved size of tyres, the warranty is invalidate". Whatever warranty, you may have wiper mechanism inoperative or antifreeze leak - nothing, nothing is claimable. Complain to the President or to the UN if you wish. If somebody still keep the blue service book from Swedish Car Distributors let look inside for curiosity. Hi All I have had another look at Venz's comments, and my own experience in this regard still boggles my mind : Why did bigger wheels (205 / 70 / R15) tyres on my Lada never caused any failures on my Lada after using this tyres for almost 60 000 kms ? Maybe there is a very simple explanation, which might make sense : To my mind the "secret" to achieve high mileage on Ladas, (fitted with bigger wheels) is do adapt to more careful driving habits when bigger wheels are fitted - specially during offroad driving conditions. Maybe this explanation make sense: In general, bigger (wider) wheels do have a better grip (less slip) on the ground surface - in comparison with narrow wheels. This obviously means that the more slip (i.e. during offroad conditions, caused by narrow wheels), the less strain on the drive train components. I believe that when bigger wheels are fitted, all components the drive train will definately be submitted to more strain - caused by the "less slip" factor - specially during offroad conditions. I do know about an incident during my farming days, which could be used as a better explanation: A farmer in the area I came from, once bought himself a brand new tractor, and after about a month of hard work, he decided to fit much wider rear wheels on the tractor. His reasons for doing this made a lot of sense - he noticed that the rear wheels were slipping when the tractor was pulling a heavy load in soft sand. So he thought by fitting wider wheels, he would save fuel, and the tractor would be more productive in general. Well, he fitted wider wheels - and the diff lasted less than one week - before it packed up completely. The farmer was still smiling, because the tractor was still under guarantee...... To cut a long story short - a group of specialists from the Tractor Company visited the farmer to investigate this incident , because this has been the first time they ever experienced a diff failure on one of their products. Needless to say - they just had one look at the wide wheels, and then decided that the guarrantee was nil and void............their explanation was that the wide wheels eliminated the "slip factor", which simply caused too much strain on the diff....... Danie
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Post by marius on Dec 12, 2010 17:28:00 GMT 2
Hi Danie I think the size you refer to should be fine for the 15" - if I am not mistaken the Sidekicks came standard with that size. Would not go any bigger than that though. Correction - I see Ventz mentioned 195's which is a much better size. On the 16" rim oversized tyres tend to put a lot more strain on the components and the body tends to get in the way. During the Lada Meets in Melkbos I found a lot of guys with big fat tyres struggled the most - why I don't know and some of them even had bigger more powerfull engines fitted One thing I did learn however is that driving skill makes a huge difference in off-road conditions. Most off-road conditions do not require power at all - torque is what you need. Regards Marius
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Post by Charles on Dec 12, 2010 17:38:02 GMT 2
Hi Danie
Taking that into cosidaration my lada with 195s will be better offroad (hopefully) than Ari's with his tractor tyres.
Charles
P.s Its strange not to have Ari's commens on the forum.
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Post by ronnie on Dec 12, 2010 18:11:40 GMT 2
Hi Marius
You are of course 100% correct TORQUE is what is required and at as low revs as possible. This is where a diesel excels.
Ronnie
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Post by ronnie on Dec 12, 2010 18:20:25 GMT 2
Hi Marius
I think sidekicks came with 195`s, and I would say they are wide enough for most off road work. I made comment before re Danie`s taking care when off road and said it is very difficult to take care when you have no idea what is under the sand or mud you are driving on. I know in deep sand you are constantly and violently lurching from side to side and there is little you can do about it. Your Lada is under stress all the time and the greater the unsprung mass IE wider, heavier tyres the worse the stress.
Ronnie
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Post by marius on Dec 12, 2010 18:21:19 GMT 2
Hi Ronnie The Lada is not too bad in that department - for a petrol engine. AND I agree 100% with you on your last post - off-road conditions can be highly unpredictable and most of the time it is nice to know you are driving a Lada. Regards Marius
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Post by ronnie on Dec 12, 2010 18:23:58 GMT 2
Hi Charles
I am sure he will comment on your tyres when he is back on line. It was the same last year and he was missing for at least a month. When he did return he was complaining about the amount of posting we had been doing. ;D ;D ;D
Ronnie
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Post by marius on Dec 12, 2010 18:27:18 GMT 2
I thought he was going to visit you in Jeffreys?
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Post by Charles on Dec 12, 2010 18:51:19 GMT 2
He is working still. Will make a plan after this week to get together.
Charles
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Post by danie on Dec 12, 2010 20:17:05 GMT 2
During the Lada Meets in Melkbos I found a lot of guys with big fat tyres struggled the most - why I don't know and some of them even had bigger more powerful engines fitted One thing I did learn however is that driving skill makes a huge difference in off-road conditions. Most off-road conditions do not require power at all - torque is what you need. Regards Marius Hi Marius I must admit - although I do like bigger wheels on my Lada, I do not think a bigger wheels will cause any improvement when driving on sand. Bigger wheels obviously cause more rolling resistance on any surface - and the resistance on sand could be worse due to the "sand wave" just in front of the tyre. Also, apart of torque needed for driving on loose sand, one needs to adapt to another driving style - which is required on sand. An interesting report about sand driving can be found at the December edition of "Leisure Wheels" - At page 44 this note has been made about driving on sand : "We.......start adapting to the new driving style on sand. Speed and momentum, combined with a delicate balance between too fast and too slow." To my mind the Lada engine does not generate enough torque to compensate for the additional rolling resistance, caused by bigger wheels on sand. Having said that, I still prefer bigger wheels on my Lada . Danie
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Post by marius on Dec 12, 2010 20:35:32 GMT 2
Hi Danie
That is just the thing - it is personal choice and big fat tyres do look good.
Regards Marius
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spikes
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Post by spikes on Dec 12, 2010 20:46:01 GMT 2
Yeah.... but the they must kick up a sheeet load of muck in the wet. The 195' makes a right mess of the lada's sides in the goo 'Rgds Spikes
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Ventzel
Senior Niva Petrol Head
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Post by Ventzel on Dec 12, 2010 21:36:51 GMT 2
Just facts:
In 1997 came 3 racing Nivas with Russian crews which lead the rally Roof of Africa indisputable. But they failed to win the race due to very stupid reason - the navigators were not good in English and they missed a check point. These cars were with 16" Russian mag wheels, named SLIK which were equipped with 16" off-road tyres VLI-5, some of you probably still got them. Later in CMH we did everything possible to get these mags for the Sidekicks but had no chance, the mags had no certificate for export. Then we accepted 195 as the thiner one on the market and we imported mag rims from Germany. If there were available less then 195, certainly they would be the favorites.
Well, these racing Nivas are still somewhere here in South Africa.
PLEASE HELP TO FIND THEM!!!
Ventz
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Post by Charles on Dec 12, 2010 21:51:08 GMT 2
They are standing forgotten somewhere. Wish i could find one. Charles
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Hein
Junior Niva Petrol Head
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Post by Hein on Dec 12, 2010 22:53:50 GMT 2
One I saw parked at Jan's place in 2008. The 2nd I saw at the Carnival 400 in 2006, raced by 2 woman. I have not seen the 3rd one at any race.
Hein
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Post by danie on Dec 13, 2010 6:08:02 GMT 2
About four years ago Jan passed comments on the old website regarding a "racing Lada" which was in process of getting prepared for racing purposes. Jan mentioned that Centurion Lada would sponsor the Lada during local rallies.
The topic has gone cold afterwards, and I raised questions regarding the racing Lada at the forum two or three times afterwards. Unfortunately Jan never replied - so I thought the comments regarding the "racing Lada" was just a publicity stunt.
Maybe the racing Lada seen by Hein at Jan's place is indeed one of the Russian racing Ladas ?
Danie
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Post by Ari Bezuidenhout on Dec 13, 2010 13:38:07 GMT 2
Hi Everyone Last I saw the racing one was still at Jan's. Nice to be missed I like the new web site , looks cool. Ari
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Post by Charles on Dec 16, 2010 8:47:34 GMT 2
Hi all
I just bought my tyres. 195/70r15. R2000 for all 4 all inclusive. Will post pics when i get home.
Charles
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spikes
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Posts: 3,689
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Post by spikes on Apr 16, 2011 18:35:30 GMT 2
Hi all Met up with Ari yesterday. Must say the Pitbulls ARE impressive in the flesh/rubber. regarrds S
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Post by Charles on Apr 16, 2011 18:45:28 GMT 2
They look nice yes but I think they are overrated. Wide tyres that is not the pitbulls. Talked to a guy a couple of days ago. He has a colt 4x4 that he uses for extensive overland trips. He runs 215 instead of 245 tyres. He says the difference in offroad performance is amazing. Most noticable in the sand.
Charles
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Post by Ari Bezuidenhout on Apr 16, 2011 19:20:55 GMT 2
Hi all Met up with Ari yesterday. Must say the Pitbulls ARE impressive in the flesh/rubber. regarrds S Hi Spikes Was nice to see you in the flesh as well ;D Looks like we are all getting to meet each other separately though, I think we need a LOCSA meet again soon with some more representation. Ari @ Charles I'm watching you hey
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Post by Charles on Apr 16, 2011 19:26:25 GMT 2
Ari we know each other very well. I think its time that our Nivas meet aswell and that I can tow your one out when you get stuck with your fat takkies!
On a different note I want to get my hands on a regroover. Want to open the outer treads on my tyres a bit. Will take a pic tomorrow to show what I mean.
Charles
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spikes
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Post by spikes on Apr 16, 2011 19:30:27 GMT 2
Hier kom weer 'n ding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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