Red_bull

Hello guys,

My dad has his own company a bought in 2009 a brand new Ford Transit with MS Design package. Which also ment different rims (which where on the option list)

At his first tyre change (and after a whoblie car) they told him to align his rear rims, because they were bad. So he did and with straight rims again (which went to the front) he drove another set of tyres. He went and again the exact same story.

Nice thing is that after the first time he allready complained and they told him it's not true etc. We found somebody else with the same problems. A person who owns a computer company (which has lower loads then my dads digging company)

So after the second time and all four rims allready aligned we dicided to take it further. We sued them and all they said is we think the rims are good.

To proof they are wrong i would be amazingly helped to know the static weight on the back wheel indiviually. I know there's some race guys with even connects. Does anybody know these indiviually weights of the back?

If there are more people with the exact same problem please let me know (we are based in the netherlands)

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Very interesting.You will have to let us know what the outcome is.

cosevo

are these the transit sport wheels like this



I bought some for my transit, and they are so soft its unreal, every tiny little pot hole and the wheel would bend, I had every wheel in the course of 1 year, having to be heated and straighten to be able to hold air in the tyre, they are shockingly bad. God rid of them in the end.

cosevo

this was one of them after just one pot hole, and im not talking grand canyon, just an average pot hole, maybe an inch deep at most, im sure they are made of silver chocolate

fraser9764

iTrader: (3)

bloody hell! thats impressive

Bungle

Holy fuck!!!! That's beyond belief

Cragrat

iTrader: (4)

Bloody hell,surely they would have lasted longer with tyres on though......




Seriously though what wheels are you using now oh and tyres too?.

James Porter

iTrader: (1)

Can't be proper load rated wheels.

I've got a Renault Trafic sport & never had a problem with the alloys, albeit they have more tyre around it than the transits do.

Retro Al

iTrader: (1)

One of my back ones has a slight bend going in,nothing bad was like that when i bought it

Cragrat

iTrader: (4)

Never had a problem with mine (touch wood),had the van from new since 07,so I'm pretty lucky I guess

Though did buy a s/h set as 'spares' that turned out to utter dogs that a plumber practically begged me to sell him.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Fook me thats fooked lol.

cosevo

Can't remember the size of the tyres of sport rims but they were the correct siZe and proper load rates tyres as well.

Have a genuine set of ford alloys with no problems ever and an aftermarket set on my other van (I'll take pics later) and had no problems with these either

Cragrat

iTrader: (4)

i meant what you got fitted now matey

Retro Al

iTrader: (1)

Has he been overloading the van?

Cragrat

iTrader: (4)

They're stamped with a load rating on the back,can't remember it though...

stevieturbo

Some wheels do have a load rating marked on them, but not all.

But if Ford are offering them, then they should be more than capable of holding the vans plated weights ( Both max axle weights will be on a plate on the van somewhere. )

Are there any motoring organisations like the AA or RAC you can talk to who might be able to help ?

cosevo

Never went near the limit in mine, 600kg max loads, believe the trasnit sport can carry around 800-900kg.

cosevo

pics from today of my new van, only bought it last month, 140 sport engine, couldn't say no at Ł4000, have had full sport kit sitting at mates yard for 2 years awaiting me getting this shape van, so will get that fitted soon along with a re-map to 180bhp

Red_bull

The rims we are running aren't the same. They are the following of MS Design. Ford Netherlands offert a Styling package incl these rims



The rims are indicated (on the inside) to 618 kg and the rear axle can take 1120 kg! So it means if you load 55% on one side the rim is overloaded!

In my opinion it's a rediciouls thing to do from a OEM! We are pissed!

stevieturbo

You wouldnt be sure the static empty weight of the van is split 50/50 in the first place.

So not quite sure how much allowance they place for an uneven load.

But you would need to have a fully laden van with the imbalance to overload the wheel.

The unladen axle weight wont be 1120kgs

Red_bull

No that's exactly true, but if i load the van (which it will be because it's a company van) the change of it being overloaded on one of the rims is big. If we punt a trailer behind it and you take a speed bump the load on the rims is big ofc. With rims so close allready to the border of the static weight i'm not suprised that we need to align them every time. I think it's wrong of Ford to take rims that are like 50 kg above the static weight. You can't take rims that are so close to the static weight of the car. If i put the maximum weight in the car and i load 55% on one side i'm overloading my rims. That's bullshit isn't it? If i load it to the max my rims shouldn't be the item that fail....

And everytime with new tires aligning the rims is just a joke...

stevieturbo

Regardless of the numbers, clearly there is a problem.

And it wouldnt be the first time a car manufacturer ( or van ) cheaped out on wheels that fall apart when you hit a bump.

jbelly

Hi, for the uk guys I'm on the Transit forum (belly) I run a 2010 seagrey Transit 140 sportvan as my work van, it's running heavy most of the time sometimes too heavy :-( I also work roadside as a advertising contractor so I'm up and down some monster kerbs quite a lot so all in all it's used properly Having used Transits for years I knew about the tyre wear issues and potential weak alloys but figured out that basically the oe 45 profile Tyres that are 98 weight loading are basically too low profile and too low a weight loading ,I've got a mate with a Transporter sportline which are more powerful and are rated to 3t instead of 2600kg so I put the same Tyres on that he has fitted Ok so there a bit more balloonish but if you step up from 45 profile to 50 profile they give a much better ride they last 16k miles instead of 6k and there 101 weight loaded There Falken ZIEUS 235/50/18 101w EXTRA LOAD remember they need to be EXTRA LOAD on a commercial vehicle for insurance anyway hope this helps Belly

mikhelee

Ive got a good freind who says they are fantastic and he is a very good driver who has owned lots of performance cars. Belive it or not he used his mrs's cooper d clubman on the handling track at a rotary day at santa pod and came second overall for the whole day! He beat all sorts of quick stuff

D19kky

alwritey i got adaptors made up for my mk 5 transit they fit audi rs6 alloys and i have vauxhall cav turbo wheels on her just now

ranutter

The MS alloys are pure shite. All 4 of my rims are out of shape and leaking.I wonder could I heat treat them to make um harder.maybe cryo freezing?? Any one know what exact material they are made from? [I KNOW ALUMINIUM] but what type and what are the other alloys in um? I have access to heat treating ovens so if i found out i could give it a whirl.

Cragrat

iTrader: (4)

I got one of the first ever sportvans out and never (touch wood) had an issue with them buckling etc

Maybe the first run was ok then they changed the alloy mix from ok to soft as shite spec' ?

Did buy a second hand set as spares but they were really badly kurbed but not buckled so I got rid..

Retro Al

iTrader: (1)

Your van cargrat don't carry much weight though? a few reels of wires etc that might be why?

Ginge !

Ford don't make these wheels,,, they are a aftermarket dealer fit kit made by ms design and just because its a van don't mean fitting a pretty kit ect means it will be used as a work horse,,, its aimed at light use vans who want a pretty van rather than builders can

I'd recommend larger side walls but get the speedo calibrated after fitting

Fact is alloys are weaker than steel wheels if used with low profile tyres and 5 thin spokes

Transits are quite heavy motors empty

Cragrat

iTrader: (4)

Ever dropped one on ya foot? Weighs more than 250ml bottle of dodo juice.....

Ford have stated they don't consider sportvans to be 'workvans', was on a thread on the transit forum a few years ago when they got grief about excessive tyre wear.