Alloy Wheels

[Guest Don Madge]

The alloy wheels on the van are in need of replacing or refurbishing. I've been told it will be cheaper to have them refurbished. I've done a check on Google and there are plenty of companies that will refurbish them. Anybody got any recommendations for the East Yorkshire area. Would also be interested in any sites selling alloy wheels at a reasonble price. Thanks Don

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

There's a company at Ross-on-Wye that sometimes advertises alloy wheels in MMM. I know nothing about the firm (except that it's on the industrial wilderness next to our very attractive central campsite) or the product, but I'll see what I can find out. You might also try the motorhome importers "GoEuropean" (www.goeuropean.co.uk) who told me fairly recently that they could obtain good quality 'commercial vehicle' alloy wheels for SEVEL chassis. From what I recall, the prices were very reasonable. For what it's worth, alloy wheels are one of my pet hates and (in my view) only rational on high performance vehicles where a steel wheel would be impractical due to size or weight considerations. The protective finish applied to alloy wheels (especially to cheap ones) inevitably fails and the surface then corrodes into an unsightly mess. Nothing looks worse than a scabby alloy and it's no coincidence there are plenty of refinishing businesses around. I like ordinary, no nonsense, steel wheels - you can run 'em down kerbs without doing much harm except scrape a bit of paint off the edge of the rim and they'll laugh off impacts that would destroy your average alloy. Then there's the potential balancing problems with alloys, the delightful 'welding to the hub' syndrome and the difficulty in obtaining matching replacements (few motorhome alloys will be on the base-vehicle manufacturer's parts-list). Worst of all, they actually expect you to shell out extra wads of cash for the things! If I travelled as extensively as you do, Don, I'd think very seriously about the benefits of reverting to standard steel wheels before replacing your current alloys with another set.

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

Details of the Ross-on-Wye alloy-wheels supplier are as follows: S L Preedy Unit 5 Ashburton Estate Ross-on-Wye Tel: 01989 566784 I've spoken to the owner of this small motor-engineering company. He tells me the wheels are of German manufacture of the type offered as optional extras by leading German motorhome converters. 15" wheels come in 2 styles and cost £117 each. 16" wheels come in 3 styles and cost £125 each. These prices are overall, inclusive of carriage. We discussed corrosion of alloy wheels' protective lacquer finish and he confirmed this could be a problem, particularly when road-salt reached the metal surfaces. He said he had seen examples of (VanTek?) wheels showing serious "bubbling", but the 5-year old wheels on his own much-travelled motorhome were still in fine condition. An illustrated brochure is available if you want more information.

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

Sorry, the phone number I just gave is wrong. The correct number for S L Preedy is 01989 567785

[Guest Ray]

Following ten years experience with alloy wheels on my Peugot 405 I would recomend using steel wheels. I have been plagued with what appeared to be slow punctures and in nearly every case it has been found that the problem was due to corrosion and formation of Aluminium oxide between the rim and tyre alowing air to leak out of the tyre. tyres had to be removed, rims and tyre walls wire brushed and re fitted. They look nice but can give problems. Ray.