Hi everyone, i was wondering if i caould have some help.... again...
My Kombi is running Dunlop Grand Prix P195/75 R14 95H tyres... are these suitable for Kombis??? I have heard Kombis need to use Light Truck Tyres, is this true??
Also i have not been able to find a steering lock which will fit my steering wheel, are there actually any out there???... Is an immobiliser a good idea to install???
Thanks for all your help you people are great :kiss

Steering locks are defeated by joyriders and professional thieves in seconds, often faster than you can undo the thing via a key. I wont go into details, but there's at least three ways of defeating them within 10 seconds. None of the methods involve picking the lock and all of them result in the steering lock being off the wheel.

Immobilisers are good. A good one will offer theft insurance if your car gets stolen if it's correctly fitted. Get a remote one that also does central locking. Ensure that it has a little flashing LED. This warns off junkies and beginner joyriders who might be in for a smash and grab.

Alarms are a complete waste of money. No one looks at them twice. Mine has gone off (falsely) about 20 times since I've had my turbo beetle, and no one has even looked twice at the car or me rushing up to my car. I've now gotten so blase that I unlock and re-lock my car from a distance as I know the damn thing has gone off by itself.

The main thing if you're worried about stealing stuff is to keep the cabin clear of anything valuable. Get a tonneau cover for the rear area and stuff everything under that. Don't leave anything out in visible sight. Junkies look for:

a) loose items of value, like CDs
b) decent head units
c) mobile phones
d) bags

A smash and grab is just as bad as having your car stolen. Both myself and my brother have had this happen. Luckily for me, nothing was stolen but I had to replace a window but my brother had 30 odd CDs stolen from the glovebox and had to have his window replaced.

Andrew

Thanks for your help.... i will get an immobiliser asap

The best value-for-money anti-theft device you can get is one of those 'fake' alarms - the flashing light kits from Jaycar. :thumb They'll never know whether it is a real alarm or not, and it will never have a false alarm!

Don't use the Jay Car car alarm stickers though otherwise they will know it either has no alarm or at least a cheap one in it - just the flashing led will do.

Best sticker i have seen is:

WARNING:
THIS CAR IS PROTECTED BY MAN WITH KNIFE

I'd certianly walk past it to the next one just in case.

I have seen a steering lock with a built in TASAR (Cant remember US or UK).
But some softy social worker types would probably object.

Hey KOL back to TASARS - is there no problem they cant fix ?

A Kombi weighs much less than a current Calais or Fairmont, so you would not need light truck tyres, unless you plan on loading up more than 750kg.
If it is an 8 seater, this would be unlikley unless you had 8 people 100kg each.

Check with the tyre place for load rating on the tyres you want to get.

Ours are 550kg per tyre, so that allows a total 0f 2200kg. More than enough on a 1280kg bus

Yes, Kombis are not light trucks. They are normal sedans with a wonderfully useful body shape. They are certainly not heavy enough to need 'light truck' tyres.

Buy good quality car tyres in the size you choose. Kombis have 14 inch wheels that are 5.5 inches wide, so the normal width of tyre is 195. 205s will fit and look tougher, but your steering will be heavier. As for ratio, 65 series is probably the norm and probably what you will buy. You might be able to get 70 series, for slightly higher gearing, but the difference is pretty much bugger all.