Running my Disco on a Budget was never going to be easy. When I got the car the tyres were low on tread, which was fairly reflected in the asking price. Within a few months the 2 front tyres were close to the legal minimum tread depth. As usual i was low on funds and opted to replace the front axle set with part worns. The tuyres i got came on different alloys, which meant front and back axles were now different.
These part worns served me well for a few more months, until i faced the reality which was new tyres were required all round. I didn't want to keep the alloys - never liked them anyway - and eventually sold all 4 for £50 on ebay, where I believe they spent the remainder of their life thrashing around off road! Initially I looked at the packag of steels with insa turbo's for about £450 but realistacally could not afford that. After a lot of looking around for alternatives i discovered that there's a lot of D1's and D2's driving around with 4 alloys on the road, and a steel on the back door. Further investigation showed the steel normally shod in either 205/R16's or 205/80/16's, basically (and in terms of MOT's) the same size. Luckily I have various family members dotted round the country, so much so that when browsing ebay, i was able to search by price as well as location. My purchases were as follows:- From Norfolk: 2 x Steel wheels fitted with Kumho 205/R16 Brand New tyres. These were £5 each +£5 for delivery to a local address.
- From Oxfordshire: 1 x Steel wheel fitted with Brand New Michelin 205/80/16 M&S tyre. This was £10 delivered to a local address.
- 3 x Steel wheels with mixed tyres & 1 Steel wheel with Brand New Bridgestone Dueller 205/80/16 tyre. These were £30 collected from Gatwick area.
So; for less than £60 +fuel, I had 4 good tyres + 1 Half decent spare. All tyrs were then checked locally for internal damage / repairs before being refitted and balanced. All in we're looking at £100. But dont forget, I sold all 4 alloys for £50, so my nett spend was £50.00.
Since then I have been given a Steel wheel with a 235/70/16 part worn tyre and have bought a Brand New steel wheel with 205/R16 Goodyear Wrangler on, for £10.
Wheels on the car were painted with Black Hammerite before fitting, and a new set of Wheel nuts from Island 4x4 completed the job. (20 off Britpart # RRD50010 = £10.08 Incl. VAT).
TTFN
