I got new tires yesterday and went to get them installed at a local discount tire. Tires I got are 195/50/16 with a load index of 84h. It was brought to my attention that the load index can't be lower than 87h. They wouldn't put the tires on the car because of that...what I'm asking is...would it be ok to still put the tires on the car or am I out what I paid for the tires? Thanks!

 

(rolls eyes)....

Ok, what the tire shop did was "right"...

But really... The load rating for 84 - is 1102 Lbs/Tire... 87 is 1201 Lbs/Tire.

Overall, thats 400 lbs less that the car can carry stock.. Whats the car weigh? Whats its load carrying ability?

Try a local corner garage... I'm sure they wont even care if the sizes were wrong..

edit -

"Gross Vehicle Weight Rating: 3,549 lbs. GVWR
Curb Weight: 2,712 lbs. curb weight "

That's for a Clubman,?... about 800 lbs.... capacity.. so your cutting that in half..

I dont know if I would risk it..

 

Yeah I must not be understanding the whole 1102 lbs/tire thing. Cause if each tire can carry 1102 lbs..thats 4408 lbs. Even with the gross weight of the car... from what you said... 3549 lbs. That still leaves 859 lbs to the good.. which should be fine.

Then I thought... maybe each side could handle the 1102 lbs... but then thats 2204 total. And I figured our cars are pretty light...compared to alot of other cars on the market. Meaning the tires would almost not be usable on any car. Except maybe the aerial atom .

Maybe someone can shed light on this whole loading index thing... cause this is really the first time ever that I have come across this kind of problem where they have refused to install the tires. I mean I understand the whole liability...they could get sued thing if one was to blow out on the highway and it caused an accident and everything thing.. but just curious why I am having a problem now with the loading index. Can't using stretched tires... and having excessive negative camber to the point that the car sits like this.../\ cant that be a "Safety" issue as well? Shoot me straight so I have a proper understanding of this.

Reason I've gone there (discount tire) was because I've been there a few times and they were reasonably priced to install the tires... and the guy that helped was a friend/acquaintance of mine. I could of asked the guy to go into more detail but I could feel myself getting angry and they were busy so I just wanted to leave.

And btw... I have a Mini Cooper S... not clubman or countryman.

 

Oh no! Stretched tires! Yer going to hit a school bus!! (Old Voretx Joke).

 

the did the "right" thing, but it should work just fine. where are you located? I have a shop in north jersey

 

Thanks for the offer but I'm in Illinois. Jersey is a bit far from me . Thanks for the advice as well.

 

What kind of tires are these? Will the seller take them back if you pay shipping (ouch!)?

What are they made for, I wonder, as there aren't exactly too many cars smaller/lighter than a MINI in the USA.

 

I did a quick check of that tire size at Discount Tire's website. They have three tires in that size, a Dunlop Direzza, and two different Kumho ECSTA tires. All three are 84 rated.

 

Here's the tire chart from mt 2009 Clubman owner's manual. Notice that the rating for 17" tires is 84, while the rating for 18" is 82. I only see 87 for the 195/55-16 (stock size).

Going lower profile seems to be the issue... and I have a feeling you don't need to worry about it. But don't take my word for it.

 

For MINIs OEM tires as mentioned above are most commonly load rated at 84 to 88 range.

In your case the 195/50-16 tire is OK for you to use. Call around and see if a local shop will install the tires for you.

Shops do not want to install tires that are not OEM spec due to liability, they may ask you to sign a waiver of liability form, or you can offer to sign one if they don't want to help you.

Who sold you a tire of that size? Was it recommended to you?
It's not a recommended size for the MINI.

OEM is 195/55-16, alternate sizes are commonly:
205/50-16
205/55-16

Both are common enough to get a pretty good tire.

195/50-16 fits MINI OEM 16" rims OK, but tire diameter is small at 23.7" which increases wheel gap. It fits wheels 5.5-7" wide so it is not a stretch fit for the OEM wheel, perhaps it would be on a 16x8" wheel.

Tire selection in this size is good-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...50&diameter=16

If you are planning to lower your MINI you will have more clearance and be fine. The 50 series sidewall will be stiffer than OEM so watch out for potholes and road debris.

A note about load ratings, the MINI was designed to run on tires of about 84 or higher load rating to offer a more than ample safe margin under all conditions of use. You can use tires that have a higher load rating but should avoid those with a rating under about 82-84.

See
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=55&
XL (extra load) and RF (reinforced) are alternate ratings beyond SL or standard load, they offer a Max Load pressure of 41 psi vs standard 35 psi.

 

WOW!! All the responses have been very informative. Thank you all very much for the responses. I actually went today and got the tires installed someplace else without any problems. It does fit a 16x8 cause thats the size wheels I have.