On the van

New tyres

Read the size off the sidewall and send it with the street. The tyre comes to the car: a drive in Hither Green, a bay at University Hospital Lewisham, a side street off Rye Lane.

A black alloy wheel stood upright beside the rear of a white G-Class
From a jobBlack alloy off a white G-Class, stood by the back bumper.

The numbers on the sidewall

205/55 R16 91V. Width, profile, rim, then load and speed. That string is the whole order. If the letters are worn or the light is bad, a photo of the sidewall does the same job.

Say whether it is one tyre or a pair. Two new fronts and two tired rears behave differently on a wet South Circular, and it is better said before the van loads than after.

Budget, mid-range, premium

All three fit the same wheel. What changes is grip in the wet, road noise and how many miles the tread lasts. You get a price for the tyre, the fitting and the balance together, and it is agreed before the van moves.

If you do short runs between Lee Green and the school gate, the expensive tyre will not pay you back. If you do the A2 every day, it might. We say which we would fit and why.

At the car

The wheel comes off, the old tyre comes off the rim, the new one goes on with a new valve, and the wheel is balanced on the van before it goes back. The nuts go back to the torque the car asks for.

The old tyre leaves with us.

Where it goes on

A drive, a marked bay or a quiet side street. Not the running lane of New Cross Road, not the Catford gyratory, not the hatching on Loampit Vale. If that is where the car is, move it to the next side street and send the new street name.

Send the street and the job. The price comes back before the van moves.

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