Newbie here camping tyre question

[Homer]

Little update had a letter from continental today saying they have inspected the tyres and have issued a credit for them but accept no liability..so although I will be getting some money back at least it's cost be a fair bit and no doubt we'll be well out of pocket over it all

 

[WildThingsKev]

I have Goodyear Ultragrips with typical commercial max pressure of 65psi. Van went for a service last week, just before setting out for France yesterday I checked the pressures: 75 psi all round! "Dipsticks".

 

[Geek]

Well, if you under-inflate a tyre, the outcome can be a blowout, possibly writing the vehicle off, maybe killing a few people.

Over-inflate it and you risk a harsh, noisy ride, poor grip and uneven wear.

So if you don't know what the pressure should be, err on the side of caution and blow it up to higher than seems likely to be correct.

It's extremely unlikely that 65psi is the correct pressure for your van.

Without knowing the actual axle weights of it loaded, it's not possible to calculate. So the tyre maker, the chassis maker, the converter... None of them can really know what the pressure should be, so they guess. And add a bit for luck.

The neatly round figure tells you the pressure is an arbitrary number.

Of course, when you drive, the tyres warm, the pressure rises. That means that precise calculations are a bit of a red herring

Some old-school truck drivers reckon on the rule of 6 or 7psi. If your pressures rise by less than that when driving, they were too hard. If they rise more than that, they were too soft. However, that presupposes a set temperature from cold, I guess. And it assumes your tyres are full of air, not pure nitrogen.

 

[Iandsm]

Camper tyres are a bad choice. Fit proper commercial tyres rated for the vehicle and load, then go to a weighbridge that can weigh each.axle when the van is fully loaded. From that info and the tyres" load rating code and pressure at max load (both written on the tyre) calculate the correct pressures

Why do you say camper tyres are a bad choice?

 

[Geek]

I say camper tyres are a bad choice because I think they are a bad choice.

People who sell them say they are a good choice because they are more profitable. The normal reasons they tell you they're better are piffle.

There are indeed two good reasons why camper tyres can be a better buy: firstly they have heavier sidewalls to survive bad drivers kerbing them, and secondly they can tolerate overloading a bit better, especially if you inflate them to teeth-rattling pressures.

Better to buy commercial tyres, not kerb them and not overload them.

The snag with the heavy sidewalls is that you need higher pressure to prevent excessive heat buildup in the sidewalls.

The snags with high pressure are harsh ride, poor grip and uneven wear.

 

[Homer]

The main reason I changed to them was hopefully better grip when fishing in farmers fields etc but for the 1% of the time I'm on grass apposed to the 99% on tarmac it's just not worth the harsh ride, the tread pattern has a lot less rubber on the road and a lot deeper grooves clearly not good for on road use IMO

 

[Iandsm]

I say camper tyres are a bad choice because I think they are a bad choice.

People who sell them say they are a good choice because they are more profitable. The normal reasons they tell you they're better are piffle.

There are indeed two good reasons why camper tyres can be a better buy: firstly they have heavier sidewalls to survive bad drivers kerbing them, and secondly they can tolerate overloading a bit better, especially if you inflate them to teeth-rattling pressures.

Better to buy commercial tyres, not kerb them and not overload them.

The snag with the heavy sidewalls is that you need higher pressure to prevent excessive heat buildup in the sidewalls.

The snags with high pressure are harsh ride, poor grip and uneven wear.

Thats interesting thanks. I had commercial tyres on my Autosleeper which I found gave a hard noisy ride, I changed then to Continental CP tyres and at the correct pressure as advised by Continental they are quiet and give a good ride, they are also stable and grip well and I have no worries about them standing in one position and as I am not perfect they should be OK if I ever kerb them. Of course I understand its a matter of choice and I am happy with mine. When the time comes to replace them it will be with CP tyres.

 

[Geek]

I'd have thought that commercial M+S or winter tyres would have been better for that. But unless they're really nasty and noisy on the road, I'm not sure they'd be a lot better in mud.