Everything you need to know about your motorhome tires

Your motorhome tires deserve your full attention.It is the way for the handling of your motorhome, and therefore your safety.Which ones choose?How to optimize their lifespan and guarantee your safety?Here is what you need to know.

Camping tire: the summary

Special tires for motorhomes which motorhome tire to choose? 15 or 16 inchpneus tires and road holding of inflation and safety.

Tires, only contact points between the road and the vehicle, provide several functions: motor skills, maintaining a trajectory (handling) and braking.It is therefore important to take care of it to guarantee longevity and performance.But let's not be mistaken: finding cheap and good quality tires is possible!

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Do you have to choose a special motorhome tire set?

To meet the special needs of motorhomes, manufacturers have developed tires specifically designed for them.However, as surprising as it may seem, all new motorhomes are not equipped with it.

Read also our article how to make your tires last longer

Why are not all motorhomes equipped with it?

To this, a simple reason: the carriers produced by Fiat or Ford, for example, are generally equipped for utility use and, in the absence of an explicit command on the part of the manufacturer of the motorhome working on this basis, the carrierwill receive tires displaying C marking (for van) and not CP tires (for motorhome).It all depends on the manufacturer's policy and its production volumes.

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Are the motorhome tires really useful?

Admittedly, the assembly of CP tires is not compulsory on a motorhome and those for van (C) are already reinforced, especially in their flanks.However, motorhomes for motorhomes are able to withstand higher pressures, in the order of 5.5 bars.To this end, they generally receive a screwed metal valve, more resistant than the traditional rubber valve.All this does not seem useless with regard to the high weight of a motorhome up to 3.5 tonnes, while utility vans are very much lower and often roll empty.As for leisure vehicles that exceed this weight, they receive tires that fall under the heavyweight category.

Ancient motorhome tires

That said, it may happen that old motorhomes require unavailable dimensions with CP marking.In this case, we turn to a van type tire respecting, as required by the regulation, the load and speed index.

Which motorhome tire to choose?

The main tire brands for motorhomes

Even if it is a niche market for large manufacturers, they consider the tire for motorhomes as a product with high added value and develop their offer gradually.

Pneus All Season et Mud & Snow (M+S)

All Season tires constitute an offer that can seduce motorhomes that do not just roll in summer.But beware, the M+S marking (for Mud and Snow, that is to say mud and snow) is only declarative and is guaranteed by any certified organization.Moreover, from one m+s tire to another, the grip performance on delicate terrain can vary significantly ... We must remember that these tires playing the card of versatility are undoubtedly a good compromise to drive occasionally indifficult conditions.

Snow and motorhome tires

The real snow tires belong to a completely different category.They are recognized by their 3PMSF marking (Three Pics Mountain Snow Flake) representing a snowflake surrounded by three mountain peaks.This marking constitutes a real guarantee of efficiency on snow, without forgetting that it is compulsory to circulate in certain European countries.

15 or 16 inch tires

Finally, one can wonder why some motorhomes favor 15-inch tires while others opt for 16 inches.Again, it depends on what is offered by the manufacturer of the wearer and the manufacturer's choices.For example, at Fiat, whether they are equipped with the 2.3 L 120, 140, 160 or 180 hp engine, the carriers can receive 15 or 16 inch tires..Then, the manufacturer can choose the size of the tires according to the equipment of its vehicle, its behavior, but it can also leave the choice to its customer in the form of an option, knowing that one may prefer16 inches for purely aesthetic reasons ... For example, at Trigano (Challery and Challenger brands), aluminum rims are only available in 16 inches, while Fiat also offers them in 15 inches.For this dimension, Trigano has chosen to impose steel rims (except for vans).

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Tires and handling

It is normal that tires wear out in contact with the road during travel, however other causes can contribute to early wear, starting with the configuration of the cell.The latter will be all the more important if it has an important overhang, with Garage sustained.The simple fact of overloading the rear will tend to relieve the front axle and thus modify its geometry.In fact, the contact surface between the tires and the road decreases, hence abnormal wear and tear.

Reading our article also why do my motorhome tires wear out too quickly?

Tip: avoid overload

In addition, you must remain vigilant on the famous PTAC, because it systematically drives at its limit will have a harmful impact on the longevity of your tires.Furthermore, it is imperative to respect the distribution of masses by axle and to ensure at the right layout of the load inside, without unbalanced one side compared to the other.

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Assembly and protection

On the assembly side, the tires must be balanced when they are mounted on the wheels for the first time or when they have risen after a repair.Your tires suffer at each round of wheel, and even stop, because they little appreciate being permanently exposed to UV action.Remember to protect them.

Tire inflation pressure

Under the combined effect of heat and the increase in pressure which results from it when the tire reaches its operating temperature, the oxygen molecules have enough energy to penetrate the porosities of the wall of the tire toMix with the rubber where, once it saturated, they will pass through this wall to escape.

Nitrogen inflated tires

To avoid the negative effects of oxygen, the air is replaced with nitrogen, which is an inert gas and which has a much better pressure outfit than air.In addition, nitrogen inflation reduces the risk of burst linked to the under-inflation and the heating that it generates.It optimizes the efficiency of tires during braking, acceleration and winding routes, because the pressure remains stable.Nitrogen inflated tires have a distinctive sign a green color valve cap.The checks and any complements must be carried out in stations equipped with nitrogen.However, it remains possible to complete the pressure with air.

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Pressure, a serious matter

The right pressure avoids overconsumption of fuel and premature wear of the bearing strip.Tire wear is considered normal when it is regular and observed in the long term, thanks to wear indicators molded on the bearing strip.These must have a mini height of 1.6mm.If the tread has a different appearance, it is a sign of a problem, generally linked to the inflation pressure.

An under-inflated tire will cause accentuated wear on the edges of the bearing strip.Conversely, an over -inflated tire will have excessive wear in the center.

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What pressure inflate the motorhome tires?

The pressure is verified cold, that is to say after riding less than 3km at reduced speed or if the vehicle has been stopped for more than two hours.If the control is done hot, add 0.3 bar to the recommended pressure.Please note, the inflation pressure registered on the flank of the tire is the maximum rolling pressure.It is not necessarily the appropriate inflation pressure for your vehicle.

Comfort on the road

If wear and tear is the major axis of manufacturers' research work, the latter are also faced with the security problem and comfort.Road comfort is today important.This is a point on which the motorhome is demanding.He wants, downhill, find the same sensations behind the wheel of his motorhome thanks to the tires.

This driving comfort is largely due to the drawing of the bearing strip.Gum cobblestones, intermediate strips and other drainage grooves to evacuate the rain are not there by chance.They have a heavy responsibility for a few square centimeters.They must ensure in all circumstances the contact with the road and maintain the vehicle on its trajectory, while ensuring the safety of the driver and the vehicle.This particular aspect of the tire is taken into account in its development and makes it possible to lead to a powerful product, in the braking phases, even partially worn out.

Reduced consumption

More recently, the equipment manufacturers have integrated into their specifications the decrease in fuel consumption, by reducing rolling resistance thanks to the emergence of a new generation of gums.These fuel savings also participate in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Security

In the carrier's safety register, tires have an important role, so their choice should not be made at random.Indeed, the tires carry the vehicle and must withstand the transfers of considerable loads for acceleration, braking and turning.Resistance to all these efforts is due in the structure of their envelope, in the components of their eraser and in their good inflation pressure.

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Know how to read a tire

The various markings present on the flank of the tire will teach you a lot about its characteristics, provided you can decipher them.

Take the example of this continental tire Vancontact CAMPER.The 215/70 R 15 CP sequence registered in large characters is very visible.

But other more discreet indications are just as important.The load index 5 (109) and the speed index 6 (R) correspond respectively to a maximum load per tire of 1.250 kg (multiply this value by two gives the maximum load per axle) and 170 km/h.

Please note, the pressure indicated 7 (69 psi) is not the recommended pressure, but the maximum pressure that can be borne by the tire.Another important point, the 8 dot (for Department of Transportation, that is to say the US Ministry of Transport having imposed this mention) will inform you about the tire age.The latest figures in the sequence indicate the week and the year of tire production.

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