Tyres

[Guest Adrian]

Hi one and all, new to the forum. Any advice please on tyres I need 4 new ones and I'm thinking either Continental Vanco or Michelin Camper but I can't find any technical info like stopping distances in the wet etc. Any advice would be appreciated Cheers for now Adrian :-)

[Derek Uzzell]

There are currently 3 manufacturers - Continental, Michelin, Pirelli - producing specialised motorhome ('camper') tyres and the sizes currently available are as follows (more details on the manufacturers' websites). Continental "VANCO-CAMPER" 215/70 R15 CP 109R (8 PR) 225/75 R16 CP 116R (8 PR) 215/75 R16 C* 116R (10 PR) Michelin "XC CAMPING" 215/70 R15CP 109Q 225/70 R15CP 112Q 195/75 R16C 107N 215/75 R16C 113Q 225/75 R16CP 116Q 225/65 R16CP 112Q Pirelli "CITYNET CAMPER" 195/65 R16CP 104R 215/70 R15CP 109R 195/75 R14CP 106R 195/75 R16CP 107R 215/75 R16CP 113R I'm pretty sure you won't find any up-to-date comparative 'performance' data (eg. stopping distances) for tyres suitable for motorhomes as (to the best of my knowledge) no independent testing has been carried out. German motorhome magazines did tests a few years ago, but these involved 'ordinary' 10PR tyres and XC Camping (which was the only specialised motorhome tyre then available). Continental's Vanco-10 tyre came out well in the wet and XC Camping did poorly. (See www.motorcaravanning.co.uk/vehicles/tyre_test.htm) What motorhome (type/model/age) do you own and what tyres are on the vehicle at present? If your motorhome isn't regularly driven near (or beyond!) its maximum overall weight or maximum axle weight(s) then there is really no compelling argument for choosing to fit 'camper' tyres, as normal 'C'-marked van/truck tyres with a suitable load-bearing/speed capacity should be perfectly adequate, besides normally being more widely available and a good deal cheaper. (Have you compared prices yet?) If I had to choose between Continental Vanco-Camper or Michelin XC Camping then I'd probably go for the former. This is because I've got Vanco-8 (Note: NOT Vanco-Camper) on my own motorhome and they seem fine. Incidentally, as you are swapping 4 tyres, how old is your spare-tyre? If it's getting on in years it would make good sense to change that too so that all the tyres on your motorhome are identical, avoiding potential unknowns regarding grip, braking, inflation-pressures, etc. (This, of course, assumes your vehicles has just 5 tyres.)

[Guest Adrian]

Thanks for the info Derek I have a Swift Sundance 590RL on a Fiat chassis and it currently has Michelins all round. Having looked again it would appear that I only need to change the rear tyres as they are badly cracked and crazed. I'm thinking of putting the Conti Vancos on but will that be allright with Michelins on the front. Cheers Adrian :-)

[Derek Uzzell]

Nowadays, vehicle and tyre manufacturers advise that (where applicable), if a vehicle is to have a mixture of part-worn and new tyres, then the new tyres should be fitted to the rear wheels (which is what you are proposing to do). I believe your Sundance is currently shod with Michelin XC Camping 215/70 R15 tyres. I'm not 100% sure which Continental Vanco tyre you are planning to buy as the 215/70 R15 size is available in Vanco-Camper or Vanco-8 pattern. Either way, you will need to consider what tyre pressures you should use for the Continental tyres. XC Camping is designed to be capable of inflation to 80psi and motorhome owners often choose to do this, particularly for rear tyres. I don't what maximum pressure Vanco-Camper is designed for, but 80psi would be too high for Vanco-8. A tyre carries on its side-wall information about its maximum load-carrying design-capability and the inflation pressure required for that load. Neither of these figures should be exceeded. If you are doubtful over what pressure to use then ask the tyre-fitter (though the best way of finding out the most suitable pressure for a motorhome's tyres is to measure the fully-loaded vehicle's axle weights via a weigh-bridge and seek the tyre manufacturer's advice). Putting Continental tyres on your Sundance's rear wheels will mean that, should you have a rear-wheel puncture and need to fit the spare wheel (that, presumably, has a Michelin XC Camping tyre on it) you will end up with different tyres on the same axle, something that is not considered good practice. Obviously the only ways to avoid this would be to change all 5 tyres to Continentals or to choose XC Camping for the replacement rears. (Even then, I'm not certain that the latest version of XC Camping would be an exact match for the tyres currently on your 'van). Up to you whether you consider this potential drawback important but, as you seemed concerned about things like wet weather braking, I thought it worth highlighting.

[Brian Kirby]

Just a further thought.  On the question of the spare and remaining front tyres - do get the age of these checked, and view with suspicion anything over 7 years old.

If the spare is still in good condition, and reasonably "young", you could consider mounting that and putting one of the existing fronts in as the spare.  Then, with three tyres bought, you could have four "new" tyres on your van.

Then, in a couple of years or so, when wear/age dictate, put new tyres on the current and the original spares, and consign the worst worn of the remaining service tyres to the spare rack.  To some extent, though, this does presume you go for the Michelins, since, although legal - provided the constructions of the tyres is the same - as Derek says, mixing treads/mixes across axles is not really a good idea.

Last point on mixing tyres across an axle, what I think you definitely shouldn't consider doing (at least not without sound technical advice) is mixing the Vanco-8 with the Michelin XC (or Vanco Camper).  Although this may be legal as they are generically similar, I believe the carcass construction (No and/or composition of plies) differs.  That might give rise to very unpredictable handling under emergency conditions.

Regards