Tyre replacement advice

[william1]

It's that time in our MH's life - two new tyres are required - looking at prices there is a big difference between Michellin Camper tyres and 'normal van' tyres also there are some cheaper makes on the market such as Federal. Any advice/experience would be most welcome.

[Brambles]

If you have been happy with the tyres you have then fit the same and they need to go on the rear. For maximum safety you are always best to run the same spec tyres on all 4 wheels, so if you have standard van tyres just now you cannot/should not fit camper tyres on just two wheels and vica versa.

Consider replacing all four if the remaining two are well worn.

More information on your Van details and how you use would help people answer with appopriate advice or responses.

[trooper]

IF you have a rear wheel drive M/H, yes fit on rear, if it is front wheel drive then fit on the front, unless you drive at the limit with a risk of the rear sliding out, which i doubt it, all tests have been carried out on wet roads at the limit of adhesion, with a M/H grip, either on or of road is most important, just a point many cars and vehicles have different size tyres,

front and rear where this cannot be done.

Use only tyres from leading manufactures as these have been proven by independent people to be best.

all the best

[Guest pelmetman]

Just replaced all 4, well they were over 10 years old put one to spare as that was 20 years old, had a bit of a shock when I read in MMM later that day some Hankooks had recalled :- (fortunatly not mine and on reflection it shows they do carry out quality tests).

 

But in theory if your tyres are over 5 years old then they should all be changed.

 

To be frank mine looked fine as the van has always been garaged and I changed just to be safe as I guessed I was living on borrowed time :D

 

I am not convinced about these so called camper tyres, to my mind another label to wring a few more quid out of us >:-(

[Keithl]

trooper - 2010-09-20 7:23 PM

 

...if it is front wheel drive then fit on the front..

 

No, No, No!

 

You should always fit the best tyres on the rear, irrespective of front or rear wheel drive and driving style.

 

If you had to make a sudden manoeuvre or encountered a patch of greasy road then you run a real risk of travelling backwards even when you are not 'driving at the limit'.

With the good tyres on the rear then the rear wheels will always follow the front and you will still be in control.

I always used to think you should have the best tyres on the driving wheels until I was taught otherwise and now fully appreciate why.

 

Keith.

[Brambles]

Keith is indeed correct. Good on rear.

 

edit, corrected name spelling.

[Techno100]

Yes new on the rear. All Costco tyre centres will do this and give you no say in the matter or go somewhere else!

[Camperdude]

Keithl - 2010-09-20 7:43 PM

 

trooper - 2010-09-20 7:23 PM

 

...if it is front wheel drive then fit on the front..

 

No, No, No!

 

You should always fit the best tyres on the rear, irrespective of front or rear wheel drive and driving style.

 

If you had to make a sudden manoeuvre or encountered a patch of greasy road then you run a real risk of travelling backwards even when you are not 'driving at the limit'.

With the good tyres on the rear then the rear wheels will always follow the front and you will still be in control.

I always used to think you should have the best tyres on the driving wheels until I was taught otherwise and now fully appreciate why.

 

Keith.

 

My 2007 front wheel drive Citroen Relay is obviously showing more wear to the front tyres - after 22,000 miles they're about half worn whereas the rears are are hardly worn.

 

I was thinking of swapping the rears to the front to even out the wear but I guess from the above advice this is the wrong thing to do?

 

John

[Keithl]

Hi John,

 

Yes you are absolutely right not to swap fronts and rears in this case.

Leave them alone until the fronts are ready for changing then get the new pair put on the rear and the part worns off the rear put onto the front.

This way you will always have the best tyres on the rear and should stay in control.

 

Here is the famous VBH Video of why new tyres should go on the rear just in case you haven't seen it before.

 

Keith.

[duffers]

what very few posters ever point out on this issue s the reason why the tyres with greater grip should be on the rear

why don't they ??? is it just that they've learned some mantra and repeat it parrot fashion ????

 

so, why should you put tyres with the better grip on the rear wheels

simples - as they say -

 

if the road is very wet and you're at risk of losing grip at the front - you [should?] can feel this through the steering wheel and ease off the accelerator,

if the back wheels are at risk of losing their grip your only feedback is when the fishtail starts - fun on the skid pan but nowhere else

 

sorry if you already know this - but I find I remember things better if someone gives me a reason

 

:D

[duffers]

as a PS

 

several posters have commented that using mud / snow tyres on the drive wheels improves traction on wet grass - in this and other forums,

 

a common problem for many motorhomes particularly those with most of the weight on the rear wheels - incidentally it is the weight distribution that encourages the lack of traction - rear wheel drive is not necessarily intrinsically superior to front wheel drive - despite what many people say

[Camperdude]

duffers - 2010-09-21 9:32 AM

 

what very few posters ever point out on this issue s the reason why the tyres with greater grip should be on the rear

why don't they ??? is it just that they've learned some mantra and repeat it parrot fashion ????

 

so, why should you put tyres with the better grip on the rear wheels

simples - as they say -

 

if the road is very wet and you're at risk of losing grip at the front - you [should?] can feel this through the steering wheel and ease off the accelerator,

if the back wheels are at risk of losing their grip your only feedback is when the fishtail starts - fun on the skid pan but nowhere else

 

sorry if you already know this - but I find I remember things better if someone gives me a reason

 

:D

 

Thanks both for clarifying that. Seeing the video and reading your explanations, it does make sense.

 

I've never been given this advice when having two front tyres renewed, and wonder how obliging they'll be when asked to swap the rear wheels to the front before putting the new the tyres on the rear?

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread but to get back to the original point - I personally wouldn't spend more on Camping Tyres. Every other van on the road manages perfectly well with regular van tyres.

 

John

[Derek Uzzell]

Michelin's Technical Data handbook has a long section on the "Positioning" on a vehicle of new or least worn tyres. This repeats the advice given earlier in this thread, but adds that the condition of the rear tyres should be taken into account, as should vehicle usage (eg. if you are fitting a pair of new snow tyres on a FWD vehicle, they will need to go on the front wheels).

 

I'm in a similar position to Camperdude, where my Hobby's rear tyres have most of their original tread-depth left but the front tyres will need replacing in the not too distant future. I plan to put the new tyres on the front wheels, as that's where I want maximum grip most of the time and, if I have to make a violent evasive manoeuvre and the back tyres lose adhesion, then so be it. I'm well aware this conflicts with tyre-industry best-practice advice, but I don't care. I know all about FWD under-steer and RWD over-steer from my fast-driving youth and I don't intend to experience either in a 3-tonne motorhome. I just want the thing to have the potential to stop in a straight line as quickly as possible, which means having the best tyres on the front.

[Guest Tracker]

And I too follow that view Derek - which is why I took the half worn tyres off the front last year and switched them with the only slightly worn rears.

 

That way all four should wear out as their shelf life expires next year - and as a bonus it improved the steering feel too!

[duffers]

It's just nice to know the reasons behind these statements

then you take an informed decision

 

innit :-D

[euroserv]

I am absolutely behind Tracker. If you are to believe this nonsense about tyres being too old, it is hardly surprising that the tyre manufacturers would want you to throw away 'old' tyres that have still much of their useful life remaining; is it?

 

Campers are not racing cars and if driven carefully there should be no problem with swapping good tyres to the front and wearing out a whole set together. Obviously if the front tyres have worn edges from poor tracking or kerb damage, or more than 50% worn they are not fit to put on the rear.

 

The other nonsense about 'camper specific' tyres is even more laughable. What use are anti-aging compounds and other snake oils when the same manufacturer claims that they only have a service life of 6 years?

 

Buy a decent quality Van tyre, go up a load rating, save yourself a lot of money and change them more often (if that is what floats your boat) but do not believe all you read. If tyres were dangerous after 6 years or the load rating of van tyres was not sufficient for campers VOSA would have included checks in the MOT test. They have not.

 

Nick

[Brambles]

"...when the same manufacturer claims that they only have a service life of 6 years? "

 

 

They do not claim they only have a life of 6 years. They say you should have them checked after six years and every year after, and after 10 years recommend a tyre should be replaced.

 

It is posters on the Forums who say they should be replaced after 6 years and now I see in one post above it is 5 years. (Thats cambelts they are thinking of)

 

 

[Guest pelmetman]

Brambles - 2010-09-21 5:35 PM

 

 

It is posters on the Forums who say they should be replaced after 6 years and now I see in one post above it is 5 years. (Thats cambelts they are thinking of)

 

 

I was only repeating what the bloke in the tyre place said :D Which i suppose is understandable from there point view as they want to flog more tyres *-)

 

Mine were over 10 years old when I changed them last week :$ but I think 10 years is ok if you keep an eye on them, and you turn the wheels on a regular basis B-)

[trooper]

AS I said, many cars and comercial vehicles have differant sizes front and rear, including smarts, What do they do?.

No the advice given is for your average car which may or may not be driven at its limit, in other words, to protect the idiots.

A motor home is a comercial vehicle and should be treated as one.

After driving all types of vehicles over50 years, on and off road, including motorcycles,

with no own fault accidents I have a little knowledge of road safety and especialy grip.

cheers

[colin]

I wasn't going to post on this thread as most of you have heard it before, but a couple of the later posts have changed my mind.

First my experiance re tail happy cars, I have a car which is 700kg with me and 1/2 tank of fuel in it, it is rear wheel drive and in latest guise is 200bhp, so I'm well used to catching a tail slide, in fact in the wet it's almost an art not to get tail slide.

Some years back I was driving a pre ABS rented Tranny, I was on a road with a very slight bend, you would hardly even call it a bend, it was wet, a car started to pull out in front of me, I hit the brakes and the van instantly swopped ends and I was traveling backwards, narrowly missing a truck, subsequent inspection of the tyres showed the rears to be bearly legal but the fronts to have plenty of tread. Nuf said?

[duffers]

the fact it was a rented Tranny doesn't excuse you're accepting it with barely legal rear tyres, as driver you are deemed to be responsible for the roadworthiness - or otherwise - of the vehicle under your control

a point to bear in mind when you rent vehicles

[Brian Kirby]

Just bear in mind the spare, if fitted.  They also age even if not used.  Also bear in mind, if fitting different front/rear combinations, that the spare will match one, or other, but not both!

[trooper]

Come on Colin, A tranny ,or any light van lightly loaded will do exactly as you say, even with good tyres, they are only good on level dry ground.

Plus were we talking about barely legal tyres?, anyone using them needs serious talking to.

Re original post, tyres for all different vehicles are made different to do a specific job, therefore if camping tyres are fitted as original they should be replace with same.

I think tyre companies only spend vast amounts of money to increase the performance of their tyres, to our advantage as much as theirs.

[Colin Leake]

We had some of the new Micheline Camper tyres fitted and I must say we have noticed the difference. I had to smile when they were fitted as the local tyre company that carried out the work mainly fit specialist tyres for high performance and racing cars. As a result they fill all the tyres they fit as standard with nitrogen. When I asked what he advantages were I was told by the owner straight faced but with a twinkle in his eye that I we raced the vehicle it would help to keep a stable pressure as the tyres warmed up!

[Guest Tracker]

You should have told JC (aka Jeremy Clarkson) that Colin!