Tyre replacement advice

[duffers]

Derek Uzzell - 2010-09-26 5:36 PM

 

Peter James - 2010-09-26 2:14 PM

 

duffers - 2010-09-26 1:25 PM

 

sorry if I'm being thick [again]

but does is actually say 'camping car' on the tyre or are you supposed to go away and look up the codes??

 

You do right to ask as I am sure you are not the only one who doesn't know. (I only found out recently)

I think it usually only says the codes on the tyre (at the end);

 

C = Commercial

CP = Camping

 

My understanding is that the "C" was originally derived from "Camionette" (French for a 'light van'), and there's no doubt that the "CP" derives from "Camping Pneu".

 

Not all 'camping-car' tyres will necessarily have the "CP" marking. Continental's website advises that ETRTO's 'camping-car tyre' standard only applies to 8PR tyres, hence one of the Continental VancoCamper range (because it's 10PR) just carries a "C" marking. And, obviously, older 'camping-car' tyres (like Michelin's "XC Camping") produced before the "CP" standard was introduced, will be marked "C", rather than "CP".

 

To the best of my knowledge, Continental, Michelin or Pirelli are the only three tyre-manufacturing companies ever to have marketed tyre ranges specifically aimed at European motorcaravans and all of those ranges carry (or have carried) the word "Camping" or "Camper" as part of the range-name. So it's probably easier to ignore the "C" and "CP" variation and just check if the tyre has a range-name with one of those words in it (eg. Continental "VancoCamper", Michelin "Agilis Camping", Pirelli "Chrono Camper") Basically, if the tyre has "Camper" or "Camping" moulded on its sidewall, it's a 'camping-car' tyre.

 

 

 

thanks for that gentlemen

[Guest Peter James]

Brock - 2010-09-27 7:15 PM

Once I bought cheap tyres for my car having been assured they were great value. I went around a corner in the wet and lost the back end as the grip disappeared.

 

Don't think that can't happen with expensive tyres.

 

I once picked up a brand new trailer complete with 8 brand new michelin tyres. 5 of them burst within the first 1,000 miles - all in the same place on the sidewall, because they were part of a bad batch.

[Derek Uzzell]

Peter James - 2010-09-27 9:38 PM

 

Brock - 2010-09-27 7:15 PM

Once I bought cheap tyres for my car having been assured they were great value. I went around a corner in the wet and lost the back end as the grip disappeared.

 

Don't think that can't happen with expensive tyres.

 

I once picked up a brand new trailer complete with 8 brand new michelin tyres. 5 of them burst within the first 1,000 miles - all in the same place on the sidewall, because they were part of a bad batch.

 

And don't overlook the tyre valve.

 

Both valve's on my Hobby's rear wheels failed almost simultaneously (struck by the dreaded Transit Mk 6 valve-failure disease that Ford is loth to acknowledge). Not a fun experience and potentially life-threatening.

 

If you need to have a tyre replaced and the valve is of the snap-in high-pressure type, there is a strong chance that (at least in the UK) the tyre-fitter will replace that HP valve with a common-or-garden snap-in version designed for a lower maximum inflation pressure, either deliberately, through ignorance or because he happens to have no HP valves in stock. In fact, Ford specifically warns against this practice. That's one good reason why it's preferable for motorhomes to have clamp-in 'metal' valves from Square One, as these are not normally replaced (just have new cores fitted) when a tyre is changed.