lazarus Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 hi i am new to this site not sure if this is the right place to ask,anyway i am taking my van for its mot and the tyres need replacing they have only done 26000 miles there's plenty of tread on them but the side walls are perishing the van is a swift kontiki 2004 i have looked at pricing and they are expensive,my questions are should i change all 4 tyres or just the ones that need changing and why are camping tyres more expensive having read what some people say on here, im beginning to believe that it is a con the tyres on at the moment are michelin 215 75 16 what alternatives are there or should i stick with the same. cheers laz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 If all the tyres are the same age, I would think they all new changing, as the walls will deteriorate, especialy if it has spent a lot of time in the Sun or standing Surely saftey is more important than skimping on cost ? 26, 000 miles may not seem a lot on a car, but a Motor Home sits around a lot, and the walls or more likely to fail before the tread, shows sign of wear. Has the MOT not highlighted the tyres? PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 The tyres will have a date of manufacture stamped on the side walls but even if that does not show them to be old I certainly would not risk my neck on perished tyres. The date format is week no and year in the manner that the first week of this year would read 0113 - what do yours read as? On heavy duty tyres minor perishing or cracking that does not go through to the cords may be acceptable - best ask the MOT tester or a reliable tyre company not out to sell you new tyres. Along with batteries tyres must be the most discussed topic on here so by doing a search under 'tyres' in motorhome matters over the last 12 months should produce plenty of bedtime reading for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 There is much debate over the merits of Camping tyres (designated CP). The claims for are that they have tread compounds better suited to standing for lengthy periods while relatively heavily loaded (bearing in mind that most motorhomes weigh around 3.0T, or more, unladen), that they have slightly more "aggressive" tread patterns to cope better with grass and softer ground, that their sidewall compound has greater resistance to u/v degradation, that their sidewalls have greater stiffness to counter the "sway" of a fully laden vehicle, that at least the Michelin Agilis Camping tyre is M+S rated - so is "street legal" in Germany during winter, and that they are additionally reinforced to cope better with being run overloaded. The main claim against is that all of the above is marketing phooey, and that they are just a wheeze to extract more money from buyers. Yer pays yer money................There are in any case only three brands, the abovementioned Michelins, the Continental Vanco Camping, and the Pirelli Chrono Camper. Availability on all is intermittent, with the Pirellis seemingly a rare as hens' teeth. So, if your van is never overloaded, and the other claimed attributes of camping tyres and not of major appeal, there is no reason to automatically select CP rated tyres. I believe a combination of CP and non-CP rated tyres on the same vehicle is legal under UK's interpretation of the legislation, even I believe mixed on the same axle (though it would not be in France, for example), though I doubt the wisdom of so doing. So, IMO, if changing from CP tyres I think it would be best to change all tyres at the same time including the spare, if any. My main caveat would be to take your fully laden (meaning absolutely worst case fully laden! :-)) van to a weighbridge and get it weighed including the individual axle weights. You will then know if it is overloaded overall or on either axle, but also if it is running close to overload. If flirting with overload, that extra claimed strength of the CP tyres may have a bit more appeal than before. If well within the plated limits, and especially if you don't leave it immobile for weeks at a time, then pretty much any reputable tyre could be fitted. However, do be very careful to match not just the rim size, aspect ratio, and tread with (that 215 70 16 you quoted), but also the load and speed ratings. I think the full designation should probably be something more like 217/70 R 16 C 108 S (but are you sure about the 16: sure it's not 15?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolly1965 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I have noticed a distortion on one of the sidewalls of my motorhome tyres and perishing on the other two. I replaced all 4 straight away - £600 is not a lot when it comes to peace of mind. Much better than risking a blow out in a motorhome - the results don't bear thinking about. I asked our 'pet' tyre shop what was so important about Camping Tyres and they stated that they had stronger side walls and better suited to being stood for long periods of time. I was surprised that on our van the pressures were stated at 79.5psi - which seems very high to me but what do i know - i'm sure commercial vans are much lower (about 65psi) Also, it was commented on that some insurace companies will invalidate your policy if you do not have camping tyres fitted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Many thanks to all the replies i never overload and never go above 60 and i will be using the van more or less fulltime even in the winter having said that will bite the bullet get cp tyres thanks lazarus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Picture of tyres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Ok no pic thought it was to eady ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Bolly1965 - 2013-07-23 7:37 PM I asked our 'pet' tyre shop what was so important about Camping Tyres and they stated that they had stronger side walls and better suited to being stood for long periods of time. I was surprised that on our van the pressures were stated at 79.5psi - which seems very high to me but what do i know - i'm sure commercial vans are much lower (about 65psi) Also, it was commented on that some insurace companies will invalidate your policy if you do not have camping tyres fitted Our present and previous motorhomes both have had specified high pressures, the current one suggesting 80psi..We found from experience and trial and error, as well as speaking to others about this, that about 74psi is better, and gives a slightly better ride, I wouldn't' want to go too much lower than that I think. With regard to the comment about what insurers specify, I cannot see that they would state anything so specific, but they do usually ask if you have changed anything from 'original' and my guess is that if the vehicle was initially fitted with Camping spec tyres, and these were replaced with non camping variety, then they may claim this is a change, and might try to avoid paying any claims because of this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Brian Kirby - 2013-07-23 7:18 PM ...However, do be very careful to match not just the rim size, aspect ratio, and tread with (that 215 70 16 you quoted), but also the load and speed ratings. I think the full designation should probably be something more like 217/70 R 16 C 108 S (but are you sure about the 16: sure it's not 15?). The tyre information given was "michelin 215 75 16". If (as seems probable) they are originals, they are likely to be (now obsolete) Michelin "XC Camping" 215/75 R16C 113Q as shown here http://www.ityre.com/en/tyres/catalog/michelin/size/61964/ Of the Continental, Michelin and Pirelli 'camping-car' tyres, Continental's "VancoCamper" in that size has the highest load-carrying design capability with a load-index of 116. There is, nowadays, a specific ETRTO standard for 'camping-car' ("CP"-marked) tyres. So, while it might be argued that it might not be financially worthwhile fitting them to many motorhomes, it would be much more difficult to argue that they are the same as ordinary 'white van' tyres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Bolly1965 - 2013-07-23 7:37 PM ...Also, it was commented on that some insurace companies will invalidate your policy if you do not have camping tyres fitted I vaguely recall this being suggested (I think by a Michelin rep) in a motorhome magazine article. I'm very dubious it's true and, if there is any evidence to support this suggestion, I like to see it. Looking through the other end of the telescope, lots of motorhomes don't have 'camping-car' tyres as original equipment (and have no need of them). Would insurance companies quibble if the owners of those vehicles fitted 'camping-car' tyres as replacements? I can't see why. Plainly, if an owner fitted unsuitable tyres to his/her motorhome (eg. tyres with a lower load-carrying capacity than the vehicle needed) an insurance company might have grounds to reject an accident-related claim. But that's another matter altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazarus Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 UPDATE took my van for mot failed on the handbrake only,no mention of tyres,but am still going to replace them as they are about ten years old ,as usual the van failed on the handbrake the garage will service them and it will pass the mot same as the first time i took it for test and every year since and getting fed up with the mot costing me 200 quid every year so i am thinking of getting something else or if anyone can tell me how to improve the handbrake i would be most grateful utrinque paratus lazarus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 That's odd? I've had motorhomes for more years than I can recall starting in the early 70's and I've never had one fail on the handbrake, let alone the same van more than once? Perhaps cleaning etc to get it to scrape through the test might work each time, but maybe you now need to consider new brake shoes and possibly some handbrake linkage parts or cable as wear in any pivot point tends to reduce efficiency of what is already not a particularly efficient parking brake? In any case it would bother me if it were mine and I would want someone competent to inspect and report (usually me!) on what's going on behind the brake drums - maybe even badly worn brake drums - but you will need to look inside and discuss with the 'expert' to find out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolly1965 Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 mine failed on handbrake - Alko brake cables stretch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Bolly1965 - 2013-07-26 11:05 PM mine failed on handbrake - Alko brake cables stretch We had an '06 Autocruise Starlet on the Alko chassis for 4 years and 3 MOTs and it never failed on anything - not even the exceptionally pathetic handbrake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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