difference between camping tyres and commercial tyres (1 Viewer)

Welsh girl

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As the title States.
What are the differences?
We have commercial tyres on our MH.
They are the same age as the van so must have come with it as a new Van.
 

BreweryDave

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I believe it's something to do with the tread pattern which manufacturers will have you believe gives more traction on grass. Personally I reckon it's BS and just an excuse to rip you off for a few extra quid:Angry:
 

Techno

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Camping tyres have reinforced side walls that is all.
White van man drives around rarely fully laden whilst motorhomes are mostly fully or over loaded. A search will bring up many discussions and arguments :ROFLMAO:

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funflair

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I believe it's something to do with the tread pattern which manufacturers will have you believe gives more traction on grass. Personally I reckon it's BS and just an excuse to rip you off for a few extra quid:Angry:

The side walls are supposed to be stiffer on the camping version more resistant to overloading and standing around for long periods.

Lots of varied opinion on here, personally I have just changed tyres and went for the best ones to suit our needs (continental four seasons) and was not too paranoid about camping types as our van came on commercial tyres as standard so no insurance issues if they have an opinion and I am not saying they do.

Martin
 

grantandjan

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As well as tread pattern they also tell us that side wall construction is reinforced, makes sense I suppose....if you think about it most delivery vans on the same size commercial tyres are running around half empty at best, our motorhome is over 4 tonnes normally and 5 tonnes when loaded up and it spends most of its time stationary....a lot of force on the tyre walls. This is another example of why motorhome tyre pressures are so important.
 

DP+JAY

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Camping tyres have reinforced side walls that is all.
White van man drives around rarely fully laden whilst motorhomes are mostly fully or over loaded. A search will bring up many discussions and arguments :ROFLMAO:

I agree MOST white vans may be part loaded for much of their time but what about things like mobile shops, builders vans, mobile workshops etc. etc. Which are fully if not over loaded all the time?
Personaly I think the stiffer sidewalls are a disadvantage on grass etc. And are only any help if your van is parked up for months on end.
I prefor to use standard commercial tyres but upgrade to the next load index or even 2 higher and they will still be cheaper and grip better.
 

Techno

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They are used on a daily basis so do not suffer from being parked for prolonged periods (weeks/months) where the sidewalls are more stressed.
 
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DP+JAY

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They are used on a daily basis so do not suffer from being parked for prolonged periods (weeks/months) where the sidewalls are more stressed.

As I said previously but then nor is mine.::bigsmile:

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magicsurfbus

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I noticed one or two performance improvements when we replaced the factory fit tyres with Camping tyres, but that might have been down to the factory fit tyres being 7 years old when we swapped them.

On the subject of tyre pressures - it was a bit of a pain to discover that some supermarket free air pumps don't go up to 5.5 bar.
 

Steve

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When I had the gvm increased from 3500 to 4000 one of the requirements was to have tyres with a load rating of at least 113. Mind are 113 on front and 116 on rear.
Steve
 

jonandshell

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My work van, a Nissan Primastar is constantly loaded within 100kg of its 3030kg gross weight.
The 'commercial' tyres so far have lasted 46000 miles with some life left in them.

Our MH had new tyres At 14000 miles before they were 5 years old due to sidewall cracks. The old tyres were Pirelli Citynet.
The MH now has Yokohama all season commercial tyres. Softer compound but same load index.
What do we decipher from this? Nothing!!!!!!

Change 'em when they are knackered and put on what suits your needs! In our case, most of our mileage is in winter. The chains were never needed skiing this year, traction was phenomenal on snow and ice!
Winter camping car tyres do not exist for our Transit.

Just buy what you need for your use!::bigsmile:

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fatbuddha

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as said, there's not a great deal between Camper tyres and van tyres BUT do check your insurance policy as I have heard that some m/h policies have a clause that says you have to use specific motorhome tyres

personally speaking for the sake of a few extra £ it's probably better to fit Camper tyres - just in case!
 

jonandshell

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as said, there's not a great deal between Camper tyres and van tyres BUT do check your insurance policy as I have heard that some m/h policies have a clause that says you have to use specific motorhome tyres

personally speaking for the sake of a few extra £ it's probably better to fit Camper tyres - just in case!

If they were fitted in the first place of course!
Some manufacturers don't fit them!
 

fatbuddha

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If they were fitted in the first place of course!
Some manufacturers don't fit them!

My last m/h (Hymer) had ordinary an tyres fitted - I replaced them with Camper tyres when they need to be replaced.

my current m/h (Rollerteam) has Camper tyres from new (late 2012)

it would be interesting to know if buyers of new m/h's in the last couple of years have them fiitted as standard - maybe food for another thread!

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jonandshell

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My last m/h (Hymer) had ordinary an tyres fitted - I replaced them with Camper tyres when they need to be replaced.

my current m/h (Rollerteam) has Camper tyres from new (late 2012)

it would be interesting to know if buyers of new m/h's in the last couple of years have them fiitted as standard - maybe food for another thread!

It would be something to look out for at the Newark show.
My hunch is camper tyres are only fitted to Sevel built base vehicles. They certainly don't exist for our Transit.
Plus don't ignore the fact that Switzerland, Austria and Germany insist on winter tyres being used in winter months. Tread and compound, plus a snowflake takes precedence here, not whether its got 'camping car' on the sidewall. Not all m+s tyres carry the correct winter tyre markings to keep the foreign authorities happy.
Also, depending on axle loading, camping car tyres are just not needed. Fair enough, if you have a fiat maxi chassis with single rear wheels, the loading requires them.
We are on duals at the back at 3850kg. Inflation pressure is only 48psi at the back. A Max of 2400kg over 4 wheels doesn't require extra reinforced sidewalls.
 
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Jan 19, 2012
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I fitted Michelin Agilis campers to mine at a cost of around £125 a corner. I looked at them very carefully when they were being fitted and deduced that they were clearly better than commercial tyres...:RollEyes:

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billy

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I fitted Michelin Agilis campers to mine at a cost of around £125 a corner. I looked at them very carefully when they were being fitted and deduced that they were clearly better than commercial tyres...:RollEyes:

I had the same fitted to mine:thumb:
 

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