Tyre pressures and ratings
So, I saw the item in the latest club magazine in the News:Headlines section regarding the tyresafe.org website and decided to check for my own van.
I have an Abbey Aventura 315, which had a MTPLM of 1224kg on 195/70-R14 91 tyres that have a recommended pressure of 36 psi according to the manual.
On checking the website for this combination I got the following;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Caravan MTPLM*: 1224kg
Number of road wheels: 2 Wheels / 1 Axle
Tyre size - load index: 195/70-R14 91
Suggested cold tyre inflation pressure: 41 psi / 2.83 bar
Do not exceed the maximum cold inflation pressure marked on the tyre sidewall.
CAUTION: Tyre loads exceed the maximum recommended load*, but are still within the maximum permissible load.* Due to the extraordinary demands placed on tyres in caravan use, the tyre industry recommends that the caravan load should not exceed 90% of the
combined tyre load capacity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This This is worrying. Are Abbey (Swift now) sailing too close to the wind?
I checked uprating the Tyre loading and got this; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Caravan MTPLM*: 1224kg
Number of road wheels: 2 Wheels / 1 Axle
Tyre size - load index: 195/70-R14 101/99
Suggested cold tyre inflation pressure: 54 psi / 3.73 bar
Do not exceed the maximum cold inflation pressure marked on the tyre sidewall.
Tyre loads are within recommendations
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------So, I now have a dilemma.
Do I stick with manufacturers ratings?
Do I stick with same tyres but increase pressures to tyresafe.org recommendations for this rating?
Do I update tyres to second tyresafe.org recommendations on load rating and pressure?
Any advice/thoughts?
Comments
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Hi Andy,
The tyres load rated 91 have a max recommended load of 615kg each so 2 x 615 = 1230kg, and as you say, very close to the limit for your MTPLM. If keeping them you would need to run at close to the max recommended pressure marked on the sidewall (41psi?).
And keep well within your max MTPLM.Question - how old are these tyres? hopefully they are not the originals, as absolute max age for caravan tyres IMHO is 6 years, maybe less depending on condition.
If in any doubt about age ( you can pick this up from a coding on most tyres), for peace of mind it is a good idea to change them to some with a 99+ rating (99 = 775kg per tyre). Hope this helps.
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Just checked tyre pressures for my 'van,3 bar clearly shown as reccomended pressure on wheelarch but this website reccomends 3.86 bar,I'm sticking with manufacturers figure
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I would agree with DevonDan there and say you need to upgrade your tyres to a higher load rating. You are so close to the limit of the tyres that any unintentional overloading of the caravan would put your tyres over limit. Not only that but when you consider
the weight transfer on a caravan tyre when cornering i would not want to be running that close to the limit. if you are looking for somewhere for reasonably priced caravan tyres try here( although you will still have to get them fitted.)
http://www.tirendo.co.uk/maxxis-cr-966-195-70-r14-96n-165813.html0 -
My Bailey was fitted with 96 load rated tyres and I always thought they were too close to their limit at MTPLM (which, let's face it, is how most vans are loaded close to all the time). They always 'looked overloaded' to me at Bailey's recommended tyre pressure and I changed them for this season to 'Hankook vantra LT', 102 load rated tyres, which are comfortably within their weight limit, 'look' much better and I think have improved the way the van tows. It seems to have reduced the rolling resistance and the van seems 'firmer' round bends and when passing lorries etc, no doubt due to less flexing of the tyre sidewalls. I'm certainly glad I changed mine and wouldn't go back to the lower load rating.
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I think what has already been siad has possibly given you enough information to make your mind up but I would just add that if it was my situation I would not hesitate and change the tyres. I appreciate the cost involved but tyres are just so important and
often do not get the attention they deserve.0 -
I have just had my van serviced by an Approved Mobile Service Engineer and he checked the pressure and according to his chart my tyres should be 36 psi, but according to the tyresafe.org website they should be 48-54 psi. So, which do I adhere to?
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Have a look at the wording stamped on the side of your tyres. Quite small and usually near the rim it will say something like ' maximum loading xxkg at maximum pressure xx psi' . As long as your MTPLM is reasonably lower than the weight limit for 2 tyres, running just a little (say 5 psi) below this pressure is normally about right.
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Have a look at the wording stamped on the side of your tyres. Quite small and usually near the rim it will say something like ' maximum loading xxkg at maximum pressure xx psi' . As long as your MTPLM is reasonably lower than the weight limit for 2 tyres,
running just a little (say 5 psi) below this pressure is normally about right.Although it is assumed that a maximum Pressure will be on the sidewall, there is no requirement for this to be present, so imported tyres may not state this.
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