Exclusive Q&A: Everything you need to know about campervan tyres

We catch up with Steve Howat, Continental’s ‘born and bred’ technical specialist for a campervan and motorhome tyre 101.

Join us for an exclusive chat with Continental’s tyre guru Steve Howat to get answers around campervan tyres, their benefits, how to look after them, and how they’re shaping up for the future. Strap in...

Q: So Steve, what do you do, and how did you get into the world of tyres?

Q: Where do you draw the line between a campervan and a motorhome? 

A: "For us a campervan is anything that’s been converted on a conventional van chassis: so that could be a Fiat Ducato, Ford Transit, Mercedes Sprinter... 

They’re more compact, and they’re becoming more luxurious, including things like toilets — a lot of them didn't have those back in the old days. But the reality is they’re still more compact, so, when you go to sleep at night, you usually have to rearrange things in your van to get into bed.  

Whereas motorhomes are usually built from the ground up, with their own chassis design, body, and everything else. They're usually a lot larger as well. And — I’ll be careful what I say — but they are usually even more luxurious. 

But, between these two differentiations, while there may be 30 different models, they're all coming from a relatively small number of base chassis. And because of that, there’s relatively few campervan and motorhome tyre sizes.”

Q: What makes a van tyre different from a standard car tyre? 

A: “The requirements are significantly different. Car tyres only go to a certain limit in terms of the load, and as such there is only a certain requirement as far as the pressure is concerned. But get into the van tyre world, and there is a significant increase in load. 

Looking at this, people usually go: what the heck do 6PR, 8PR and 10PR mean? It's like the last bastion of the old way to classifying load: ply rating. In vans, ply rating is still frequently used to define how much a tyre can carry. It's a bit old fashioned, but it’s 6 ply, 8 ply, and 10 ply, each with increasing capacity, reflecting the days when either have 6, 8, or 10 layers of material were used to increase tyre strength.  

And why is this increase needed? With higher loads, there is a lot, lot more potential for stress on a van tyre — especially in the lower areas and the tyre shoulder, where we now tend to put some ‘belt edge wraps’ or ‘double wraps’ to support and avoid distortion. Now, in modern day, when it comes to car tyres, you’ll tend to find just one ply, while van tyres can be two. Within van tyre ply there will also be a different type of twist in the construction elements, and we may also use a different material altogether for durability.

Q: Is there a further difference for campervan/motorhome tyres? 

A: “About 20 years ago, Continental recognised that in addition to van tyres, we needed a campervan specific tyre: the ‘CP’ version, with the letters marked on the tyre sidewall to indicate this specialisation. Fun fact: CP stands for ‘Camping Pneus’, the French word for tyre. 

These campervan versions enable a higher pressure to be applied, adding an additional safety margin into the tyre. It's the invisible components that really make the difference here, whether it's reinforced belts, carcass construction, sidewall design, special compounds… All these things are super important on a campervan tyre, but unless you look for that magic CP marking on the sidewalk, you wouldn't know the difference visually.” 

Q: Is there a perfect tyre pressure for campervan/motorhome tyres? 

A: “This is one of the most common questions that comes into our office: ‘I'm just about to go on holiday. What do you recommend for my tyre pressure?’ 

And we're so grateful that people take the time to do that from a safety perspective. First of all, we’ll always ask: ‘have you been to a weighbridge to determine exactly how your vehicle is loaded?’ 

Hopefully the answer will be yes. Then based on the little printout they get at public weighbridges, they'll say: ‘yeah, it’s X load on the back and Y load on the front.’, and we can give very accurate pressure recommendations accordingly. 

Generally though, it’s very important that as we go up in load capability, we must adjust tyre pressure accordingly. But this can get a little bit ‘techy’ as campervan will often be loaded with whatever campers need to go on holiday — whether that's the bicycles hanging off the back, food, whatever it might be — which brings potential for a higher payload.

You tend to find this extra weight towards the rear of vehicle, so you may see a higher load requirement on that rear axle. But it’s not limited from front to rear: it can also be imbalanced side to side, and we have to accommodate that with the tyres — which makes it even more important to check.

In terms of re-inflating, we'll keep reinforcing this message of how important pressure for campervan tyres, but you also don't want to be re-inflating them every other day. We tend to say checking pressure every two weeks is a good rule of thumb, and you shouldn’t need to re-inflate for something like six to eight weeks.”

Q: How can you extend a campervans tyre’s lifespan? 

A: “This is one of the reasons we’re so fixated about tyre pressure. It's not just about safety, it effects durability, mileage, and fuel consumption. If you start to deviate away from what we’d recommended as the best pressure, you’ll start reducing the tyre life quite dramatically — there’s a very real correlation between the two.

There are other factors too, like how a camper tyre is used and stored. With many vans only used seasonally — often standing for significant lengths of time — which has an impact on tyre life. 

We put a lot of technology — things like anti-ozonic chemicals — into the sidewall of tyres to slow down the ageing process and stop the rubber compounds from becoming brittle and cracking. But the thing is, to get those chemicals to do what they're supposed to do and slow down the ageing process, the sidewall needs to flex to push them to the surface — and if a van is sat for three or four months that isn’t happening. So if you don’t go on a long journey or holiday in the winter months, even if you can run your campervan for a few miles, that will help extend lifespan tremendously.  

And then there’s tyre covers to limit exposure to ozone. We’d definitely encourage the practice of covering them in the winter months. 

And with all this, we’d say tyres should be reviewed for replacement from anywhere between 5 to 10 years — with 10 years the absolute max. But the usual signs are still important – tyres with worn tread, cracks or bulges should be checked and replaced as needed.”

Q: What factors do you consider between all-season and summer tyres?

So I'm a great fan of all season tyres — they really work well for most people using them when they're going on holiday."

Q: What does the future of campervan tyres look like? 

A: “As an industry, it’s so important that we continue to consider sustainability and the environmental impact of tyres. 

Industry regulations are expanding beyond just tailpipe emissions, to all emissions from vehicles — including thinks like brake dust and particles from the tyres. And that counts for campervan tyres as well, so we’ll be looking even more into tyre wear characteristics going forward. 

And of course, while we’re working on these tyre compound technologies, we won’t compromise the tyres’ performance in terms of safety and grip. So that’s our challenge for the future: to use our skills to adapt from a design and constructional point of view.” 

Q: What is your dream campervan or motorhome and where would you take it? 

A: “I'm quite a fan of big. Big is best. So, to me a Winnebago would be great, I’d make myself a nuisance on the motorway or little country lanes but I don't want to be messing around moving cushions in the back or putting my bed together when I when I get to my camping spot. A good ol’ huge Winnebago, that’d do me just fine.

As for location, I've got a real favourite spot: the Isle of Wight. It's one of my favourite parts of the world. I’d park up the Winnebago so I can look at Tennyson Down in the background, that’ll do me just fine too — especially if it’s nice and sunny.” 

Conclusion 

So, thanks to Steve’s technical wisdom we now know just about everything there is to know about campervan tyres, why they matter, and how to get the best out of them. But are there any more questions you’d like the answer to?
 
Let us know.

Hero image credit: Continental