Camper tyres

Suitcase .
Now be prepared for a lot of strong opinions

There would be at least 10 different tyre manufactures that sell decent tyres .

Go with a good quality AT and you will be fine .
Correct tyre pressure on different surfaces is the key to looking after your tyres .
You don't need to get the same tyre that's on your car .
My opinion only .
!
Now here we go again .

Cheers

I use the same rims and tyres as I have on my ute. In a pinch I can swap tyres around the whole setup. No use having good tyres on the on the tow vehicle if the cheap tyres on the trailer let you down. I run Maxxis 980 as a good all rounder. Not cheap and not expensive and we haven't had much grief with them.

Hi Suitcase

As you know, I am very impressed with the Toyo AT11 and because they are a great tyre, I also put them on our Ultimate camper, in the same LT construction, but in 16".

Last year was their first dirt road test, as I was getting extremely bad chipping from my previous BFG's.

Last years trip included the these all dirt roads: 1100 km Tanami, 550 km Duncan Road, many of the Eastern Kimberley Roads, a double drive (in and back out) of the Central Arnhem Highway of 780 km one way as well as other dirt roads in between. And then on October we were on more direst tracks out to the Ooldea 100th Anniversery and other west coast dirt tracks.

Looking at the tyres now 12 months later and there is not one mark on then and they are like new.

Pricing wise, they were cheaper than my Prado and were $230 per tyre fitted and balanced.

The Toyo' on the Prado are wearing unreal and from the distances and places where we have been, I know that I would have had to replace them if they were my old 697's Bridgestone's.

As again I still prefer my Toyo's and when it come time to replace them (I never let my tyres go below 50% tread depth) they will be replace with another set of Toyo's


Cheers



Stephen

My opinion below, as regards tyres, after several decades of tyre buying and use, running into literally thousands of tyres.

Bridgestone - Generally excellent. Just watch out for the Bridgestone factory rejects sold on eBay.
Michelin - Excellent, but pricey. No longer the leading tyre in the world.
Goodyear - Highly variable, according to tyre type. They seem to have improved in recent years.
B.F. Goodrich - Highly variable quality, according to tyre type. I long ago decided there were better tyre brands around.
Toyos - Very very good, on a par with Bridgestone.
Sumitomo - Quite good, but hard to find, and limited range.
Kumho - Very good, nearly up with Bridgestone.
Maxxis - Made in Taiwan, often hard to find, good quality.
Continental - good quality, hard to find, rarely cheap.
Pirelli - Variable quality, according to tyre type. Quite often too soft for our conditions.
Dunlop - Not nicknamed "Banglops" for no reason. Some of the worst tyre performance I've endured, came from Dunlops.
Chinese tyres - Highly variable in quality. Some good, some just plain cheap rubbish. Look for who they got their tyre technology from (a lot of the more common Chinese tyre manufacturers got their tyre technology from Bridgestone, Sumitomo, Michelin, and European manufacturers such as Continental).

I find it useful, but not of over-riding importance to have the same wheels and tyres on the trailer/camper/van, as on the tow vehicle.
The problem with that setup is, that if you need to swap tow vehicles, you often end up with a mismatch.

The single important feature is to have trailer/camper/van tyres fitted that have adequate load capacity, and speed rating.
You might be surprised to find how many trailer/camper/van tyres are running at their limit - particularly seeing as most towed items are loaded to the max.

Lower profile and heavier wall tyres will reduce trailer sway movement - at the expense of poorer off-road capability in the case of the former, and heat buildup at highway speeds, in the latter.

Always remember your trailer/camper/van tyres collect all the road debris and rocks thrown up by the tow vehicle. As a result, cheap tyres are always a risk.

Cheers, Ron.

G'day : I have just done the same exercise as you and have gone for a mid-range priced tyre , not a lot of saving . The tyres I have just replaced were second hand cheap brand when I put them on many years ago & have done a Cape York trip and the Kimberleys prior to that and many in between without any problems . But it will come down to how you drive , if you are inclined to be a Speedster and treat them badly you may not have the same luck . In saying that 1.5 ton of camper you are carrying a fair load .
I don't believe that it makes much difference in tyre brands when you are purchasing the big name tyres brands it comes down to personal preference. Any failure in these tyres in most cases would come down to driver error~ of course you are going to have some defects.
What sort of camper have you got ?

If you can fit the same brand/size tyres to the camper as you have on the car ... that is the best way to go.

I'm running D697's & have been happy with them. Chose them over Toyo Open Country based on price. I reckon both are good, & depending upon the final mileage I get out of the Bridgestones I'll either go with the same again or try the Toyos. Where we used to live the local mine support vehicles - Patrols all very heavy - constant 5Tonnes, all used Toyos & got good life out of them.

I would not go for cheaper tyres on my van.
Rough figures only, but fully loaded with the camper on my BT50 weighs 3000 kg, so 750 kg per corner. The trailer weighs 1540 GTM so 770 kg on each tyre.
The ute is valued at $40000 the camper at $50000.
I would not skimp on tyres for the camper.

In an ideal world your trailer and car tyres would be interchangeable.

As far as brand of tyres, I have Kumho AT 51 on the ute as they were on there when I got it, and Mickey Thompson Deegan 38 on the camper.

The recommendation from my two tyre experts at the moment are for Mickey Thompsons or Toyo Open Country.

I don’t know why people think the camper doesn’t need the same quality tyres as the vehicle. It’s going to the same places isn’t it?

My brother in law done a trip up to cairns in the mid 90’s. He fitted new retreads to his old jayco lol. Even got one for the spare. Yeah blew all 3, lovely black pin stripes on both sides and you guessed it, 3 new proper tyres he bought on the trip somewhere.

My theory is a tightwad always pays for things twice!!

Do they even sell retreads anymore ?

Greg

Thanks everyone - I think you have all confirmed what I suspected. I had always used Bridgestone on our TVan but was after confirmation that the good stuff was still the way to go.
cheers

If there round and black and from a reputable maker they should be OK.
Dave.

I've had various brands/sizes/country of origin. My newest camper trailer was delivered on Goodride LT MT tyres which I'd never heard of. 20,000 kms later I am waiting for them to show any signs of wear much less wear out. I am very happy with them and would recommend them to anybody. Mud terrains are not what I would probably choose on a trailer but they were there and they aren't exactly intruding into my life in any negative way so I suppose they can stay. My last trailer was a trackshak with highway terrain coopers second hand off one of my vehicles. They were on it for way too many years and did a perfect job in places you'd never dream of taking a 4wd on HT tyres.

Hi Suitcase, there were Goodride HT's on our camper trailer when we bought it. My initial thoughts were that they wouldn't last & that I'd replace them when they failed (our first trip on them was up to Dalhousie via the Oodnadatta track & on through Mt Dare, the old Ghan track to Chambers Pillar, Lamberts Centre etc). We had the camper 5 years & they were still on it when we sold it. The spare had never been used. They had been towed many 1,000's of KM's through the outback, including Lorella Springs, the Birdsville track, Cameron Cnr & Innamincka, the Savannah Way etc. Not even a flat on the Goodrides during that time!

Hi Suitcase

We run same rims and tyres all-round on the vehicle and camper trailer (TVAN).

It has advantages in giving inter-changeable spares should the need ever arise. You'll probably only need to buy one set of tyres for your van/camper trailer so the expense will pay itself off over time with an added advantage of having more spares, in need.

I run Toyo's and have found them most satisfactory (M55s), a personal choice that has served me well.

But on tyres, you'll find none are puncture proof, some will outperform in certain conditions and less so in other conditions. So I always recommend that if you find a tyre you like that suits the road / track conditions that you most commonly travel, stick with them unless there is a compelling reason to change.

My experience is that more tyres are damaged through under-inflation for the weight carried, and/or speed travelled, than anything else. Get this right and you should get good economy from most brands...

Good luck out there,

Cheers, Baz - The Landy

HI
Geez Indian tyres, 4 tyres retreaded / produced every 4 hrs ha ha