Top five tips for avoiding the most common Bank Holiday motorhome mishaps

Published in Motorhoming Top Tips on   - 14 Comments

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  1. Peter Davis says:

    Nik Walker is correct about the tyre pressure situation. I am a new by to Motor Homes and the one thing I am confused about is the tyre pressures. On the door pillar it says 72 psi all round on the tyre it says maximum working pressure 65 psi and I was told by the supplier put 10 psi less in the tyres than listed. I am currently running at 55 psi not to be to close to the max recommended tyre pressure. Who is right.

    • Lucie @ Caravan Guard says:

      Hi Peter,
      There’s a complete guide to caravan tyre safety on the Tyre Safe website. Click here to download a safety leaflet which includes information on pressure guidelines and inflation levels.

      Thanks

      Lucie

  2. Nik Waller says:

    The problem with this is that the Fiat Ducato handbook is generic to all uses of their base chassis – anything from a white-van-man carrying light goods to a 4+ tonne motorhome, coupled with the fact that Continental state that their tyre is good “up to 5 bar of pressure” (see http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/www/tyres_uk_en/themes/van-tyres/standard-van-tyres/vancocamper/vancocamper/vancocamper.html). The Autotrail manual refers you to the Fiat manual despite fitting Conti tyres as original equipment. Follow Fiat and you are exceeding the tyres’ nominal rating!

    • Lucie @ Caravan Guard says:

      Hi Nik,

      I passed your query from this morning to Terry Acreman who writes for MMM Magazine and various other titles. Terry advises that:

      This is a regular query for MMM. Auto-Trail are one of the few that state a tyre pressure on their website as well as having an excellent Technical link on the website. The base vehicle manufacturer has little control over the conversion of the van or chassis cab so they will be very conservative in information.

      As for the tyres, the maximum pressure moulded into the sidewall is for the US market only (not Europe) the correct procedure is for the owner to take the motorhome in touring/holiday trim (partner/clothing/food/water/fuel etc) to the local weighbridge (location can be found in Yellow Pages or on Yell.com) and weigh the complete vehicle, then again with only the rear axle. From these two readings you can see that he is not overloading the motorhome (or any axle) from the Fiat plate under the bonnet.

      Then contact Continental with the two readings (email [email protected] or call 01788-566240 and they will be able to give you recommended tyre pressures based on given information specific to his motorhome.

      I hope this is helpful to you.
      Keep us all posted.

      Thanks

      Lucie
      Caravan Guard

  3. Jill Hill says:

    Autosleepers – have a Nuevo. Recommends 79 psi and the book that comes with the van says you should use the recommended tyre pressures. My tyres say 69 psi. Does this mean wrong tyres fitted, everyone you ask says they have never heard of such a high psi.

    • Lucie @ Caravan Guard says:

      I’m told that tyre pressures are found in the manufacturer handbook in which the chassis manufacturer states what the pressure should be for that particular model. The handbook may give various different pressures depending on loading weight so pay attention to that too.

      I hope this is of some use to everyone.

      Thanks

      Lucie

  4. Jill Hill says:

    Would it be possible to see a published reply about tyre pressures recommended by manufacturer of camper vans and also tyre manufacturers? No one seems to have an answer.

    • Lucie @ Caravan Guard says:

      Hi Jill,

      I’m currently waiting to hear back from a couple of sources to get the most up-to-date advice and information on this. I’ll keep everyone posted as soon as I know more.

      Which manufacturers did you have in mind?

      Thanks

      Lucie
      Caravan Guard

  5. vbfg says:

    I thought that they were very good tips as no-one can remember everything. I am rather embarrassed to admit it but on my first outing in my motorhome I forgot to disconnect the mains cable. Very luckily someone drew my attention to it before I had left the caravan site so no harm was done except to my ego!

    • Lucie @ Caravan Guard says:

      Sounds like that was a close call Val! At least you’ll always remember now.

      Lucie
      Caravan Guard

  6. gloria cook says:

    good tips

  7. Clive Atack says:

    As a newie to motor homing having been a caravanner for twenty years, some of these tips are really useful and shows that however much experience one may have, there is always something to learn.

  8. Nik Waller says:

    It would be nice if the motorhome industry could provide firm guidance on tyre pressures. On mine the Ducato base vehicle shows 5.5bar on the door pillar for front and back but the tyre supplier Continenetal recommends just 3.5 front and 4.0 at the back! The MAXIMUM permitted pressure shown on the tyres is 5.5bar. Who’s right, technically and legally? Motorhome Monthly Magazine has had countless letters and emails on the subject over the years but nothing seems to happen

    • Lucie @ Caravan Guard says:

      Hi Nik,

      Thanks for getting in touch. This is definitely something we can look into for you. Perhaps it’s best to check with the manufacturer or dealer to start with. They’ll know what the pressure should be on that particular model. I’ll pass your comments on to Tim Booth from AVCIS and get back to you. Hopefully he can shed some light on this. Many thanks

      Lucie


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