18' Series Caravan Tyres
- Thread starter Disco Duck
- Start date
I just had a look on the Firestone site and they say 44psi as max. So maybe I start at 35 and work around that.
Good thinking !!
Good thinking !!
The original tyres on my 14.44 as supplied had a LR just above the Vans GTM and a max of 40 psi so I ditched them and fitted some nice ones that would go to 50 psi i think as 38 psi was a nice pressure for them, Big Mal has a max of 80 psi for its 265 75 16 Geolanders, they sit at 45 psi nicely.....just sits behind like it should....................... Winter where the temps are down can really play havoc as the pressure you put in at 25 deg ambient will end up lower at those temps, I think it its something like 2 psi for each 10 deg drop in temp from your set point temp, I just keep them at the psi I normally use, checking when it gets 10 deg or more warmer/colder......................... only the ambient temp has changed , weight on tyres is same, pressure needed to keep tyre profile is still the same.............
Last edited:
@Drover curious why you recommend 30% more than ATM? I'm getting new tyres tomorrow on my 14.44-4 which has an ATM of 1728. The tyre shop is recommending Firestone CV4000 commercials with a load rating of 900kg, so doubled up is 1800kg. On the surface, seems like it covers the ATM, right?
Well in the scheme of things the tyres are the weakest part, I always go Light Truck (LT) tyres, better LR and stability, plus they can take a higher pressure if needed, some P rated tyres only have a max of 45 psi which isn't much more than what you may want to run at ............ The 30% was something that I was told moons ago and seems to fit the bill on vehicles quite nicely.......On a van I like the running gear to match the axle load rating which is higher than the ATM, that way the axle, springs, rims and tyres are all lined up, for those times one may be a tad heavy .....
On my old 14.44 the rims were 900kg rated while the original tyres were about the same and it was 1800kg I think maybe 1900kg, certainly not good enough in my books, I upped the rims to some nice pre loved RoH steelies at 1200kg each and the tyres were about 1100 kg in LT............... with an axle weight of 2t the suspension was all in line ..... I also chucked the crappy springs but thats another story.
On my old 14.44 the rims were 900kg rated while the original tyres were about the same and it was 1800kg I think maybe 1900kg, certainly not good enough in my books, I upped the rims to some nice pre loved RoH steelies at 1200kg each and the tyres were about 1100 kg in LT............... with an axle weight of 2t the suspension was all in line ..... I also chucked the crappy springs but thats another story.
I too would always go for LT (Light truck). They are stronger and can handle more rough stuff with a heavier load. Only disadvantage is that they are a bit stiffer than the others, but that is generally not a problem with a van, especially when heavily loaded.
I was only looking at them the other day while getting a balance done and thinking the looked okay but got sidetracked before I could tell if an LT or not...... they had a 256 75 x 16 at 123 LR