# correct tyre pressures



## PLUMPUCK

hi
as a relative newcomer can anyone suggest/tell me where to get my motorhome tyres inflated to the correct pressure, they should be 80 psi but local petrol stations only go to 45psi , i was wondering if using the hgv section on motorway services as an option ,but not sure if i would be allowed ,any help mwould be appreciated


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## Spacerunner

Either shop around the internet for a tyre pump compressor or check out supermarket filling stations.

I get mine done at our local Asda but always check the pressures with my own pressure gauge.


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## dovtrams

We just go into any of the tyre companies that are convenient and the guys are always willing to check your tyre pressures for you. 80 sounds a bit high, remember it is not the chart on the door you go by but get the correct pressure from the weight of your MH and the tyres you are using.

dave


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## cabby

a friendly local garage will be able to do that for you.If you see one of those that you can set to the pressure you want ( we have one at our sainsbury's) you can see how high it will go before you start.also it will stop at the right setting too.

cabby


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## andrewball1000

I use a manual pump similar to this http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_700388_langId_-1_categoryId_165661

It is easier than a foot pump as you don't have to balance on one leg. The end takes different valves so I can also use it for the bikes and Airride. Very quick and easy to use and store and keeps you fit  I find that at high pressure it takes surprisingly few strokes to change. Gauge agrees with my digital one within 1psi. I have never used anything else. I also find my Michelins never loose anything which may help me :wink:


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## peribro

It is useful investing in a decent compressor. I have a mains powered Ring compressor that I find invaluable. It would also be worthwhile searching this forum for the numerous threads about tyre pressures. I doubt that the correct pressures for your tyres are in fact 80psi - certainly not on both axles. There is much confusion about it and dealers appear to cop out of recommending the "proper" pressures by instead specifying the maximums. Ideally you need to weigh your vehicle for each axle and establish the correct tyre pressures from the tyre manufacturer. Chances are though that someone else here will already have done that. For example I was advised by the dealer to inflate all my tyres to 80psi whereas the tyre manufacturer has told me that the correct pressures for the fronts are around 45psi!


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## PLUMPUCK

*correct tyre pressure*

hi
thanks for the advice we got our motorhome from todds and they said the correct pressure for the tyres was to be 80 psi


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## Bill_OR

... don't believe everything your dealer tells you! I was given a similar message but when I provided the axle weights to the tyre manufacturer, the recommended pressures were MUCH lower!

Load up your motorhome with your average load (including the wife, dog, water, fuel etc...), take it to a weighbridge and get the weights on both axles and then refer to the tyre manufacturer. My MH has Continental tyres and I had a response within a couple of hours ([email protected]).

Bill


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## cronkle

As has been said, don't rely on the dealers for this type of information.

Have a read of this: http://www.tyresafe.org/images/tyre-safety-guide/motorhome-leaflet.pdf you might find it useful.

We use one of these: http://www.fasteronline.co.uk/maintenance-tyre-inflators-c-58_515.html and it happily achieves the pressures I need.


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## UncleNorm

*Re: correct tyre pressure*



PLUMPUCK said:


> hi
> thanks for the advice we got our motorhome from todds and they said the correct pressure for the tyres was to be 80 psi


Hi PP! As suggested, don't believe everything a dealer tells you! What do they know about motorhoming anyway? They sell them; very few drive and live in them. 80 psi is ridiculously high and very dangerous. :evil:

Here's a link to a serious thread I started in May of last year...

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-86250-.html

You will see that my motorhome, an Adria Coral, was down to run at F72, R79, until I got the help I needed and reduced to F47, R61. A huge difference.


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## steco1958

When you find the correct pressures, it really is worth investing in a tyre inflater, and a digital tyre pressure guage, you can get them from Halfords or that type of place, mine is fully portable and can be recharged via 12v or 240v


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## EJB

My Tracker runs at 50 and 55PSI as suggested by Michelin I would be very suprised if your MH is very much more :wink:


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## mikebeaches

When we bought our motorhome last year (new) the dealer had put 80psi in the tyres.

We had a 1-hour run back up the motorway to home and I was worried to death about the handling. We were only doing maximum 60mph, but each time we hit any significant 'lorry tram lines' in the tarmac, in the nearside carriageway, the unladen van was all over the place.

Weighed the van fully loaded and emailed the tyre manufacturer (Continental) - as others have suggested - and got a prompt reply. Reduced the tyre pressures accordingly and everything was hunky-dory.

And the ride was so much more comfortable too. No more loose fillings... :roll:


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## The-Cookies

this is what i got from Michelin, but after experimenting on ride and handling i now put in 64 front 74 rear, if i put in Michelin pressures its like riding on solid tires and it bounces all over the place




Dear Sir/Madam 

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

We suggest that individual axle weights from weigh scale readings are used, in order to calculate pressure recommendations for each quoted load condition. These would be preferred, due to readings being taken in the actual vehicle 'running' condition - that is to say, with all water/fuel/baggage & passengers etc. onboard - and may result in better comfort if the vehicle is running way below maximum capacity.
Motorhome’s often run continuously heavily laden, and sometimes overloaded, and the rear axle normally takes the heaviest loads.

The overall tyre industry, therefore, tries to build-in a safety factor by fitting strong tyres, inflated to high pressure, in order to remove the potential for consequences of overloading &/or under-inflating the tyres. Much of the improved endurance performance of CP motorhome tyres (compared to van “C” type tyres), required for these continuous arduous conditions of use, is 

One 'overall' weight is of no use in calculating tyre inflation pressure levels, since the vehicle may appear to be within the maximum permitted, but in reality may have the rear axle severely over laden & the front axle very lightly laden. 

We believe that the front tyre pressures have a greater influence than the rear tyre pressures on comfort and noise. Therefore, in our opinion, running with 80 psi in the rear tyres, and pressures adapted to the loads, vehicle characteristics and operating conditions in the front tyres, will give 

As a guideline from the axle weights that you have supplied on the tyre size of 225/65 R16 C and being the XC Camping or the Agills camping the pressures for those weights are as follows:-

Front axle load of 1850kg the pressure should be – 62psi (pounds per square inch) per tyre
Rear axle load of 2060kg the pressure should be – 80psi (pounds per square inch) per tyre

When no axle loads are available, you would be advised to follow the manufacturers recommended pressures, indicated on the fuel cap / door-pillar / vehicle handbook in relation to the tyre size fitted – specifications can change without our knowledge.

We have allocated your message the reference number indicated above. If you need to contact us again regarding your message, we would be grateful if you could include the reference number.

Once again thank you for your interest in Michelin.

Yours sincerely
Michelin Tyre Public Limited Company


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## NeilandDebs

*Tyre pressures*

Hello
I run on Michelin Agillas tyres. Their max pressure is 80psi. I cannot beleive for one moment that it is good for the tyre to run at max pressure all the time. I run mine on 65psi with no probs.

Neil


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## steco1958

Took my MH in for service in june this year, on collection and looking at the information sheet, the garage had increased the tyre pressures to 80psi front and rear.

On the drive home the ride was very hard and just felt wrong.

I went back to my calculations on my axles and used the info from the Tyre safe document and quickly reduced the psi to F60 R65.

The ride is much smoother and handling is better.


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## namder

> As has been said, don't rely on the dealers for this type of information.
> 
> Have a read of this: http://www.tyresafe.org/images/tyre-safety-guide/motorhome-leaflet.pdf you might find it useful.
> 
> We use one of these: http://www.fasteronline.co.uk/maintenance-tyre-inflators-c-58_515.html and it happily achieves the pressures I need.


The cable/pipe looks too short to reach from cigarette lighter socket to any of the wheels. What extension do you use?


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## cronkle

namder said:


> As has been said, don't rely on the dealers for this type of information.
> 
> Have a read of this: http://www.tyresafe.org/images/tyre-safety-guide/motorhome-leaflet.pdf you might find it useful.
> 
> We use one of these: http://www.fasteronline.co.uk/maintenance-tyre-inflators-c-58_515.html and it happily achieves the pressures I need.
> 
> 
> 
> The cable/pipe looks too short to reach from cigarette lighter socket to any of the wheels. What extension do you use?
Click to expand...

It's a fairly heavy duty cable to avoid current drop and I think I bought it from RoadPro.


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## provencal

*Extension Lead*

Got mine from Towsure
http://www.towsure.com/product/Socket_Extension_Cord_4_mtr

Brian


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## cronkle

*Re: Extension Lead*



provencal said:


> Got mine from Towsure
> http://www.towsure.com/product/Socket_Extension_Cord_4_mtr
> 
> Brian


That looks remarkably like mine :? - I guess I could have got mine from them as well  and not RoadPro after all.


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## uncleswede

Bill_OR said:


> ... don't believe everything your dealer tells you! I was given a similar message but when I provided the axle weights to the tyre manufacturer, the recommended pressures were MUCH lower!
> Bill


Is it the dealer? My Hymer 544 manual recommends tyre pressures of 5.5 bar (81 psi) all round...

Having read this thread I'm now questioning that, but it's Hymer giving the recommendation, not the dealer.


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## Philippft

I find this odd to say the least, on the door piller of my Autotrail excel the pressures are 5Bar for the front 5.1/2 for the rear. This is also confirmed in the Autotrail Handbook.
I'm a little confused now !


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## andrewball1000

*Re: correct tyre pressure*



PLUMPUCK said:


> we got our motorhome from todds and they said the correct pressure for the tyres was to be 80 psi


Hi Plumpuck

Have a look at my posts in this thread and in particular the 8th one by grizzlyj Jason. I now use his formula to calculate mine as Michelin would not go lower than 80psi whatever load your back axle weighs. I think they are just covering themselves in case most people overload it.

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-101081-.html


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## mikebeaches

*Re: correct tyre pressure*



andrewball1000 said:


> PLUMPUCK said:
> 
> 
> 
> we got our motorhome from todds and they said the correct pressure for the tyres was to be 80 psi
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Plumpuck
> 
> Have a look at my posts in this thread and in particular the 8th one by grizzlyj Jason. I now use his formula to calculate mine as Michelin would not go lower than 80psi whatever load your back axle weighs. I think they are just covering themselves in case most people overload it.
> 
> http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-101081-.html
Click to expand...

My view of Michelin is exactly the same as Andrew's. They are trying to cover themselves. Apparently, until a couple of years ago the company would provide a more appropriate recommendation (lower pressure) for the rear tyres, but something has spooked them - possibly the belief/advice that many motorhomes travel overloaded?

And the converters are mostly much the same, so they frequently recommend very high tyre pressures too.


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## jud

hi all . i use one of these £49 off eBay and a digital tyre pressure gauge from halfords . when i bought my m/h the tyre pressure was 60 psi so after reading threads on here i put more pressure in and the the ride was crap felt every bump the plates in the cupboard was rattling power steering was to sensitive the wife said it felt like riding in a old bone shaker so let the air out back to 60 psi and all was well again . the moral of the story is if the tyre looks a bit down put some air in .and before someone says YOU can't do that i am sure no copper if stopped is going to know what your tyre pressure should be any way . people say that has got to be dangerous NO people driving like lunatics is dangerous and after driving 43 years with the only scary moment when driving a 30 tonner and having a blow out i think i do o.k ( with the correct pressure ) and the idea of going to the weighbridge is a no no because if we are going to Spain for 3 months we go fully loaded with 980kg load if we are going for 1 month to Germany we only take 200kg so to go and weight it every time you go on a trip is ridiculous. jud


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## steco1958

*Re: correct tyre pressure*



mikebeaches said:


> My view of Michelin is exactly the same as Andrew's. They are trying to cover themselves. Apparently, until a couple of years ago the company would provide a more appropriate recommendation (lower pressure) for the rear tyres, but something has spooked them


I think you will find it is due to the Where there is blame there is a claim culture we have adopted here.

As a professional organisation if you recommend something and a problem occurres, you could be sued.

So they prefer not to give you an actual PSI value, but state that the maximum PSI for that tyre is 80.

This in know way suggests that you should run at 80, and they then leave it to yourself to work it out.


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## UncleNorm

Purely out of interest, here's the label on our Fiat door pillar:

Front: 72.3 Back: 79.5


The email from Continental advised Front: 47 Back: 61

A huge difference. :evil: :roll: 



As a postscript, I have just fitted to Toyo M&S to the front of Our Coral. I've left the pressures at 47 psi for now. 8O


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## jud

UncleNorm said:


> Purely out of interest, here's the label on our Fiat door pillar:
> 
> Front: 72.3 Back: 79.5
> 
> The email from Continental advised Front: 47 Back: 61
> 
> A huge difference. :evil: :roll:
> 
> As a postscript, I have just fitted to Toyo M&S to the front of Our Coral. I've left the pressures at 47 psi for now. 8O


hi unclenorm. all fiats have the same thing on the door pillars and were intended for it to be a van not a m/h . jud


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## adonisito

In my Peugeot handbook, someone had hand written 64psi front and back. I have Agilis and thats what I run on. Van seems fine, maximum weight is 3250kg. 80psi seems very high.


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## WhiteCheyenneMan

My Autotrail Handbook refers you to the Fiat Handbook and then the cab label which specifically refers to the Camper tyres fitted. Pressures are 79.5psi or 5.5 bar all round. Max axles weights are similar for front and rear, 2100 and 2400. Ride is firm but well controlled, probably helped by the Alko chassis.
Never, ever use garage pumps on any vehicle unless you have a reliable gauge of your own. Pressures should be checked daily if you are on the move every day.
I still carry the compressor supplied, because it has a built-in gunge tank fitted for emergency puncture repairs but, I also have a spare wheel :wink: But this compressor has a hard to read (accurately) analogue gauge and one of those stupid clip on valve connectors. As a result you lose pressure putting it on and sometimes even more taking it off.
I now use a Michelin 12V Rapid Digital Tyre Inflator with Auto Cut Off(http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...y?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=7405244, may be cheaper elsewhere?) which claims to be accurate +/- 1psi up to 50psi ,but seems just as good to me at 80psi. The lights and auto cut-off are great but, most of all it has a screw valve connector and you soon master the push/pull technique for minimising pressure loss while fitting.
If the link doesn't work, just Google "Michelin 12V Rapid Digital Tyre Inflator with Auto Cut Off"


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