2009 Nuevo Classic - Tyre Pressures

Hi there,

I purchased our 2009 Nuevo Classic about a year ago (shod with Continental Vanco Camper 215/70 R15 CP 109R tyres) and have been totally confused by conflicting indicators as to what tyre pressures I should be running. The Peugeot sticker on the cab suggests 72.3psi (Front) and 79.5psi (Rear) and other sources suggested wildly different pressures - hence my confusion.

In the end I contacted Continental directly for advice and they replied with an extremely helpful/comprehensive reply which included their official "table" of weights/pressures which I show below. I thought it might be useful if I shared this with the Forum.

They did recommend I take the Nuevo to a weighbridge to determine the exact weights of each axle but until I do this I made a calculation of the weights as follows:- my Nuevo manual says the "Mass in Running Order" is 2,780kg (comprising 1,308 Front and 1,472 Rear). To this I made an estimate of the additional weights I need to account for (incl 90% of Fresh Water Tank, Personal Effects, Gas Bottles, my Fiamma Back Box etc) which resulted in adjusted weights of 1,403kg (Front) and 1,602kg (Rear).

Using these weights, you will see the table below suggests the Fronts should be 43.5psi and the Rears should be 58psi which you will see is massively less than the "quoted" pressures above. When I had the Nuevo serviced recently I got them to apply these pressures and I have to say the Nuevo has since driven SO much better than before - handles better and we no longer get that harsh jarring/crashing of stuff in the motorhome when going over the slightest bump.

Hope this is of help to anyone else confused by this matter! I'm not sure if these weights/pressures apply to other brands of tyres but this certainly seems to be what Continental recommend for their Vanco tyres.

Cheers

Pete

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There's been the Continental chart in the factsheet section (see home page) for a few years now.

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Hi You still need to weigh your vehicle . Difficult to know individual axle weights any other way.

Micky

My auto sleeper dealer  told me to use the  pressure  on the  door post  plate  . vanco recommend  completely different  pressures . I use the auto sleeper  .if I was stooped  by  the police  they would  use the auto sleeper  pressure  as they are the stated pressure for the vehicle   . many use the vanco  lower recommendations   for a softer ride  .

An interesting subject.  I think I would go with Molly3.  My door post plate states quite clearly 72.3 psi front, 79.5 psi rear, and these were the pressures it was supplied with.  Lower pressure may give a more compliant ride but it will probably increase rolling resistance and therefore decrease fuel economy.  If the pressure is too high or low it should show in the wear on the tyre but I expect few of us do enough miles for this to be apparent.  The C&MC recommend that high pressure caravan tyres are replaced every 5 years regardless of wear.  Does anyone know what the recommendation is for a motorhome and its spare wheel?

Caravan Club (CAMC) recommend...

"If you own a caravan or motorhome, then tyres should be changed more regularly. The caravan club recommend changing these tyres every 5 to 7 years."

Molly3
the police cant tell you what pressure you have to put in your tyres they just need  to be at a safe pressure. you  don't adjust your car pressures each time you drive it by your self or with others in the car ?
sometimes the pressures on the plate are higher then the max marked on the tyre.
buy running on a low pressure will damage the side walls
Dartmoorpete continental should have given you a minimum pressure as the pressure you have set yours at now looks much to low

Minimum pressure is in the Continental chart, 3.0 bar at 1425kg Front.

Chart gives 43.5 F, 60 R.

the vanco camper tyres where a higher spec tyre than the tyres used on vans and  had higher pressures .if you run the fronts that low  on a front wheel drive it well wear the out side edges on your tyres .on the tyre chart needs to be 215/70 r15cp 109r VANCO CAMPER tyres

Later motorhomes like mine have a tyre pressure monitoring system with pressure sensors in each wheel.  My Peugeot dealer didn't know how low the pressure had to be for the system to alert but thought it was fairly close to the recommended pressures on the door post plate.

If you are involved in accident  and your vehicle is examined  the tyres will be checked .including tyre pressure .

Molly
yes the tyres maybe checked if they are  (note) LEGAL .if not your insurance will do anything to not pay out.  the tyre pressure is a recommended fig not a legal fig. pressures are set as to the load .so molly3 do you adjust your car tyres when you pick someone up in your car as this has different pressures on the plate

glyne lock wrote:do you adjust your car tyres when you pick someone up in your car as this has different pressures on the plate

glyne lock - we are not talking about a car which can be lightly loaded or fully loaded for which two sets of tyre pressure are given.  We are talking about a van which due to the heavy caravan and habitation gear bolted onto its back is already fully loaded, or near as dam it, hence only one set of pressure figures is given.

Caraman
as I sad caraman this is only a recommended fig on the plate not a legal fig and this was an example to molly3
Caraman
if you want to find fault with what I have said  we are not talking about tyre pressure monitoring system .I could have explained how to adjust the settings but as you are saying this is about lowering the pressures for more comfort.
I am not a troll as a lot are on this forum this is my trade and have worked with tyre manufacturers as to what pressures for what load a vehicle is carrying .so when I correct someone when they say something incorrect I try and explain as I did here to molly3. so best you do a bit of trolling to try and find more fault with what I have said.

glyn lock.  Sorry if I have upset you.  I was certainly not internet trolling!  I may have misunderstood your point about adjusting car tyre pressures which we do to reflect the load being carried in the car but only within the parameters set on the door post plate.  There are no parameters on my Nuevo.  There is only one set of tyre pressure figures (72.3 psi front, 79.5 psi rear on my Nuevo) which reflect the van's permanent heavy load and around which the TPMS has been factory set.  Like molly3 and I think you, I am not advocating lower tyre pressures which may be more comfortable but could adversely affect tyre wear and fuel economy.  I have not commented on the legal aspects of tyre pressures but could well imagine that the police and/or an insurance company could find fault if the tyre pressures are below the figures stated on the door post plate, be they a legal requirement or recommendation.

glyne lock wrote:the vanco camper tyres where a higher spec tyre than the tyres used on vans and  had higher pressures .if you run the fronts that low  on a front wheel drive it well wear the out side edges on your tyres .on the tyre chart needs to be 215/70 r15cp 109r VANCO CAMPER tyres

The pressure I gave above are for those particular tyres as recommended by the manufacturer in their Technical Handbook. Copy in the Factsheet Section.

im afraid there is no 'one size fits all' pressure levels for all vans and certainly each sticker cannot refer to all models nor have any idea how many people or what extras and kit will be on board.

the ONLY way to establish the correct pressures for 'your' van is to weigh the axles and refer to the tyre manufacturer's data table, or even ask them, as i did.

here is their (abbreviated) response

Based on the following: 

ContiVanco Camper 225/75 R16 (CP*) 116 R tyres. 
  
Front Axle: 1600 Kg - 3.0 bar/ 43.5 psi (max weight for pressure given = 1730 kg) 

Rear Axle: 1820 Kg - 3.75 bar/ 54.3 psi (max weight for pressure given = 1840 kg)  

we have an A class and, due to the different construction to a normal low profile MH, the weight distribution front/rear is likely to be different....in fact our van is very well balanced with less rear bias..and we have four belted seats and we have a rear garage and etc.. so its just not possible to provide a catch all figure.

im sure other 3.5t vans will have the mass distributed differently hence the requirement to set the level in accordance with the axle weight.

we run at the Continental recommended 45/55 which gives a lovely smooth ride. following a base service last uear, the 'helpful' mechanic restored the tyres to 80psi all round (as they are all like that arent they?) .....bome jarring ride and the rear bouncing up and down, no thanks.

This topic features often on the Forum. In part, that is because the tyre pressures shown on the vehicle's door plate can differ markedly from the tyre pressures which are recommended by the tyre manufacturer for tyre dimensions, and for the measured axle weights, for each individual motorhome.

Like Bolero Boy, I prefer to follow the exact recommendation of my tyres' manufacturer. For my van, for my axle weights, for my tyres, I run on 53 / 73. I carry a copy of the manufacturer's recommendation, and my weighbridge weights lest I am ever asked to justify my tyre pressures.

Another layer of confusion is the vehicle manufacturer's settings for TPMS alerts. In my case, Peugeot set the TMPS minimum at pressures which are far higher then I want them. So as to make the TPMS system be of use for me, I needed those minimum pressures to be lowered. On my Peugeot, the TPMS warning triggers at 5psi below the minimum. So as I run at 53/73, I wanted the alarm to sound if the tyres drop to 48/68. To do that, I had to pay the Peugeot dealer to reset the system.  As Bolero Boy says, "following a base service last year, the 'helpful' mechanic restored the tyres to 80psi all round " although I'd asked them, in writing, not to adjust the pressures!

Cymro

Thanks Cymro.  Nothing is ever straight forward.  I've just been out to check my VancoCamper tyres and on them it states a maxim psi of 69 which is somewhat less that the 72.3/79.5 figures on the door plate, which are also the pressures AS/Marquis supplied the Nuevo with last year and I have been maintaining ever since.  As mine is a new vehicle under warranty I have gone back to AS to find out what the correct pressures should be.  I don't see why I should have to pay a Peugeot dealer to give me this information.  Interesting information on the TPMS adjustment.  This is something AS should have done based on the correct tyre pressures which must be less that 69 psi.  Once again, thanks.

Thank you for mentioning yet another layer of confusion, Caraman. It is indeed the case that (in the case of Continental tyres, and probably others) the maximum pressure which is shown on the tyre wall is less than the tyre pressure which, for that vehicle's axle weights, is recommended by the tyre manufacturer in their table, and by the base vehicle's pressures plate. The answer to that conundrum was explained, I think maybe by Gromit, in a post of a few years ago. I can't find it now, but it was clear that it is permissible to exceed that maximum pressure in motorhomes. Was it to do with the USA regulations, perhaps?

But it is no wonder that this topic keeps cropping up, when three seemingly valid bases for calculating the correct pressures to use - base manufacturer's plate; tyre manufacturer's table; and tyre wall maximum - can be in conflict.  Of the three, I prefer the tyre maker's table using my van's unique data.

Cymro

Cymro wrote:Thank you for mentioning yet another layer of confusion, Caraman. It is indeed the case that (in the case of Continental tyres, and probably others) the maximum pressure which is shown on the tyre wall is less than the tyre pressure which, for that vehicle's axle weights, is recommended by the tyre manufacturer in their table, and by the base vehicle's pressures plate. The answer to that conundrum was explained, I think maybe by Gromit, in a post of a few years ago. I can't find it now, but it was clear that it is permissible to exceed that maximum pressure in motorhomes. Was it to do with the USA regulations, perhaps?

But it is no wonder that this topic keeps cropping up, when three seemingly valid bases for calculating the correct pressures to use - base manufacturer's plate; tyre manufacturer's table; and tyre wall maximum - can be in conflict.  Of the three, I prefer the tyre maker's table using my van's unique data.

Cymro

Confusion as usual. Yes that tyre pressure figure on the tyre is a USA requirement.
Door pillar stickers are not reliable as they have no idea what the weight of your van is loaded,or the distribution of that weight.
As i have said before weigh your van to get your actual figures when loaded.
then go from there. The tyre manufacturer is the best source . IMHO

Micky

agree with Micky above....

a further small extract from the very comprehensive email Continental sent me...

"The 69 psi written on the side of the tyre is for the Northern American market only and the inflation pressure of the tyre can exceed this value within its safety operating range."

The small print on the tyre wall says "due to the special service conditions of motor caravans it is permitted to increas the inflation pressure"
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Well spotted Knick-Knack - thanks - I hadn't seen that.  5.5 BAR is 79.7 psi which is 0.2 psi above the figure shown on the passenger door post for the rear tyres.  There is another AS label on the passenger door post which seems to show the maxm axle loadings which appear to be 1850kg front and 2000kg rear.  I wonder if the tyre pressure figures on the door post relate to these maxm axle loadings.  I am still trying to decipher the Continental table.