Caravan Tyre Pressures

Given that most touring caravans have only two wheels that are usually easily accessible, it is surprising how many come to a shuddering halt with a blown out tyre. This does not happen nearly as often with our cars, which cover much higher mileages often at higher speeds so it is unlikely to be the tyres which are at fault.

The unfortunate truth is caravan tyres are not often at the top of our priorities when we are loading up for a holiday. Even if pressures are checked, do you really know what they should be? Your car tyres are easy in this respect as there is usually a sticker somewhere on the car telling you what the correct pressures are, or you can refer to the manual.

Your caravan is not that easy because the weight can vary so much depending upon how much it is carrying. Two people popping off for a long weekend away are likely to be carrying far less than a family of four taking the same caravan for two weeks in France. The tyre pressures will need to be different in both cases, but how do you find out what they should be?

Tyre Sidewall Codes

Here is a typical tyre size code:

P205/65 R16 80 V

PThe '80' is the Load Index for the tyre. This will typically range from 60 to 130 and represent a maximum load of between 250 and 1900kg.

Obviously the first thing to be sure of is that the tyres are capable of carrying the total weight of your caravan.