TYPES OF TYRES
There are essentially three types of tyres available for tow vehicles and caravans alike. They are On- Road, Off-Road and All-Terrain. Within those, there are various types of construction, generally divided into Passenger Car tyres and Light Truck tyres. Even within those two groups, there can be variations. It can make choosing the right type of tyre for your rig quite confusing. Let’ s try to make the choice a little easier.
The thing to keep in mind is that Light Truck tyres are built stronger than Passenger tyres. This is because they are made to carry heavier loads and resist damage. This additional construction means they are heavier and don’ t ride as well as passenger tyres, which are built for speed, handling and comfort.
These Cooper tyres on our last van were so impressive especially in offroad conditions, we fitted them again to our current van.
All-Terrain tyres like these BF Goodrich tyres offer a balance of strength, load-carrying capacity and reasonable handling.
If you have a 4WD and you never tow with it or drive offroad, you’ d be mad to fit anything else apart from Passenger tyres. It’ s what the manufacturer would likely have fitted at the factory. As long as you maintain the correct tyre pressures, they will suffice for the vast majority of the driving you do.
However, if you’ re considering towing anything heavier than a box trailer for any considerable distance, you will want a tyre with better load-carrying capacity and better resistance to damage. This is where Light Truck tyres are the preferred option.
It will be at this point that you will need to choose between full Off- Road tyres or All-Terrain tyres. You can usually tell the difference by the name of the tyre and also the tread pattern. The more open the gaps between the tread blocks, the more offroad-orientated the tyre.
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