This article applies only to Roadtreks that are built on the Chevy Express van chassis. This does not apply to Dodge, Sprinter, Dodge Pro Master or any other chassis that Roadtrek has built an RV on.
When I got my 2011 190 Popular built on the Chevy Express 3500 van new from the factory, I had questions about what the best tire pressure would be for the van. There is a sticker on the driver's door frame toward the bottom that says the tire pressure should be 50 psi in the front tires and 80 psi in the rear tires, but I was reading in the various RV forums that other Chevy Roadtrek owners were varying the front tire pressure. I contacted Roadtrek's customer service at the time and was able to speak with a Roadtrek factory service technician. I asked him what the best tire pressure was and why would owners be varying the front tire pressure.
His answer was this -
The rear tire pressure must always be filled cold (meaning before the Roadtrek has been driven for that day) to exactly 80 psi as shown on the door sticker, BUT the front tires can be varied. He explained that by varying the front tires in 5 psi increments from the suggested 50 psi that is shown on the sticker, the feel of the ride of the Roadtrek can be changed. Each change again needs to be done when the Roadtrek has not been driven.
1) Start with the two front tires at 50 psi and drive the Roadtrek and evaluate for yourself the feel of how the van drives.
2) Next day or days later increase the psi in the two front tires to 55 psi (again when cold). Again go for a drive and evaluate and compare the feel of the drive to what it was like when the tires were at 50 psi in the front.
3) Next day or days later increase the psi in the two front tires to 60 psi (again when cold). Again go for a drive and evaluate and compare the feel of the drive to what it was like when the tires were at 50 psi and at 55 psi in the front.
4) Next day or days later increase the psi in the two front tires to 65 psi (again when cold). Again go for a drive and evaluate and compare the feel of the drive to what it was like when the tires were at 50 psi and at 55 psi and 60 psi in the front.
5) STOP the process. Do not increase the tire pressure in the front tires over 65 psi as he explained that over 65 psi the ride of the Roadtrek's feel will start to degrade.
6) Decide which psi you liked the ride at most after having driven at each of these psi for the two front tires.
7) Put the tire pressure of the two front tires (filled cold) at the psi you liked the best. That is the pressure they should be kept at for that feel of the ride you preferred.
We liked the feel of the front tires at 60 psi and have kept that from when we did this evaluation to today. I have read others say that they also like 60 psi front. This does not mean that you will like 60 psi front - you may like one of the other increments of 5 psi over 50 psi - or you might like the 50 psi that Roadtrek starts you off at for the front tires.
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Some things about the Roadtrek tires -
As you are driving all vehicle tires get hot from friction against the road and the psi increases in the tires in this process. This is normal and the tires are made to be able to hold that increase in tire pressure. The Roadtrek tires are no different and the tire size and designation that Roadtrek puts on the Roadtreks are made to accommodate these changes in pressure as you drive. The tires on the Roadtrek Chevy Express van are light truck tires. They also need to have an "E" rating - not all tires do. This is what allows the tires to be filled at high pressure to start with. The tire size that came with my Roadtrek 2011 190 Popular is LT245/75R16/E. LT - light truck R- Speed rating /E - what I have just referred to.
These are tires for a commercial light truck - a vehicle heavier than a car or regular van. This tire size is not limited to any one make of tires. What is important to know is if you go to a tire retailer's website and are looking at tires - they often ask you fill in what year, make and model is the van - in my case that would be a 2011 Chevy Express 3500 van. Then they ask what tire size you want - and I put in LT245/75R16/E - as that is the size that was on my Roadtrek coming from the Roadtrek factory - and the correct tire for the Roadtrek. What will come up on the tire website is "THAT TIRE IS NOT FOR THIS VEHICLE" and if I was buying tires for a regular, not a Roadtrek, Chevy 3500 or 2500 passenger or cargo van that would be correct. BUT we do not have a regular, passenger or cargo van - we have a converted Chevy 3500 or 2500 van that is now a Class B motorhome. And this size tire with all of its designations is what the Roadtrek needs to have.
Now just to make this a little more confusing - (don't ya just hate when that happens?) - when I put in the size including the /E at the end - some tires came up with the right size BUT WITHOUT THE /E! So I had to make doubly sure that the tires I was looking to select and buy had the /E on the end.
Everyone has their preferences about what brand of tires they like and I am not going to get into what brand I like and why - or why this one is better than that one. So I leave brand up to you! The other decision to make when looking at these tires in this size is some are "All Season" tires - and they are good in different weather conditions - rain, snow, ice. Other tires in this size are "All Terrain" tires - these are tires that are made for off road driving and may or may not be best when it comes to different weather conditions - some are and some may not be. When I was looking to get new tires for my Roadtrek I found a tire that I liked that was All Terrain - and since in the mud the Roadtrek is heavy and can sink (don't ask), I thought it would be a good idea to have that type of tire. When I went to buy the tires and I was speaking with the tire shop manager and said I was interested in those tires he asked me how much off road driving do you do - and do you do more highway driving than off road driving. Well, honestly, the extent of off road driving my Roadtrek has done is driving on gravel roads in campgrounds and onto gravel campsites, and an occasional grass field - which I will no longer drive onto if it has been recently raining. I told him 95% of the driving my Roadtrek does is on paved roads and highways. His advice was buy the All Weather tires instead of the All Terrain tire because the All Terrain tire will be a rough ride on a paved road and the All Season tire will be a much smoother ride. There was a model of the tire I was looking at that was All Season - and less money - and that is what I bought and had put on. So far they have been good.
The other thing to know about the Roadtrek tires is that the two front tires MUST be the same PSI. We found out about this when we got our Roadtrek home from the dealer we bought it at two states away. When we picked up the Roadtrek at the dealer we drove our car to the dealer and when we got the Roadtrek and were coming home (a day later) Meryl wanted to drive - and that was fine with me. Meryl has been driving our passenger vans for years and she has no problem driving the Roadtrek - so I followed her in the Roadtrek in our car going home. When we got home she asked me if I felt the Roadtrek was pulling to the right when driving it. I had been driving it locally the night before while we stayed close by to the dealer just in case anything was wrong with the Roadtrek - which there was - but that is in a very early article- and on the small farm roads I was driving it on I had not noticed. So the next day we got into the Roadtrek and I drove it on a local limited access expressway to see if it was pulling - not that I did not believe Meryl - and, of course, it was pulling to the right. (Meryl is always right and I do mean that.) So now we had to find out what to do. We called Roadtrek at the factory and they said call Chevy. We called Chevy and when we told Chevy it was converted to a Class B RV they sent us back to Roadtrek - who contacted Chevy corporate and Chevy said to bring it to the local Chevy dealer's service and they would do an alignment under warranty. (This little tale becomes an epic. 😏 ) So we went to the Chevy dealer's service and they said "we don't do alignments we send them out to a local alignment shop and they are expecting you and we went there. At the chain company alignment shop they looked at the Roadtrek and said - we don't have a rack or the height in our shop to do an alignment on a van that is that tall and that heavy - and recommended a truck shop. The service tech could see I was more than a little disappointed and said wait let me see something. He went over to the Roadtrek with a tire gauge and asked me what way was it pulling - "to the right" I said- and he got out his tire gauge and checked the right front tire. He then went to the left front tire and checked that tire. The right tire was a LOT less psi than the left front tire. He filled the right front equal to the left - and said drive around for awhile before you go to the truck shop to get an alignment and see if it still pulling to the right - or anywhere. We went right over to the expressway and drove - the Roadtrek drove straight as an arrow! And it still does. The unfortunate part of this story is that to deliver the Roadtrek from the factory in Canada to the Roadtrek dealer in Pennsylvania, it was driven by a Roadtrek driver. A driver who never said anything to the Roadtrek dealer that is was pulling - as when we spoke to the dealer about all of this they were surprised. This was the state of Roadtrek in 2011 - which is another story that I have not written about.
Anyway - the moral of the tale is if your Roadtrek is pulling when you are driving check the two front tires and make sure they are the same psi!
One last thing - I keep the Roadtrek's spare tire at 80 psi. If a tire had to be changed and the spare put on, it is easier to take the 80 down to 60 for a front tire replacement than to have to fill from 60 to 80 for a back tire. When you check the air in the tires - don't forget to check the spare!
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