Best Tires For Campervans | For Epic Adventures

Choosing a quality set of tires for your campervan is an important decision.  The best tires for campervans make an impact on overall handling, safety, durability, traction, and more.  But tires for campervans need to be suited to handle the weight of a campervan and also the varied terrain you might encounter.  The best tires for campervans are usually all-season or all-terrain tires.  Both types offer a decent balance of ability for handling paved and unpaved roads in a variety of conditions.

In an ideal world, we would all have multiple sets of tires ready to change out for every changing driving condition.  But for a campervan, especially if you live in it full-time, it’s just not practical to have multiple sets of tires.  That’s why nearly all campervans are equipped with All-Terrain or All-Season tires.  They offer the best combination of traits for most driving conditions.

I will discuss the nuances of different tire types and why you might choose one over another at the bottom of this post.  But you came here for the best tires for campervans, so let’s get right to it.

Sizing Note: Make sure that you search tires sizes and ratings that fit your van.  Typically for full-size vans the right tires are classified as LT (light truck) and have a load rating of ‘E’. (For this article, I list specs and prices of all tires size 245 / 75 R 16, only because that’s what our van takes.  Consult your vehicle’s manual for the proper size tires.  Info may vary for different tire sizes)

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BF Goodrich T/A KO2 (Best All-Terrain Tire)

• Warranty: 50,000 miles

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This is BY FAR the most common tire you will see on professionally converted campervans, and for good reason.  The BF Goodrich KO2’s are fantastic tires for handling nearly any terrain or condition.

The tread design provides outstanding traction in most off-road conditions and the aggressive sidewall improves traction in deeper conditions like sand, snow, and mud.  Those sidewall lugs provide even greater benefit when airing down.

The tread pattern is designed to eject stones to keep the treads clean of debris.

The primary negative of these tires is that they are somewhat noisy at highway speeds.

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Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT (Runner-Up All-Terrain Tire)

• Warranty: 60,000 miles

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The Cooper Discoverer AT3 is another great All-Terrain tire.  It’s just as capable as the BFG KO2s when it comes to off-road driving.  And it offers an extra 10,000 miles in treadwear warranty coverage.  It’s also usually a little cheaper than the BFG KO2s.

Like the KO2s, they are noisy at highway speeds.  But their biggest weakness is slightly worse performance in snowy conditions.

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Michelin Defender LTX M/S (Best All-Season Highway Tire)

• Warranty: 50,000 miles

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There isn’t a better tire for highway driving than the Michelin Defender LTX M/S.  It’s simply the longest-lasting tire on the market.  So even despite its premium price, it is possibly still the best value when considering price per mile.  They are really quiet on the highway and offer incredible safety specs for handling and stopping distance on pavement.

But don’t think that this is strictly a highway tire.  It’s decently capable off-road too.

For campervans that do the majority of their driving on pavement, and want a really quiet ride, the Michelin Defender LTX is the best you can get.

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Michelin LTX Winter (Best Winter/Snow Tire)

• Warranty: 40,000 miles (only when used strictly winter months 9/1 – 4/30, not sure how they verify this)

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These Michelin Defender LTX Winter tires are the best winter-specific tire that you can keep on your vehicle year-round.  They handle packed snow very well and are pretty capable on ice for a non-studded winter tire.

The tread will wear out faster on pavement, but compromises are inevitable if you want to run a winter tire year-round for convenience.

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How To Choose | Best Tires For Campervans

Choosing the right set of tires for your campervan will depend on how and where you want to drive.  The two primary categories to inform your decision are how much off-road driving you do and how much driving in snow you do.

For example, if you’re driving 90% on pavement and 10% off-road, then you would probably be better served by an All-Season tire like the Michelin Defenders.  The highway driving on long trips will be safer and more enjoyable with a more highway-oriented tire.  They’re optimized for pavement and quieter at highway speeds.

Or if you want to use your campervan for ski trips in the winter, then you should prioritize a tire that’s good in the snow.  Because honestly, snow and ice are the most dangerous conditions you will likely encounter.  So I would highly suggest you optimize your tires for that.  They may not be quite as good for off-road driving, but getting stuck off-road is rarely a life-threatening event.  If you lose control on a snowy highway going 50mph, it could easily be fatal.

So here’s a general breakdown of the pros and cons of different tire types.

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All-Season Tires

All-Season tires are typically optimized for highway driving in most weather conditions, while still providing decent off-road capability.

Pros of All-Season Tires

• Excellent on pavement
• Longest-lasting tread
• Quietest on highway

Cons of All-Season Tires

• Less aggressive tread patterns
• Less capable off-road
• Most susceptible to damage

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All-Terrain Tires

All-Terrain tires are typically optimized for off-road driving (gravel, graded-dirt, etc), and those tread patterns often translate to good snow and ice traction as well.  They still perform adequately on the pavement, but tend to be noisy.

Pros of All-Terrain Tires

• More aggressive tread pattern
• Better off-road traction
• Increased durability

Cons of All-Terrain Tires

• Noisy on highway
• Treads wear faster

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Off-Road Tires

Off-Road tires are typically hyper-optimized for off-road driving, often sacrificing safety, comfort, and performance on pavement.

Pros of Off-Road Tires

• Most aggressive tread pattern
• Resists tears and punctures
• Aired down performance is excellent

Cons of Off-Road Tires

• Subpar pavement performance
• Very noisy on highway
• Treads wear faster

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Mud-Terrain Tires

Mud Terrain Tires are specifically optimized for driving in deep mud.  The tread design has large voids to provide maximum traction in mud.  They are also often wider to give better float on mud.  They are bad for pavement and winter driving, which makes them not usually the best tires for campervans.

Pros of Mud-Terrain Tires

• Unmatched mud performance

Cons of Mud-Terrain Tires

• Bad performance on pavement
• Very noisy on highway
• Treads wear very quickly

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Winter/Snow Tires

Winter tires are specifically optimized for driving snowy and icy roads.  Although some can be driven year-round.  If you have the luxury of having separate winter and summer tires, that is always preferable.  But it’s just not practical for many people.

Pros of Winter/Snow Tires

• They handle snow and ice the best
• Usually good off-road too

Cons of Winter/Snow Tires

• Can be noisy
• Tread wears faster

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Our Experience

We went back and forth between purchasing the BF Goodrich T/A KO2s and the Michelin Defender LTX M/S.  We were enticed by the quieter ride on the highway that the Michelins offer.  We thought that it would make long road trips much more comfortable.  And Michelin also claims better fuel-efficiency, longer-lasting tread, and eco-friendly manufacturing.  So we ultimately decided to get the Michelin Defenders for our 2010 Ford E-350 Campervan with RWD.

Here’s how we feel about that decision after 30,000 miles on the tires over 2 years.

We are very impressed with their highway performance.  The tires are quiet, responsive, and smooth.  They wear extremely slowly and evenly.

Off-road performance is pretty good in most off-road conditions (gravel, graded dirt, rocky, packed sand, etc)  But they have an annoying tendency to pick up stones and fling them around the underside of the van.  But again not a dealbreaker.

They are pretty weak in mud and deep sand (though they are not really designed for that).  We have found that certain mud types will fill in the treads completely making the tires nearly useless.  It’s downright scary and we slide uncontrollably.

We admittedly haven’t driven them much on snow and ice.  But from our small sample size, they are mediocre on packed snow, and pretty sketchy on ice.

But the main reason we got them was because we figured we would do most of our driving on pavement on road trips all over the country and so we wanted the quieter ride.  We realize now that this reasoning is somewhat flawed.

First of all, we overlooked the fact that our campervan cab would be really loud at highway speeds regardless of the tires we have.  A 2010 Ford van just isn’t designed to be a quiet ride, because the engine is squashed into the cab between the driver and passenger.  And our fiberglass hightop with ski box on top creates a ton of noise right above our heads.  So optimizing for highway noise maybe was a lost cause from the beginning.

Second, while we do the majority of our MILEAGE on pavement, it only accounts for maybe 60% of our driving TIME.  Because the time to go 50 miles on a highway can be equivalent to 5 miles on a rough dirt road.  So the time-versus-mileage factor makes off-road driving more substantial than total mileage would indicate.  I would say we camp “off-pavement” nearly 90% of all nights spent in our campervan.

Lastly, the final thing which is strictly aesthetic, is that the Michelin Defenders are rather boring looking.  The BFG KO2’s just have such a more badass look.

So we think when it’s time to replace the Michelin LTX M/S tires we will switch to the BF Goodrich A/T KO2s.  I think the increase in road noise will be barely noticeable, and they are noticeably better in off-road conditions.

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Where To Buy Tires

We purchased our tires at Discount Tire (American Tire in CA) and have been really thrilled with the free services they offer for the life of the tires.  We have stopped into a Discount Tire many times since our purchase for many routine services and haven’t been charged a dime.  They have checked air pressure, rotated, balanced, and even patched a puncture we got from a screw.  All of those services were provided at no additional cost.  It’s nice to be taken care of even long after your purchase has been made.  So we would highly recommend purchasing tires through Discount Tire.

But that only helps if you are near a Discount Tire location.  We travel mostly in the Western US where they have tons of locations, so it’s always been convenient for us.  But I would recommend buying tires from a reputable dealer that has a wide network of locations where you are.  That way, you will have a helpful resource anytime your tires need servicing.

Other good places to buy tires are Tire Rack, Pep Boys, Les Schwab, Costco, Walmart and Amazon.  But I can’t comment on any of these from personal experience.  Buying tires from Amazon seems a little odd, but they have a feature that connects you to a professional tire installer in your area.

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Conclusion | Best Tires For Campervans

For most campervans, All-Terrain or All-Season tires are the best choice.  They offer the most diverse range of abilities to help you conquer all kinds of adventures.  All-Terrain tires are the better choice for campervans that venture off-road frequently.  All-Season tires are the better choice for campervans that spend the majority of their time on pavement.  And for campervans that will encounter lots of snow and ice, there is really no substitute for good winter tires.

There are always compromises when choosing tires, but the one thing you shouldn’t compromise on is quality.  That’s why I only suggest the most trusted and proven tires for campervans.  Cheaper tires may seem like a good value, but shorter lifespan and durability issues end up costing you more in the long run.  So get yourself one of the best tires for campervans listed above and you will not regret it.

And no matter which tires you buy, every campervan that ventures off-road should invest in the basic off-road safety and recovery gear.  Even the best tires can get stuck, so it’s good to have some equipment on hand to get you out!

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