Is everything in the #vanlifeuk scene expensive? Getting on the road with some General GRABBER AT3 Tires for our Campervan.
When I first bought my Camper Van, I was looking for that Vanlife UK lifestyle I had seen on so many videos on YouTube and splattered across social media. It all looked idyllic and joyful as people cruised around in beautiful camper vans, supped on low fat soy coconut lattes, and had beautiful girlfriends on their arms. As happy as Instagram falseness could be.
The reality was.. HOW MUCH!?! a visit to my local car dealer revealed the utter madness at the costs of these tin buckets, with sinks so small a baby couldn't wash its rear end in it, a bed harder than a weeks opened loaf, a tap that supplied water slower than a sloth coming down to defecate.
Maybe I should vlog about how I actually ended up being able to afford a camper van who I proudly called 'Peper' notice the one 'P' so you don't need to tell me I spelt the name wrong, I will blog about her name and why it was chosen in another blog/vlog 'Brims chest out with Yorkshire Historical Pride'.
Most things that needed upgrading on the van like many other items and fixes cost more arms and legs than you were born with (Sorry to any 3, 4 legged, armed van owners who were offended by that comment) It was time to look at new tires, or is it 'tires'? I am never too sure.
My current tires that came with the van looked pretty worn and at least 2 mechanics said to me "nar then lad ya gunna need ta get them tires looked at sharpish like, the well worn art" translated, get those tires replaced sharpish it's like driving around with grease smeared rubber roundels, no stopping power and basically borderline illegal. Hence new tire day!
UK Vanlife, I like them Chunky Monkey Style
We have all seen those great looking all adventure all terrain white walled tires on various pictures on Instagram and videos on Youtube/Facebook they look chunky, they look rugged, they look bloody awesome, they all cost said aforementioned arms and legs, lots of them.
My van has 18" alloys on (Show off) meaning the true all terrain tires for x4 was around £1700 fitted.
In a word, or 2.. No chance. And if i'm truly honest I don't really drive a huge amount offroad, so something mid range would be perfect. The 225 General Grabber AT3 Tyres seemed perfect and much more affordable. We know everything in the MTB World and Vanlife UK world is a rip off, you know it I know it. But at £127.00 per tire this was much more in my ballpark range cost wise.
These tires are 50/50 meaning they are made for half on and off road, they still have that chunky feeling to them. I was told fuel economy may be affected but I didn't notice any difference, the audio levels didn't seem to change much either. They look great and fitting was only £20 a tire with balancing at kwikfit so for all fitting, delivery and balancing the grand total was £568 all in.
So far I have driven 500 miles, they still looks amazing, as long as you don't kerb them, and when the time comes around to buy new tires these will be going back on the van asap.
As I almost turned into a posing tart, i painted on the branding logo on the trye wall with with white paint, yes it looks uber cool, and it is a cheap vanlife uk hack, but is it pretentious beyond belief? You decide but that's for another vanlife blog/vlog.
For a more in depth look at these General Grabber AT3 Tyres see my video below. Drop me a like or leave me a comment it is much appreciated. #VanLifeUK #UKVanAdventures #VanLifeExplore #VanLifeCommunityUK #NomadLifeUK #VanLifeDreams #RoadTripUK #CampervanLife #VanLifeCultureUK #ExploreBritainByVan #allterraintyres #botgadventures #vanlifeuk
Andy
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