Avondale Eagle Tyres

Jan 30, 2007
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I have a fixed bed Avondale Eagle, bought new in 2001. No problems with the van, tows beautifully, excellent service from dealer and Avondale. But have experienced really bad blow out punctures at speed when the weather was hot. First original tyre blew when the van was 18 months old and the other one 6 months later. Problem I have is that pressure has to be set at 65 psi - which is the max for the tyres. On hot days this pressure obviously increases significantly when towing which I think leads to the tyre failure. Dealer agrees (unofficially!) and advised setting about 5 psi lower when cold. However Avondale say not to set it lower and quote the tyre manufacturers who say it is all fine. I will be towing across France this summer and this is a worry - anybody got any thoughts and are there any other Eagle owners who have experienced similar problems? Cheers - Rob
 
Mar 14, 2005
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If the weather is hot, one should readjust the tyre pressures after they have warmed up. However, having said that it is hardly likely that a tyre would blow simply because the pressure had increased due to expansion of the air inside. It is more likely that it was already too close to the limit even before heating up. Are you sure you have tyres of the correct load carrying capacity?
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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I don't know if Avondale fit a premier brand of tyre to their vans but I have dreadful experience of tyres branded "Matador", fitted by Hymer.

Both my tyres failed on one trip at less than three years old and at circa 9-10k miles; one a blow out on an Autoroute, the other mercifully whilst stationary just after pulling into a service station.

I was not able to ascertain the cause of the blow out because the evidence was destroyed, but the one that failed when stationary was because some of its own steel wires reinforcing had literally pierced the tyre. I was later able to do a detailed investigation that showed the wires had not been bonded into the structure correctly and so were free to move and puncture the tyre. Subsequent investigation indicated that the spare was also not fit for use.

After a near brick wall response Matador conceded that all three tyres were "substandard", and refunded me the cost of replacements. Yes just
 
Jan 30, 2007
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Yes tyres are of correct type. I have to assume the original tyres were correct because they were supplied with the van. They are not "ordinary" car tyres they are for commercial vehicles - I found that they are often not held in stock by tyre dealers. I understand what you say about reducing the pressures and I have done this on occassions. However, The worrying aspect is that the tyre says don't inflate above 65 psi and Avondale say set it to 65 psi when cold. I find it difficult to understand why you would design a van with tyres that are almost bound to run with a pressure beyond the tyre manufacturers top limit. Thanks anyway - Rob
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Commercial vehicle tyres are only supposed to be less sensitive to abuse than car tyres (such as driving over kerbs, etc.) but they do not have any higher load carrying capacity. It sounds as though Avondale had selected a tyre with an insufficient safety margin. If you change the make of tyre it would therefore be advisable to choose one with a higher load carry capacity at the same time.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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The information I give I know is for a Michelin tyre, but the physics will remain true for all tyres.

My Michelin Agilis specifically state on the tyre wall the pressure for the rated load as "65 psi COLD".

Note they state "cold" not warm or hot, so very clearly they intend that the pressure is set when the tyre is cold.

.

I would go as far as saying Michelin know its going to increase as it warms up, thus they clearly intend it to run at more than 65 psi at operating temperature to carry the load. If not they would say a lower inflation pressure in the first place so it would be at 65psi when hot; the very situation some are advising you to set.

If you let out the pressure when it's hot then I am sure Michelin would claim that you are under inflating, as when it's cold it will simply not be at the right COLD pressure.

I think that it is a very unwise and ill informed practice to let down a hot tyre to the "cold" inflation pressure, and should never be done unless you know for sure that you are operating at below its rated loading. *

By doing so the working pressure will be too low, the tyre walls will be flexing too much and the tyre will overheat. Over heating can lead to internal blistering and blowouts that is often the failure mode of tyres with an undetected slow puncture.

* [The tyre maker can give you the correct cold pressures for reduced loadings.]
 
Sep 23, 2006
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Robert,

I don't know what make of tyres Avondale were fitting back in 2001, but more recently (2003) they have been fitting Maxmilers-Im not sure who manufactures them but I was not at all impressed with the odd way that they were wearing, and I have heard of other owners saying the same.

I have now sold that van, but I clearly believe that those tyres were made with a very limited life.
 

spj

Apr 5, 2006
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Hi all,

I bought an Avondale new in September 2004, this was fitted with Maxmiler tyres, a cheap 'n' nasty budget range, mine were cracking at 22 months old and when I contacted Avondale they were not interested, all they would say was that they were within the load range, legal for the van and like a lot of things on Avondales only covered under warranty for the first 12 months.
 
Aug 28, 2005
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Quite simply these are the wrong tyres for your van as there is no margin for the increase in pressure which I would suspect is around 3%.

However as the they are CE marked they would be designed for significant over inflation as part of there design. What suspect is that the tyre cannot distribute heat correctly and the tread is delaminating .

Regards
 
Jul 15, 2005
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Before buying tyres, it's a fantastic idea to look at the German ADAC tyre tests for summer tyres. These document and rank all important tyre parameters - wear, handling, noise, summer, winter, wet weather, and several other factors.

Some UK tyre web-sites either provide a direct link to the numerical score summary or translate these reports. For instance, www.blackcircles.com has a tyre test page - listing tyres by use, by car manufacturer, or by size - and then report 3 of the ADAC test values.

Why doesn't the AA publish a similar report?

Or maybe the Caravan Club could rank caravan tyres?

Robert
 

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