Caravan Tyre Quality

[DaveC2]

I have recently ordered a Sterling Elite Onyx to replace our 2004 Bessacar 525SL. The Bessacar was fitted with Hankook tyres, and I suspect the Onyx will be fitted with Matador tyres. Both these brands have featured in this forum linked with early failures/blowouts. Looking at tyre prices, premium brands such as Michelin, Pirelli, Continental etc., would only cost between £15 to £25 per wheel extra, or £45 to £75 (including the spare). I was intending to pay for 3 Tyron Bands to safeguard the new van in the event of blowouts, but I am now considering fitting quality tyres instead, and avoiding the dependancy on Tyron bands. On caravans costing over £14,000, I would have thought manufacturers would have fitted premium brand tyres in the first place. What do you think ?

Dave C

 

[Angela_5076436]

Dave - we have Tyron Bands fitted and they probably saved us from a very nasty experience some years ago when we had a blow out in France on a road with a horrendous death record following accidents. We gor the van off the road as far as we were able - and thanks to the Tyron Bands it had stayed on the wheel - without them things could have been much much worse.

I would certainly try and avoid these Matador Tyres from my experience .

I would love to know if other folk have had a satisfactory outcome after contacting Tyre Line.

Me - I have a suspicion that the Small Claims Court will eventually be hearing from us - we are not worried about this - our record in the Small Claims Court is 100 %

 

[Rodone]

Hello Dave,

Don't compromise! If you can afford better tyres AND Tyrons, go for both. Remember, even the best quality tyre can be damaged, and none of them will stay in place without Tyrons.

 

[Lutz]

I'm skeptical of Tyron bands despite the claims made for them. At best they are a rather crude solution. Instead, I have been campaigning the tyre industry to offer run flat tyres in caravan/commercial load ratings. At present they are unfortunately only available for cars.

 

[Cockovan]

My tyre fitters hate Tyron bands, when they have to change a tyre, and they say that on new rims, especially alloys, they have no advantage as the 'well' they fill is minimal on them.

 

[GrahamPonty]

Hi Dave,

If you decide to go for the tyres this may be of interest to you. Near where I live (Pontypridd) National Tyres & Autocare, are offering buy one get one free on tyres. I don't know if you have the same company where you live but it may be worth a look in yellow pages for the nearest depot.

Hope this helps

Graham (Ponty)

 

[antrimboy]

AlanW - Any well, be it on a steel or alloy rim,that allows/enables a tyre to be fitted, will also allow it to come off the rim in the event of a flat or blow-out.

 

[gary]

I'm not sure why premium tyres would be any particular advantage when used on a caravan, albeit I would not have anything less on the car. From a caravanning point of view premium tyres carry more weight for a given size than a budget tyre of the same size/general spec, this IMO is purely a side effect of premium tyres being designed for travelling at faster speeds.

Commercial tyres either premium or budget, are primarily built to carry load rather than that load at a fast speed, perhaps only life span makes them different. Premium tyres then may last longer but caravan tyres rarely wear out before their changed, again then of no particular advantage.

Further then I don't see how a premium would be significantly better at resisting a blow out?

BTM's & CC advice is to pick a tyre with a stated load index 10% in excess of the caravan weight. This is rather than deriving that 10% from a speed 'bonus' load as caravan manufactures generally do, this is by running 80mph rated tyres at only 60mph. I say generally as I note Compass at least are following the BTM advice.

Tyron bands though are surely a proven 'extra' safe guard, the well is there to allow the tyre to go on the rim, without it no matter how small that well is, the tyre cannot come back off. This then must allow the outfit more time to pull up safely and minimise peripheral damage to the caravan IMO

 

[stuart11]

Hi Dave c,I agree,Ithink all new caravans should be fitted with good quality tyres,regardless ofquality of 'van.We've got matador tyres on our 2yr old swift conqueror which we've used many times over the last 2yrs,and so far they're in good condition,but I'm keeping a close eye on them.If I can get 3-4 years out of them I'll probably change them as a matter of coutrse.Manufacturers penny pinching again for profit margins.Cheers,stuart1

 

[Cockovan]

AlanW - Any well, be it on a steel or alloy rim,that allows/enables a tyre to be fitted, will also allow it to come off the rim in the event of a flat or blow-out.

Only going on what my tyre fitters told me when I had the tyres changed on the last van!

 

[Alan_374306016]

I had Tyron bands on my last caravan, but I also had an old style Carver mover with the 'grit' type of roller. The combined effect when I had a blowout was that the tyre stayed on the rim but because it was running flat and mishaped it caught on the mover roller which ripped the tread right off and slapped into the wheelarch and floor breaking right through (behind the 'fridge). This unfortunate incident happened on a sharp bend in the road in Devon.

When the other tyre did the same thing a year later on the M25 it also ripped all the drain pipes off, but strangely left the outlets in place. I only noticed when I went to empty the Wastemaster and found it had nothing in it!! I had been inadvertently watering my pitch.

On both occassions I had visually checked the tyres before setting off and could not see any problem with the tyres?

Alan

 

[DaveC2]

Hi All, Thanks for comments. I have caravanned for 24 years, always bought new vans, and the Bessacarr is the first van I've had fitted with Tyron Bands, because of concerns about Hankook. I agree that the load factor is of prime importance, but quality tyres would be less prone to manufacturing defects, and poor quality control. These result in tyres which are more prone to catastrophic failures (eg. blowouts), rather than slower deflation caused by punctures. I believe that preventing the possibility of blow-outs by investing in better tyres, may be a better way of spending

 

[trevor11sqdn]

Gary, some of your points would seem to make sense, but with a premium tyre ie Michelin, Pirelli or the like, you do not get tyre side-wall cracking and splitting ,nor do you get deformities on the side walls,even when new.

The caravan manufacturers, nor the supplying dealers care little about these problems. Please dont assume that just because a caravan is unlikely to reach high speeds, an inferior tyre is acceptable.

I have tyrons fitted and will replace my Matadors at the first opportunity (as I did on my last caravan),better safe than sorry I say.

 

[gary]

I would partly agree but as far as I know Continental tyres are prone to crack?. I'm not sure deformation is a problem though, I use GT Maxmilers and they have what you might call a vertical 'joint' in the side wall, that's not been a problem in 5 years?. However Maxmilers are considered excellent tyres in independent tests, I bought em because they were dirt cheap!

As for Matador's, I noted at the NEC about 90% of vans sat on them, given then one known small batch problem against all those supplied, I doubt theres much wrong with these either.

Anyway this gives me chance to mention the British tyre Association, new website, www.tyresafe.org full of info on tyres would you believe!. Note the advice preceding their caravan tyre pressure chart ref the 10% load cushion. I think thats the best advice to avoid tyre problems...whatever the make

 

[gary]

I would partly agree but as far as I know Continental tyres are prone to crack?. I'm not sure deformation is a problem though, I use GT Maxmilers and they have what you might call a vertical 'joint' in the side wall, that's not been a problem in 5 years?. However Maxmilers are considered excellent tyres in independent tests, I bought em because they were dirt cheap!

As for Matador's, I noted at the NEC about 90% of vans sat on them, given then one known small batch problem against all those supplied, I doubt theres much wrong with these either.

Anyway this gives me chance to mention the British tyre Association, new website, www.tyresafe.org full of info on tyres would you believe!. Note the advice preceding their caravan tyre pressure chart ref the 10% load cushion. I think thats the best advice to avoid tyre problems...whatever the make

PS. also note Tyresafe's recent findings regarding 'over pressure'. Caravanners are always told to use caravan max weight pressure regardless of the actual caravan weight, some even the tyres max pressure!! again regardless of the caravans actual weight.

Certainly more food for thought there?

 

[Angela_5076436]

Well - I for one would not have Matador tyres again - 2 failures and the van is just over 1 year old ??

OH and I don't know about a small bunch that are faulty - I reckon there are more than we know about - our tyres DOT number is outwith the publicised batch - so we did NOT get a call from our Dealer.

The moral - check your tyres - if they are matador and your caravan is over 1 year old - get them checked by someone who knows what he's doing - better still , if you have doubts - replace.

 

[antrimboy]

Well - I for one would not have Matador tyres again - 2 failures and the van is just over 1 year old ??

OH and I don't know about a small bunch that are faulty - I reckon there are more than we know about - our tyres DOT number is outwith the publicised batch - so we did NOT get a call from our Dealer.

The moral - check your tyres - if they are matador and your caravan is over 1 year old - get them checked by someone who knows what he's doing - better still , if you have doubts - replace.

That's what I did Angela, at 9 mths. old - ditched them and put Michelin's on.

 

[RonD]

Oh dear! I've just bought an 07 Mondeo TDCi (registered in March this year)and that's fitted with Hankook tyres.. Would Ford take a risk?

 

[antrimboy]

Oh dear! I've just bought an 07 Mondeo TDCi (registered in March this year)and that's fitted with Hankook tyres.. Would Ford take a risk?

Personally, I wouldn't be so concerned about Hankooks/Matadors on a car, although I wouldn't buy them by choice.

 

[Sedo]

Hi Angela

I worked for Michelin tyre co for nearly 35 years on the engineering side and can vouch for their quality.

About 16years ago we owned a Swift Danette with Polish radials fitted, being slightly unsure of the quality we had a Mich tyre technician check them for us with a view to changing them. He duly pronounced them safe and fine to use. Guess what on the next outing both tyres gave up the ghost on way home from the New Forest to Stoke. I changed the first my self and the AA changed the next, both on the motorway (scary).

I contacted the Mich and they let us check the vans weight on their weighbridge, the van should have been (if I remember rightly) 17.5 cwt all up but weighed in at 19.9. Big lesson learned, when you're taking a family round surprising how the weight adds up eh.

I am very fortunate in having free Michelin tyres for my cars so know I'm on good rubber all the time. What fascinates me though is that in the past I've had cars that seem to have no end of punctures then others where I never have a problem, is it luck? I know the tyres are of constant quality having seen them made over the years.

You say you've had 2 tyre failures in a year why? have you had them annalysed by an independent technician to see what caused the failures?

I don't even know what tyres we have on our new Bailey, I'll find out but I know if I replace them it'll be with Michelin.

I know if it was a car I would be a lot more interested in tread patterns for roadholding etc. and tyre rubber compounds e.g Pirelli used to be famous for amazing grip but very low wearabilty because they used a softer compound on some tyres (don't know now though). With a caravam though where it's mainly load carrying capacity I know where my money willbe going.

Try contacting Michelin technical department they're very knowledgeable and helpful.

Regards Tomo

 

[Angela_5076436]

TOMO

Number 1 failure was sidewall damage and a crack - and it was changed at the first Service after the van had been sitting for the winter. We were not too concerned as it was possible , we thought , due to the tyre going a little soft during storage.

Number 2 was rather nasty - arrived on a Site and found tyre rather soft - so it was inflated and promptly started to go down again - my husband looked and hastily went under and changed the wheel for the spare - there was a 6in by 1.5 ins of tread missing - and it was separating at the edges round the hole - if you see what I mean.

The techies in France felt this was a manufacturing fault and we are still working on the problem - the tyres are outwith the known problem batch

 

[Angela_5076436]

TOMO

Number 1 failure was sidewall damage and a crack - and it was changed at the first Service after the van had been sitting for the winter. We were not too concerned as it was possible , we thought , due to the tyre going a little soft during storage.

Number 2 was rather nasty - arrived on a Site and found tyre rather soft - so it was inflated and promptly started to go down again - my husband looked and hastily went under and changed the wheel for the spare - there was a 6in by 1.5 ins of tread missing - and it was separating at the edges round the hole - if you see what I mean.

The techies in France felt this was a manufacturing fault and we are still working on the problem - the tyres are outwith the known problem batch

oops - first one didn't re-size - sorry about that.

As it happens when we replace car tyres - yes they are Michelin [ well we used to have Continental - but they shut their Scottish factory

 

[Sedo]

Hi Angela

Whoops that looks very naughty, will be checking our tyres today.

Our old Bailey had named tyres on when we bought it off a guy we knew, never had any problem and it stood all winter under cover for four years.

I would say you were extremely lucky.

I would be very interested to know what caused this.

Don't know if you've seen a tyre made but the tread rubber is wrapped round like a big belt then the actual tread cured in, in an autoclave.

Its a bit rare for a section to peel out like that.

Regards Tomo

 

[Angela_5076436]

That is precisely why we think it's a manufacturing fault .

So far - no response from Tyreline [ or whatever their name is ] and I'm still hoping for the cost of our tyres to be refunded [ from the dealer ] - snag is we have a third tyre from Matador - but a different DOT number - howsome ever I want that changed too before we head to France again .

BTW - it's not easy in our experience to get a proper caravan trye in France

 

[Angela_5076436]

To keep you updated - 2 e-mails to Tyre Line have gone unanswered and also the automatic read receipt that my husband puts on has not returned to us - sooooooo it doesn't look as if they have been opened never mind read.

He has also phoned them - and the person concerned was out of the Office - twice

This is NOT looking good