Caravan Tyre Quality

[DaveC2]

Hi All,

After further consideration (and as suggested earlier by Rod One), I now intend to fit Premium Brand Tyres and Tyron Bands when I take delivery of the new Sterling Onyx in the new year.

Angela's experiences with Matador Tyres are a clear cause for concern, as they relate to tyres outside the batch identified by Swift. I repeat my original query "Why do Caravan Manufacturers fit Budget Tyres, when Premium Brand Tyres would cost so little more?".

 

[Angela_5076436]

once more - we phoned the Tyer line folk.

The gentleman we were to speak to was out of the Office but " I'll give you his mobile number " "No thank you " was my husband's reply "I never like to phone people on their mobile in case they are driving"

So the girl/lady in the Office said that she would get him to phone us back.

And has he ???

 

[Angela_5076436]

UPDATE

We had a phone call from the Tyre line man.

I was out but my husband said he seemed somewhat bemused. Wasn't sure if he had had our photos.

He did say though that he had sent some photos to Matador.

Now my next questions are - what have the Caravan Club donw with all our photos ?

Waht have the C & CC done ?

Both organisations seem to have collected data but what have they done with it.

We still have 2 matador tyres on our van and are no where near a settlement.

Yes we are aware that our Dealer is actually responsible - but after all we thought [ and so did he ] that it would be faster going to Tyre Line.

Don't the Swift Group care ?

 

[Boot_374328671]

There are a number of things to consider when selecting and using tyres for caravans and trailers.

1/. Fit the highest load capability tyres you can sensibly get your hands on, even consider increasing the width marginally to get greater capacity.

Manufacturers generally tend to fit tyres which just exceed the 10% load overcapacity at 60 mph requirement.

In one example I've recently dealt with the original fitment was good branded 4 ply tyres having a load capacity of 870kg per axle. For a 20% increase in price, compared to good branded 4 ply tyres, these were replaced with same sized 8 ply tyres that give a load capacity of 2100kg per axle - a massive increase in carrying capacity!

2/. Don't let your trailer stand unmoved on it's road tyres for long for periods of time, this damages the tyre sidewalls.

Keep a spare set of, possibly shoddy, wheels with poorer quality tyres or use axle stands, or similar, to get unload your trailer road wheels whilst stored.

3/. Don't exceed the load capacity of you trailer tyres AND be aware that tyre load capacity varies with tyre pressure and road speed.

Similarly, don't exceed the national speed limit for trailers - not because you might loose points on your driving licence, but because of the impact it has on tyre life. The original equipment tyres would have been specified for 60 mph maximum.

Useful data about tyre load capacity and tyre pressure/speed can be found on a number of web sites. An easy to use example is: http://www.tyreline.com/trailer_caravan_wheels_tyres/trailer_caravan_wheels_tyres.htm

4/. Buy your tyres from a nation wide tyre specialist rather than from a caravan or trailer dealer. The tyre specialist will be willing and able to give good technical advice and have access to a wider range of tyre types - which won't be the case with most caravan and trailer dealers. Almost certainly the tyre specialist will be able to supply the best available option at a very competetive price. If you need, at thier premises, they will fit the tyres to your existing wheels.

5/. Just to add comment to another related forum thread .... Maxmiler tyres are very good quality, very high load capacity, tyres that cost very little more than bog standard car tyres. The only compromise they presnt compared to tyres fitted to trailer is the speed rating - but 90 mph+ should be more than enough!!

!!FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH TYRE RATING DATA and STICK TO THE RULE: MORE SPEED MORE PRESSURE LESS LOAD!!

 

[Angela_5076436]

We are still waiting - apparently the tyreline man was going to contact the tyre makers .

We are fast losing patience.

Our tyres were not within the accepted batch - but clearly something was wrong.

Our dealers are , after all , responsible under law.

I can understand that they thought that by going direct to Tyreline we might get a faster settlement - but it's dragging on , and on , and on. and .......

I still want to know what the CC has done with the data - nothing has been said in the recent mags.

We noticed that there was a little item in the C&CC magazine - but really if we had not been looking for it we would have missed it.

Why are the clubs not helping ?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Angela,

I can fully understand your concern, and your desire to get some information, but I feel I should remind you that under law, if goods supplied are substandard for the task intended, then it is seller that is responsible.

Your attempt to involve a third party who has no legal responsibility to you mat muddy the claim procedure.

Please view:-

http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/buying-selling/sale-supply/sale-of-good-act/page8600.html

 

[Surfer]

Anegela interesting to note that you use the Small Claims court as we are also going down that way. I did a check and for an additional fee of

 

[Angela_5076436]

Well things have moved on a bit .

We actually had a phone call from the gentleman at Tyre line

[ yes we know perfectly well that our dealers have a responsibility but we are trying all lines of enquiry here ]

He was surprised - only just back in his Office after a while away , and yes he had got our e-mails and photos [ that was proved as my husband had just got the receipt of opening them - it's automatic not activated by the reader ]

Now he had given the impression before when on his moble that he was au fait with our case - WRONG he celarly wasn't but is now.

The tyre has been picked up for technical examination . We reminded him that one of the original tyres has been replaced [ side wall problem ] and agreed that both our problem tyres are outwith the known defective batch. We also reminded him that we still have 2 matador elite tyres.

Keep watching

 

[ValA.]

We had a blow-out in France, with a premium tyre - only checked the day before we set off. We replaced the supplied tyres immediately we picked up the caravan, and have replaced them at intervals since. We couldn't buy a replacement in France, but were able to change the wheel and it didn't ruin our holiday. We had Tyron bands on all three wheels - and I think these saved us from some more dramatic damage as we were able to pull the van off the road with no snaking or shaking.

Hope you get your problem sorted - but believe me if you've suffered a blow-out, and the consequences, then whatever you spend seems money well spent.

 

[peter_5297]

We are still waiting - apparently the tyreline man was going to contact the tyre makers .

We are fast losing patience.

Our tyres were not within the accepted batch - but clearly something was wrong.

Our dealers are , after all , responsible under law.

I can understand that they thought that by going direct to Tyreline we might get a faster settlement - but it's dragging on , and on , and on. and .......

I still want to know what the CC has done with the data - nothing has been said in the recent mags.

We noticed that there was a little item in the C&CC magazine - but really if we had not been looking for it we would have missed it.

Why are the clubs not helping ?

From Peter W Jones AMInstP

You ask what the caravan clubs are doing about tyres.

I found the answer to this question a few months ago on the private section of the CC's technical information for members

at www.caravanclub.co.uk

I found that the CC and the CCC have jointly set up an organisation in conjunction with the National Caravan Council to oversee the quality of the work done in at least 150 of the caravan/trailer workshops in the UK. This is managed for these three bodies by www.jones-vening.co.uk

As far as I know no caravan mechanics have ever been trained to fit electronic/electric brakes and this is why we do not have them in the UK although they could easiliy be imported from the USA. If you use the Google search engine and look at USA prices you will find that electric brakes for UK size caravans cost less than UK brakes plus stabiliser.

The National Caravan Council is the organisation representing most of the manufacturers.

If you wish to have unbiased advice on tyres or any other technical matter, it is no use looking to the clubs.

The Practical Caravan Magazine tested a UK designed pneumatic brake for caravans some years ago, and gave the system a good report, but no manufacturer took an interest.

INVRA, a Dutch company, manufactured an electronic caravan brake

similar to the latest ALKO type. The English inventor of the INVRA system told me that the main reason for the commercial failure of this venture was lack of any relevant training (fitting and maintenance)for mechanics in the UK.

From what I have read on the WWW the ALKO system can only be fitted to new vans. The INVRA system was designed to be fitted to all vans and trailers.

You will find a great deal more on this and related topics if you look at my blog

www.caravanaccidents.wordpress.com