Do you or don't you ?

[Dave_5040181]

In 20 years I have never bothered with winter wheels.I move the caravan every now and then so it's not sat on the same spot but after experiencing a blow out on 5 year old tyres, vowed to change them every 3 years no matter what the dealer assures at the annual service.However, last year my van spent the previous winter sat in a ( the same questionable) dealers waiting for a warrenty job and I was horrified to discover some months later that the tyres had cracked between the treads to horrendous levels.Was this down to not moving the van or dodgy tyres fitted to a brand new van ?

So to be safe, I'm interested in how many people take their tyres off every winter ?

 

[Neil_5041165]

I have only had a caravan for three years and this is only the second full winter. I did consider using winter wheels but simply never got round to buying any.last winter the caravan was only sat still for short of three months. This winter it will be even less by the time its been away to be serviced and we begin caravanning again in the early spring having only just got back from being away over new year.The overriding question is how long should the caravan sit still before your need to put winter wheels on. In our storgae compound of about 500 caravans there's less than a handfull that use winter wheels.

 

[jon_5062082]

i jack ours up and bang some axle stands under just enough to take the weight off the tyre walls. 20 minute job that could save you a ruined holiday or worse. Its a no brainer i think.

 

[Icemaker]

we have never used winter wheels and i can't see the point of them at all, surely its easier to just move the van a few inches every other week, as it is we use the van all year any way so every three weeks it gets a good tow.

One point to remember is that most if not all insurance companies insist on a wheel clamp being fitted to your van at all times when the van is not on tow, there was an article on this quite recently in one of the mags regarding a chap who had his van stolen by thieves who brought theire own wheels they removed his winter wheels fitted the new wheels and his insurance refused to pay out due to no wheel clamp being fitted.

 

[BigRoy]

My caravan is stored on a farm and the procedure is that the caravan is dropped off outside the farmhouse then the farmer tows it off to the storage compound.

This means that I can't get to it over winter to move it so I've bought an old set of rims and scrap tyres and fit them for the winter and store the caravan wheels in the garage.

The face on the tyre fitter was a picture when I walked in with the wheel rims and asked for a couple of baldy tyres to be fitted. (no offence meant to any forum users with thinning hair)

 

[RogerL]

Each winter I jack up the caravan, support the axle on large wooden blocks and remove the wheels.

The wheels are cleaned, re-painted with "tyre-black" to minimise UV deterioation and stored, fully inflated, in the dark.

The tyres are fully inspected before re-fitment and replaced at 5 years old as a matter of course.

Al-Ko recommend that the weight is taken off the springs if the caravan isn't used in winter.

 

[Lutz]

An alternative is to increase the tyre pressure to the maximum allowed. Just don't forget to reduce it again to the recommended pressure before moving the caravan.

The tyres on my caravan are now six years old and due for renewal but no signs of cracks. But perhaps they haven't been exposed to as much direct sunlight as others.

 

[Dave_5040181]

Good idea Lutz, thanks as I hadn't thought of that.I'll get the foot pump out and work off some Christmas calories whilst I'm at it !Dave

 

[cris_408518]

Lift it onto stands and have wheel covers! Under my insurance I have to have wheel lock fitted. Advised that taking wheels off would void the insurance.

Thieves can soon put some wheels on if they know they want your van, even going to breaking into the van, garages and sheds to see if you have the wheels there according to local police.

 

[Guest]

I don't winter wheel because my van is used all year round

 

[RayS]

Deep cracks between the tread lines may be due to make of tyre.Some months ago there was a thread on the failure rate of Hankook tyres fitted as new on many UK vans. From memory some were reported as failing in less than 1000 miles. Certainly those I changed on my van at 17,000 were showing signs of such cracking, and I imagine that long periods of standing could make this worse, depending on the position of the crack.

 

[mikeE]

I seem to recall a thread on this subject saying that this was only a problem with crossply tyres , not radials . Can anyone offer guidance ?

Mike E

 

[hughdavies]

An alternative is to increase the tyre pressure to the maximum allowed. Just don't forget to reduce it again to the recommended pressure before moving the caravan.

The tyres on my caravan are now six years old and due for renewal but no signs of cracks. But perhaps they haven't been exposed to as much direct sunlight as others.

Lutz

My 6 year old tyres looked like new having done only 1000 miles.Comig back from a rally felt the back end a bit twitchy, You wold not belive the state of the tyres,they had bulged into something like a ruggby ball.I was very lucky, be warned.

 

[Tankie]

I have seen these references lately that, removing wheels in winter to prevent damage to sidewalls is only applicable now to crossply tyres, (I didn't know they were still available!)radial tyres being built differently were not affected anymore. I always move my van anyway to give the grass a bit of daylight!!

Tankie