Going to france and tip of spain

[zoaman]

One thing to bear in mind regarding tyres, should you suffer a puncture in France and need a new tyre, you will have to buy 2, our friends had a puncture last year and were able to fit their spare, but had to order the replacements due to the size not being held in stock, which took 2 days to arrive. The alternative would have been to risk driving and towing without a spare. might be worth checking with your European breakdown insurer what the procedure would be should you get a puncture and need to use your gunk and compressor.From memory I think there are a couple of companies across France that have stores similar to Halfords that offer tyre fitting i will try to find the names and post again.

I have heard the above quoted quite often but no one has been able to point to the actual legislation. I am fairly sure that the legislation refers to similar tread and not exact same tyre i.e. brand etc. The CMC cannot give a definite answer either. Maybe the technical staff at PC can give us a definite answer and put this ot bed once and for all?
Last year on our twin axle we had a blow out in France and luckily we were already on site when it happened. They came out and changed the wheel putting the spare on. As I was reluctant to travel without a spare we took the faulty tyre to the fitter in La Rochelle and had a new tyre fitted. Unfortunately they only had Michelin tyres which cost us an arm and a leg. We left the spare on until we returned to the UK otherwise we would have had to pay to exchange the tyre again.

funny you should say that.i had to have tyre changed last year on our cruiser. (Side wall hit).i looked about for the same make to marry them up.ovation I think was the name
And the cheapest was a French company .delivered to me in the UK 2 days £37.it was more for a different cheap make in the UK.work that out.ok I had to have it fitted at £8.
Sorry but just dragging this out abit.when we had the tyre fitted it was noted they they were not balanced.so had them all done.i spoke to explorer and they said yes no tyres are balanced before they leave us.

 

[Buckman]

On our 2016 Cruiser we had a side wall blow out on the offside rear tyre while on a site in France. We were on the site for about two days when the tyre blew. Gave us and the neighbours quite a fright!

 

[Craigyoung]

when we had the tyre fitted it was noted they they were not balanced.so had them all done.i spoke to explorer and they said yes no tyres are balanced before they leave us.

But you can't get the tyres balanced until they're on the rim !!

 

[zoaman]

when we had the tyre fitted it was noted they they were not balanced.so had them all done.i spoke to explorer and they said yes no tyres are balanced before they leave us.

But you can't get the tyres balanced until they're on the rim !! [/qu
Sorry meant eldiss said no caravan leaves us with balanced wheels or tyres.

 

[zoaman]

Sorry meant eldiss said no caravan leaves us with balanced wheels or tyres.

 

[Buckman]

Sorry meant eldiss said no caravan leaves us with balanced wheels or tyres.

According to Elddis the wheels are now balanced on the 2018 Buccaneers.

 

[Craigyoung]

According to Elddis the wheels are now balanced on the 2018 Buccaneers.

You know the amount we are paying for these vans you would think that every wheel and tyre would be balanced as standard before they come out and we get them on the road !

 

[otherclive]

There have been posts about French garages insisting that you must have two identical tyres on an axle. Not just size, speed, load rating and pattern but make too. Back well over 10 years ago Michelin got an EU fine for paying fitting agents a commission to fit their tyres. Neither of the clubs seem to have been able to give a consistent view on what actual French law states. But I suspect it may be a bit vague. Nevertheless if you do suffer a non repairable puncture and the agent insists that you have to fit two new tyres there’s not really much you can do is there? Guess I should be okay as all our cars are Michelin shod.

Subaru 4wd owners will face this dilemma continuously no matter where they drive given the need to maintain tread depth “equality” over all four wheels not just two. That’s why I fitted a full size spare to my Forester.

 

[Buckman]

Sorry meant eldiss said no caravan leaves us with balanced wheels or tyres.

According to Elddis the wheels are now balanced on the 2018 Buccaneers.

Thought I would check again with Elddis and I am wrong. They do not balance the tyres!

 

[zoaman]

Sorry meant eldiss said no caravan leaves us with balanced wheels or tyres.

According to Elddis the wheels are now balanced on the 2018 Buccaneers.

Thought I would check again with Elddis and I am wrong. They do not balance the tyres!

Yes i had already checked this as we are looking to buy another.but alot of things are putting us off.just petty really but some things are niggly too.just one instance.
In the bedroom area for the tv the have now moved the ariel and sat socket down the bottom and the 240 up the top.So now either way you place the tv you have a lead or 2 hanging down the wall.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Buckman

I do not know whether there is any legislation regarding buying 2 tyres, but at the time, one of our relations who lives in France phoned around several suppliers on our friends behalf, each supplier was adamant they would only quote for 2 tyres, It may be French thing, the car in question was a Kia Sorrento and due to the size of the tyres none of the dealers contacted had them available from stock, once they were delivered the fitting service was excellent.

 

[RayS]

Back to your question about power adaptors. You can expect to find both the more modern 3 pin Connector as is common in UK and the seemingly 2 pin Continental connector although many of these do have an eart connection with the socket actually in the plug rather than the socket.
You will also find many reverse polarity connections and often mixed with 'correct' outlets on the same bollard or supply box.
Suggest you carry a polarity tester which looks like the standard UK 3 flat pin plug but also adaptors from 2 pin to 3 pin sockets. I an many others carry two adaptors one wired correctly and one wired reverse polarity and suitably identified such that we can connect correctly to virtually any outlet we find. A plug fitted with a few inches of cable and a rubber 3 pin UK socket will enable you to test at the bollard end before connection rather than having to run back to thr caravan to check. If you are not confident to make these up yourself a qualified electrician should make them up for you very quickly

 

[otherclive]

Back to your question about power adaptors. You can expect to find both the more modern 3 pin Connector as is common in UK and the seemingly 2 pin Continental connector although many of these do have an eart connection with the socket actually in the plug rather than the socket.
You will also find many reverse polarity connections and often mixed with 'correct' outlets on the same bollard or supply box.
Suggest you carry a polarity tester which looks like the standard UK 3 flat pin plug but also adaptors from 2 pin to 3 pin sockets. I an many others carry two adaptors one wired correctly and one wired reverse polarity and suitably identified such that we can connect correctly to virtually any outlet we find. A plug fitted with a few inches of cable and a rubber 3 pin UK socket will enable you to test at the bollard end before connection rather than having to run back to thr caravan to check. If you are not confident to make these up yourself a qualified electrician should make them up for you very quickly

You can by both types as a package with a reverse polarity detector on EBay, or Amazon.

 

[zoaman]

some thing like this
ebay
122567372163