Help!! Tyres!

[Angela3]

hello,
the tyres on our 2008 Abbey 418 have developed small cracks on the sidewalls so we need to replace both tyres before setting off on our travels this year.....however this has not been easy to resolve!!
What do other caravanners do when they change their tyres? Our local caravan centre told us where they go to get tyres so we went there and they said to bring the wheels in and they would change the tyres but I'm worried as they won't be fitting them back onto the caravan, so they won't be torqued properly.....is this a job my husband can do?
the other solution is that they do a mobile service and will then hopefully torque the tyres when changing them, what does everyone else do????
many thanks
Peter and Angela

 

[nickmac73]

hi,
there is a good thread on this on page 2 of technical....what tryes are you using i think...
nick

 

[nickmac73]

re reading the thread it is about which brand of tyre to go for...
i bet you would't have to go far back through the threads to find what you are looking for though...
personally i'd be looking to remove and refit the wheels myself...good practise for if you ever got a puncture...and having a chat with my local tyre centre to fit and balance my chosen tyres...plus check out fitting safety bands....

 

[dougie201]

Hi Angela.

You can easily re-torque your wheels. But you will need to buy or get a loan of a torque wrench. Even if the tyre centre did fit your tyres and refit your wheels after around 30 miles you would be advised to re-torque.

Dougie......

 

[Angela3]

we went to a recommended tyre place yesterday and they do a mobile service but didn't think to ask if they will balance the tyres after reading on here that they should be balanced.

why is it so difficult to get this sorted? don't other caravan owners have this problem? and how do they sort it out!!

 

[dougie201]

Hi.
Yes get them balanced just as you would the car. A mobile service will be able to balance your wheels. I would think they should balance them automatically anyway.
Next time you need tyres it will be easier as you will know where to go.

Dougie.....

 

[Damian]

E Tyres do a mobile service, they come to you, at home or in your storage if needed.
They will change the tyre and balance it and the cost is pretty much on par with anyone else.

Make sure you tell the fitter to blance the wheels though, just to make sure.
You will need to tell him exactly what tyres you want, size and load rating,.

Also tell him what pressure you want them and what torque to replace the wheel bolts.

 

[Angela3]

many thanks for all of your replies, we have a phone no for etyres and have looked at their web site and they seem very good, will be ringing them in the morning!!
will also ask them everything you've mentioned so thank you for that.

just a bit paranoid I think as we've seen blow outs on our travels and had friends that have experienced them and it scared me to death....so when we checked the tyres and saw cracks on the outer walls that was it...new tyres, no messing!!
Just didn't think it would be so difficult to sort!!
Any way all being well we'll get them done on Friday and be set for our travels this year....yay!!!
many thanks again

 

[otherclive]

Make sure they supply the tyres with the correct Load Index for your van. Current advice is that the tyres max load should be 10 per cent (or higher) above the MTPLM of the fully laden van. My preference is to fit tyres suited to commercial vehicles like Sprinter vans as they are well above the caravan max speed and are robust. I also fit premium makes as the price difference between budget and premuim is not that large.

 

[RayS]

If you are CC members look on their website and download the .pdf file on caravan wheels and tyres. This will tell you about ratings and load factors, torque settings etc.

 

[TD42]

this may help you iout with some info on caravan tyres http://www.tyresafe.org/tyre-safety/caravan-tyre-safety

 

[Angela3]

Thank you to everyone for their replies....we have now sorted the tyre problem and have 2 new, balanced and torqued tyres on our caravan!!!
We went to etyres on the recommendation of this forum and were very pleased with the way the whole process was handled so if anyone out there is having problems sorting new caravan...or any other tyres, we would definately recommend etyres for the job, wish we'd known aout them sooner!!
now we just need 2new suspension springs and a new bearing on our mondeo... and maybe then we'll be ready to go !!!! (booked into garage on monday) and doesn't it really tick you off when people say...'caravanning is such a cheap holiday!!' not!!

anyway many thanks again