How long do tyres last?

[izzy]

The tyres on our van are nearly 5 years old, they have no sidewall or inter tread cracking at all but being as they run at 54 psi and are the only thing between me and a potential catastrophe they will be changed at the end of the year.
I cannot understand people who will take any risk at all just to save a few quid

 

[Lutz]

The tyres on our van are nearly 5 years old, they have no sidewall or inter tread cracking at all but being as they run at 54 psi and are the only thing between me and a potential catastrophe they will be changed at the end of the year.
I cannot understand people who will take any risk at all just to save a few quid

The question being asked, though, is when is a tyre change appropriate? After 5, 6, or 7 years? Or maybe already after 4? It's possible that the tyre has a manufacturing defect and already needs to be replaced even earlier. Only technical inspection can give an answer.

 

[Buckman]

The tyres on our van are nearly 5 years old, they have no sidewall or inter tread cracking at all but being as they run at 54 psi and are the only thing between me and a potential catastrophe they will be changed at the end of the year.
I cannot understand people who will take any risk at all just to save a few quid

Why do you think that people are taking a risk with their tyres? Please explain.

 

[otherclive]

Back on Wi-Fi for a moment. Somewhere on the A417 in Herefordshire this happened. We felt nothing but conclude one of the numerous pot holes was responsible. Proving it is nigh impossible. Is it worth a letter to Hereford Council? Probably a waste of time. Mobile guy out tomorrow £80.00😢 Some may say looking at the photos the tyre is fine. Not worth taking a chance. I don’t know what damage may now lurk beneath the rubber.
The death knell of a caravan tyre is the UV exposure and standing still for long periods. My AWS looks at the inner and outer walls for signs of cracking. Any cracks they get changed

That’s not something that you need. I’m convinced it was a Salop (shire) pothole that damaged my caravans offside suspension bushes requiring a whole new axle, when visiting Wheathill site April 2018. The roads back then were absolutely appalling in that area.

 

[Buckman]

That’s not something that you need. I’m convinced it was a Salop (shire) pothole that damaged my caravans offside suspension bushes requiring a whole new axle, when visiting Wheathill site April 2018. The roads back then were absolutely appalling in that area.

Probably are still the same. When we were travelling back and forth to Westbury in Wiltshire we encountered some really bad potholes on some roads.

I wonder if those have been repaired since as filling in potholes is the last thing any council wants to do as we have the same problem in our county.

More annoying is when they resurface a road the cheap way by laying stones down for the motorist to compress into the tarmac. No joke if your car is immaculate with no stone chips and your caravan has no stone chips on the front. You will have them after a trip on one of those roads no matter how slowly you travel. 😡

 

[otherclive]

Probably are still the same. When we were travelling back and forth to Westbury in Wiltshire we encountered some really bad potholes on some roads.

I wonder if those have been repaired since as filling in potholes is the last thing any council wants to do as we have the same problem in our county.

More annoying is when they resurface a road the cheap way by laying stones down for the motorist to compress into the tarmac. No joke if your car is immaculate with no stone chips and your caravan has no stone chips on the front. You will have them after a trip on one of those roads no matter how slowly you travel. 😡

My grandson has had four tyres damaged by potholes this year. They are run flats on a 5 series and not cheap. Fortunately he took out tyre/wheel damage insurance which has covered the costs.

 

[JTQ]

I cannot understand people who will take any risk at all just to save a few quid

Nor can I with the brands some buyers, including some caravan makers choose, motivated by, what, "to save a few quid"?

 

[GaryB]

Our previous caravan was purchased new in March 2018, at it's 3 year service "slight crazing of the sidewall" was noted on one of it's four tyres. On close examination you could JUST see it, but nonetheless it was the start of deterioration, the date code revealed that the tyres were actually manufactured a year previous to the caravan.

We changed the caravan in 2022 and our old one is still on the dealers forecourt wearing the same tyres. I wonder if they'll change them for the new owner as they know they're "on the turn"...................?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Our previous caravan was purchased new in March 2018, at it's 3 year service "slight crazing of the sidewall" was noted on one of it's four tyres. On close examination you could JUST see it, but nonetheless it was the start of deterioration, the date code revealed that the tyres were actually manufactured a year previous to the caravan.

We changed the caravan in 2022 and our old one is still on the dealers forecourt wearing the same tyres. I wonder if they'll change them for the new owner as they know they're "on the turn"...................?

That seems a bit excessive changing the caravan because the tyres were older than you wanted????

 

[Buckman]

That seems a bit excessive changing the caravan because the tyres were older than you wanted????

I wonder how old the tyres were on the new caravan? Another excuse to trade it in again? 😂😂 😂

 

[Raywood]

Our previous caravan was purchased new in March 2018, at it's 3 year service "slight crazing of the sidewall" was noted on one of it's four tyres. On close examination you could JUST see it, but nonetheless it was the start of deterioration, the date code revealed that the tyres were actually manufactured a year previous to the caravan.

We changed the caravan in 2022 and our old one is still on the dealers forecourt wearing the same tyres. I wonder if they'll change them for the new owner as they know they're "on the turn"...................?

I do not see that one year old tyres on a new caravan would give rise to a claim. The tyres are still well within the anticipated life and he problem must lie elsewhere. It sounds as though they were defective from the start but proving this if I an correct, which you would need to do to claim, is unlikely to be cost effective.

 

[ProfJohnL]

On a slightly different perspective, if you ordered a new caravan, and you were delivered one that was already two or more years old, I think you would be justifiably dissatisfied and you would have a viable case under the CRA and trading standards.

Why should you accept old stock new tyres?

 

[RogerL]

On a slightly different perspective, if you ordered a new caravan, and you were delivered one that was already two or more years old, I think you would be justifiably dissatisfied and you would have a viable case under the CRA and trading standards.

Why should you accept old stock new tyres?

Caravans are occasionally sold/used for the first time a year, or several years, after being built but they're still classed as new. With the exception of items which have a legal requirement for expiry date or sell-by date, the law seems to give no indication how long an item can be held in stock and still classed as new.

New unsold tyres are normally stored in better conditions than used tyres fitted to caravans so the absence of legal age limits for car/van/caravan tyres means that it's down to the individual to determine what's acceptable to them.

 

[otherclive]

My last caravan was a 2012 model, signed off at build in November 2011, and registered to its first owner in April 2013. But its warranty ran for five years from date of registration. The time gap was caused by a drop in sales following the 2008 financial crash. Similarly there were cars sitting around since Covid hit and either buyers disappeared or the cars were awaiting parts.
Do we “ Sue or reject” because the Alde fluid has lost some of its life, or engine coolant/brake fluid and tyres too. There seems to be an ever increasing trend to advise litigation over what really are minor irritants. Life’s too short to fight minor isssues.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Caravans are occasionally sold/used for the first time a year, or several years, after being built but they're still classed as new. With the exception of items which have a legal requirement for expiry date or sell-by date, the law seems to give no indication how long an item can be held in stock and still classed as new.

New unsold tyres are normally stored in better conditions than used tyres fitted to caravans so the absence of legal age limits for car/van/caravan tyres means that it's down to the individual to determine what's acceptable to them.

I'm sorry I should have been more specific.

I should have said if you had ordered a a caravan to this years specification, but you were delivered last years model you would have good cause to complain.

The tyre industry should be more open about tyre ages you might be supplied with. They certainly have where some vehicles hav to have tyre less them 10 years old.

 

[RogerL]

I'm sorry I should have been more specific.

I should have said if you had ordered a a caravan to this years specification, but you were delivered last years model you would have good cause to complain.

The tyre industry should be more open about tyre ages you might be supplied with. They certainly have where some vehicles hav to have tyre less them 10 years old.

I stand by my statement "the absence of legal age limits for car/van/caravan tyres" so it's irrelevant that some other categories of tyres have limits.

The tyre industry is very open - they mould the manufacture date into the sidewall.

 

[Ukdave2002]

I am involved with classic cars where this question is often raised. Many classic cars only cover a few hundred miles a year & like caravans the cars often spend long periods standing. I have come to the conclusion that its impossible to give a definitive age at when tyres must be replaced as no two caravans or cars will use/store the tyres in identical ways, hit the same potholes, or carry the same weight.

I too have been told that UV accelerates the degradation of tyres & clearly if the van or car is left standing for long periods, then part of the tyre will have been stressed differently to the rest of the tyre.

My father in law used to have a boat (fairly light), when not in use, he had the trailer on axle stands , covered the tyres & reduced the tyre pressure, he changed the tyres every 10 years without issue.

Contrary there was a case local to us, of a mechanic fitting brand new (I think Michelin) but "quite old stock" tyres to his MGB that he purchased at an autojumble, after a few hundred miles, whilst on the M56 he began to experience some tyre wobble shortly followed by a blowout resulting in the car flipping. The driver unfortunately lost his life, his passenger survived. The tyre wall had collapsed. Tyre mileage or incorrect pressure were not the reason for failure.

5 years tyre life is probably conservative for tyres that have been pampered, but why risk it? the cost of replacing tyres every 5 years can't be a huge proportion of the overall costs of running and maintaining a caravan?

 

[GaryB]

I do not see that one year old tyres on a new caravan would give rise to a claim. The tyres are still well within the anticipated life and he problem must lie elsewhere. It sounds as though they were defective from the start but proving this if I an correct, which you would need to do to claim, is unlikely to be cost effective.

I won't be trying to claim at all as we no longer own it (as stated, it was part-exchanged last year as we wanted to downsize from a twin axle). Ironically until this thread surfaced I hadn't thought to check the date code on the new caravan, but as it was an ex-demonstrator I suspect they'll be knocking on a bit!

 

[ProfJohnL]

As tyres do not have a definitive "Do Not Use After" date, as consumers we have to be guided by legislation, and our own abilities to check and maintain them.

As we do not normally have method to check the internal structure there is always going to be some guesswork involved, and age might be rough indicator. But as we have seen it's far from a definitive criteria. We have to keep in mind, tyres will deteriorate, and an older tyre has an increasing risk of age related failure. And that the rate of deterioration is affected by the materials used in the tyre, and how the tyre is manufactured and where the tyre is stored and used.

With so many uncontrolled variables no one can possibly say exactly how old a tyre will be before a it should be considered unsafe to use.

As with a number of well intentioned caravaning advice the industry puts forward, there is little if any hard evidence of how the advice was formulated, and wether it's still relevant or necessary, but in the case of caravan tyres, five to seven years seems to be sensibly cautious.

However regardless of the industry advise, it is very important that every driver should regularly check their tyres and get any tyre that is demonstrating pressure drop, insufficient tread depth, bulges, cracking or cuts to the chords at least checked repaired or replaced.

 

[Buckman]

There are many SUVs on the road which have the spare tyre on the rear or maybe even on the bonnet. These spares are exposed to all sorts of weather during the year and probably more so than the actual road tyres.

A 1996 Toyota that I bought in 2004 still had the original spare, a Bridgestone tyre and it shows no signs of deterioration when it was changed in about 2008.

When I was in Africa Landrovers and Toyotas all had the spare tyre on the bonnet as it was more convenient for it to be there. Never had an issue with spare starting to look past its prime despite the severe weather.

Has the quality not tyres become worse than what it was years ago when tyres seemed to last years in severe weather before showing any signs of deterioration?

 

[otherclive]

My SWB Pajero had its spare on the rear door, but I protected it with a cover mainly to keep off road muck off. . Don't know if the change to compounds to give other aspects of performance has affected tyres, but both m daughters previous focus (Dunlops) and my wife's Ria (Yoko) picked up advisories for sidewall cracks at five years old from DOM.

 

[Grey13]

Caravan tyres and wheels

Caravan wheels may look similar to car ones, but they are usually specially made for caravan use.

www.caravanclub.co.uk

 

[otherclive]

Caravan tyres and wheels

Caravan wheels may look similar to car ones, but they are usually specially made for caravan use.

www.caravanclub.co.uk

A useful article. Although I have had trailer specific trailer tyres on a caravan; GTRadial Kargomax ST6000 and Kendo Kargpro. . They were marked “FRT” free running tyres and embossed “Trailer Use Only”. They should not be used on steered or powered wheels.

 

[ProfJohnL]

....
When I was in Africa Landrovers and Toyotas all had the spare tyre on the bonnet as it was more convenient for it to be there. Never had an issue with spare starting to look past its prime despite the severe weather.

Has the quality not tyres become worse than what it was years ago when tyres seemed to last years in severe weather before showing any signs of deterioration?

The problem with holding up one example of where a tyre apparently has no degradation, is that same tyre might be damaged in ways that you cannot see without a technical inspection.

If you had brought that exact tyre to the UK it might have degraded more because of the difference of the environmental pollutants we have here.

It's also the case that even though a tyre manufacturer may sell what appears to be the make and model of tyre in different continents, the actual materials used may be altered to suit the local situation.

Its difficult to quantify what "Quality" is defined by, but in the case of tyres it often comes down to a set of trade offs. for example The old Michelen X tyres of the 1960's were renown for long distances, but the trade off was the grip levels were not class leading.

As technology and materials have advanced, tyre manufacturers have had more precise methods of evaluating tyre dynamics, and that has potentially allowed them to revise tyre designs to reduce the wasteful over engineering that might have previously occurred.

I believe that the research and development of tyres has led to improved grip levels and of course to meet the demands of much higher performance vehicle's we have now -a-days, but the trade off is how quickly they wear, especially when tyres are designed for seasonal usage.

I agree tyres are different to what they used to be, but I can't really agree they are of lesser quality.

 

[Raywood]

I won't be trying to claim at all as we no longer own it (as stated, it was part-exchanged last year as we wanted to downsize from a twin axle). Ironically until this thread surfaced I hadn't thought to check the date code on the new caravan, but as it was an ex-demonstrator I suspect they'll be knocking on a bit!

As a demonstrator I would assume the caravan had been stood on the dealers forecourt and that could mean some UV damage. If it was in a showroom then it should be less of a problem, but either way I would still be wary if you still had it after five years.