Tyre Pressures

[Chris_374413356]

Having now winterised my van and taken the weight off the tyres, it crossed my mind, do I need to keep them at their relatively high operating pressures, in my case 3.7 bar or would a lower pressure be more beneficial for the tyre through thr winter months?

 

[Lutz]

No, quite the opposite. It would be more beneficial to increase the tyre pressure to the maximum permissible for the tyre (as shown on the sidewall), even if this is more than the normal operating pressure, especially if the tyres continue to take the full weight of the caravan. This would help to prevent flat spots from developing during storage over a long period of time.

 

[gary]

Totally agree with Lutz, I would though add, another benefit of inflating to full pressure is you will likely only need to remove a little air back to the correct pressure rather than return to find them in need of more before towing

 

[Guest]

If you have taken the weight of the tyres, I assume with axle stands or similar, then as the tyres are no longer in conatct with the ground you can reduce the pressures accordingly. However, I doubt it will make much difference to tyre life. Whatever you do, the clock is ticking and once they have reached 5 years from the date of manufacture, you are really wise to renew them.

If you can, remove the wheels and store them in a dark place, if not try covering them so light does not reach them so much. If however, you have only partially taken weight of the tyres, then keep the mnormal pressures and rotate the wheels monthly, if you can.

 

[Gafferbill]

........bizarrely, removing wheels from a caravan can invalidate your insurance if the insurance specifies that a wheel clamp must be fitted when the caravan is not attached to the tow vehicle.