Tyres and Batteries

Mar 27, 2011
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I've been busy preparing for my first trip away next week and thought I would share a couple of reccomendations on two topics that seem to crop up regularly, first tyres, I wanted to replace mine as although they looked in perfect condition they were six years old so better safe than sorry, as mentioned by another poster mine also only had the 2 numbers on with no profile size, a call to E tyres sorted out exactly what I needed,in less than a 5 minute call I had made a booking, I chose the day and the time at my home address and the fitter turned up at exactly when we had arranged, he did a very professional job including balancing and using a torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts, well done E tyres! I also needed a new battery for the caravan, I had a mooch on the net and found www.performanceLeisure.co.uk from who I ordered a battery, ordered it at 6pm on Monday and it was delivered on Wednesday morning, price was excellent at £57 for an 88 ah battery which is more than sufficient for my needs and even though it has a 3 year warranty at that price if it lasted me a couple of years I'd be happy enough although I've no reason at this stage to suppose it won't last far longer, so well done to performance leisure, as someone else said on here we only ever seem to write about poor service or products on here so it's a refreshing change to have to companies giving good service. BP
 

Damian

Moderator
Mar 14, 2005
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Itis good to hear of good service for a change to the usual complaints about things.

If more people gave praise for the good service they have had from companies, sites, individuals etc it would give a really useful reference point for others looking for what they want.

Just a point about the battery you have bought, dont forget it will only have had a dry charge, so it needs conditioning before using, something no one will tell you.
If you have a smart charger, put the battery on charge for a day or so to bring it up to workable condition.It will prolong the life of the battery as well.
 
Mar 27, 2011
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Hi Damien, so putting it on the van for a day or two wouldn't give it a decent charge then? Never used a smart charger so not something I own, just had a quickie look at prices and seem to be as expensive as the battery I bought, what are the benefits of the smart charger as opposed to just charging in the caravan?

BP
 

Damian

Moderator
Mar 14, 2005
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The caravan charger , depending which van you have and how old it is, will only charge to 13.8v, which is 80% of max.
A smart charger wil take the battery to 14.8v and then settle to a maintainence charge at 13.8v but will have removed any sulphation on the internal plates.

Lidl and Aldi do a very good charger at £13.00 which is the same almost as a CTek, but much cheaper.
Keep an eye open for when they have them on offer next., usually about twice a year
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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Damian-Moderator said:
A smart charger wil take the battery to 14.8v and then settle to a maintainence charge at 13.8v but will have removed any sulphation on the internal plates.
The use of 'any' in the above statement is way too flattering; at best it will help reduce the sulphation which is good.
 
Jan 15, 2008
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I just rang Etyres and within minutes they had sorted the correct size,and arranged to fit them tomorrow!!!! also the price is better than I paid for my last car tyres,I have ordered the same make as were fitted to the van originally.

Excellent service.
 
Jan 15, 2008
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Tyres fitted as promised and at the time arranged.so very good.
Interesting comment on his fitting notes :- ' your caravan wheel assembly does not have a hub to support the wheel '
not quite sure what to make of that as of course they are the wheels etc fitted at the factory.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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plotter said:
Interesting comment on his fitting notes :- ' your caravan wheel assembly does not have a hub to support the wheel '
not quite sure what to make of that as of course they are the wheels etc fitted at the factory.
I suspect he was refering to the fact that your caravan hubs/wheels dont feature a centre spigot, as is quite common to find on car wheels.
If so he is not familiar with caravans, but there is nothing to be concerned about, the design is as it is intended to be. Whilst being without a spigot makes wheel changing a bit more fiddly it is technically sound, relying on the cones on the bolts centrering the wheel and transmitting the shear loads. Spigots where they exist only serve a roll in aiding wheel changing, they dont serve any load carrying function on the road.
 
Jan 15, 2008
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I believe you are correct and that is what I thought, when they fit tyres they leave a pre printed form on which they mark any of the pre listed areas that apply to the job .
 

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