Tyres Bridgestone

[Grey13]

Hi Preparing for my summer Italy trip. Need new caravan Tyres. Had Firestone fitted, was very happy. However Firestone seem scarce right now. Looking at Bridgestone 185/75 R14 102/100R Duravis R660 Any comments suggestions?

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[otherclive]

Hi Preparing for my summer Italy trip. Need new caravan Tyres. Had Firestone fitted, was very happy. However Firestone seem scarce right now. Looking at Bridgestone 185/75 R14 102/100R Duravis R660 Any comments suggestions?

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They are a top quality make so I’d have no qualms. My last two sets of caravan tyres were Hankook Vantra which are a light commercial vehicle tyre so if they are suitable for WVM they are okay for a caravan.

 

[Hutch]

I have always used Hankook Vantras, but just changed my tyres for GT radial van tyres. £150 for two 195,70, 15. 102/104.
Your Bridgestone should be fine, a well known brand name, enjoy your Italian trip.

 

[Grey13]

Thanks. Off to lake Garda for a few weeks. Will do trips without the van round Lake Como and another down to Turin (Barolo Wine area) then along Ligurian Sea past Genoa. Looking forward to it! Bought a painting in South Africa (online) sent it over here then thought I would check the artist. A Mr Borelli lives near Turin, art sells for a packet. Anyway we will be spending a day drinking wine etc with him. Excited about that!

 

[Hutch]

Thanks. Off to lake Garda for a few weeks. Will do trips without the van round Lake Como and another down to Turin (Barolo Wine area) then along Ligurian Sea past Genoa. Looking forward to it! Bought a painting in South Africa (online) sent it over here then thought I would check the artist. A Mr Borelli lives near Turin, art sells for a packet. Anyway we will be spending a day drinking wine etc with him. Excited about that!

Sounds great, enjoy it.

 

[otherclive]

I have always used Hankook Vantras, but just changed my tyres for GT radial van tyres. £150 for two 195,70, 15. 102/104.
Your Bridgestone should be fine, a well known brand name, enjoy your Italian trip.

I bought a new 2005 Bailey Bordeaux and had a payload upgrade that took it to 1400 kg. The OEM tyres, Maxmiler, had a combined load of 1420kg so I decided to upgrade the tyres LI to give me more margin over the caravans 1400 kg MTPLM. Around that time there had been news of some OEM caravan tyres shredding so as I’m cautious wrt tyres I chose GT Radial Kargomax ST6000 which are a dedicated trailer tyre as we planned some long trips to southern France. I was advised they would shake the van to bits but after 9 years (5+4 yrs) all my wardrobes and fittings were where Bailey fitted them. Plus no damp. I’d have no hesitation fitting the GT Radials to any trailer I used.

 

[Woodentop]

Our van was shod from new in Maxxis tyres and I found them a good stable tyre.
If you want an alternative look at the ATSEuromaster site where you will find Goodyear Cargomaster tyres at £101 a pop fitted. Agreed they are van tyres but Goodyear are every bit the match for Bridgestone and a darn sight cheaper!

 

[Grey13]

Have anyone fitted tyron bands with your tyres. Seems like a good idea to me?

Flat Tyre Protection - Tyron

Tyron MultiBands are an addition to your existing vehicle wheel creating a safety wheel so in the event of a puncture or blowout you have control.

www.tyron.co.uk

 

[RogerL]

Many long debates on this - my view is that it's pointless given the safety ledges in the wheel rims which do the same job and have been standard for decades.

 

[Lutz]

I agree with RogerL. Tyre pressure monitoring systems are superior by far because they warn you before the worst happens.

 

[Hutch]

Have anyone fitted tyron bands with your tyres. Seems like a good idea to me?

Flat Tyre Protection - Tyron

Tyron MultiBands are an addition to your existing vehicle wheel creating a safety wheel so in the event of a puncture or blowout you have control.

www.tyron.co.uk

I have just removed the Tyron bands from my wheels, I bought the mobile band removal kit about 5 years ago, and when I went to use it it was terrible, if you got a puncture in Europe with these bands fitted it would be a nightmare. The kit is not strong enough. Your much better to have Tyre Pal kit fitted so you can see the pressures and temperature of the tyres.

 

[Grey13]

Thanks guy's. No bands

 

[Buckman]

I agree with RogerL. Tyre pressure monitoring systems are superior by far because they warn you before the worst happens.

We used our Tyrepal 215 for many years on our caravan and I am sure that it helped prevent any blow outs. As we no longer have a caravan we will be selling the Tyrepal unit along with all the sensors.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I have Bridgestone on my car and to be honest whatever makes I've had over the years I can't tell any difference between them. With one exception.... Avon. Would never use them again.

 

[Woodentop]

I have Bridgestone on my car and to be honest whatever makes I've had over the years I can't tell any difference between them. With one exception.... Avon. Would never use them again.

For the record the manufacturers of Avon tyres (Coopers at Melksham, Wilts) specifically warn that they must NOT be used on caravans!

 

[Buckman]

The best tyres I have had on a car has to be Michelin Cross Climate and secondly Continental Cross Contact.

 

[otherclive]

For a car I tend to look at the German tyre reviews and my key criteria are wet braking, wet handling and resistance to aquaplaning. Most quality makes do fine for dry braking and noise. But of course this thread is asking about caravan tyres so my criteria tend to be different.

 

[Mr Plodd]

As long as they are the correct size, and vitally have the correct load rating, then pretty much any make of tyre will do (other than super cheap ones) It's not as if a caravan tyre is required to give the ultimate grip when cornering at high speed is it?
Others I appreciate insist on fitting expensive high end tyres on a caravan, we are all free to make our own choices.
Just for the record I have seen caravan tyre failures on just about every make from the cheapest to high end Michelin's, so remain unconvinced that a caravan warrants expensive tyres.

 

[RogerL]

As long as they are the correct size, and vitally have the correct load rating, then pretty much any make of tyre will do (other than super cheap ones) It's not as if a caravan tyre is required to give the ultimate grip when cornering at high speed is it?
Others I appreciate insist on fitting expensive high end tyres on a caravan, we are all free to make our own choices.
Just for the record I have seen caravan tyre failures on just about every make from the cheapest to high end Michelin's, so remain unconvinced that a caravan warrants expensive tyres.

I don't see why a caravan warrants lower quality tyres than the car towing it - typical caravan tyres will be running much nearer their speed rating and their load limit than car tyres which have big reserves.

The one thing that caravan tyres don't need, at least for most caravanners, is long tread life as they're usually changed on time, not mileage.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Have anyone fitted tyron bands with your tyres. Seems like a good idea to me?

Flat Tyre Protection - Tyron

Tyron MultiBands are an addition to your existing vehicle wheel creating a safety wheel so in the event of a puncture or blowout you have control.

www.tyron.co.uk

What a can of worms.

I appreciate there has been a good number responses since you posted this and you have indicated you have changed your mind about fitting them, But for information only would you tell us what initially made you think they might be a good idea? PM me if you wish.

 

[Lutz]

I don't see why a caravan warrants lower quality tyres than the car towing it - typical caravan tyres will be running much nearer their speed rating and their load limit than car tyres which have big reserves.

I don’t think that is quite true. The lowest speed rating of a caravan tyre is an ‘N’ which is 140km/h or 87mph. I hope you don’t tow at anything like that speed. I have known car manufacturers to select tyres that don’t provide any greater speed or load rating reserves. They would be ill advised to anyway on cost grounds.

 

[RogerL]

I don’t think that is quite true. The lowest speed rating of a caravan tyre is an ‘N’ which is 140km/h or 87mph. I hope you don’t tow at anything like that speed. I have known car manufacturers to select tyres that don’t provide any greater speed or load rating reserves. They would be ill advised to anyway on cost grounds.

Most modern cars have much higher speed ratings than normal cruising speeds, apart from derestricted German autobahns. To meet it's designed top speed my car needs V-rated tyres but there's none available at that size/speed/load rating so has to be fitted with W-rated tyres, good for 168 mph some 2.4x the UK speed limit of 70 mph - in contrast my caravan tyres are N-rated at 87 mph just 1.45x the UK towing limit of 60.

In addition, car maximum weights are generally way below their tyre's load limit, typically 60% while caravan weights are usually about 90% of their load limit.

Taking speed and load into account, caravan tyres are much nearer their limit than car tyres - personally, I prefer as big a margin as possible.

 

[Lutz]

As the manufacturer has no way of knowing whether a car will ever be driven in a country where roads are derestricted, they will normally fit tyres that meet or exceed the maximum speed of the car. I don't know whether that is not even a legal requirement in the UK. One could argue that an accident should not occur as a result of a burst tyre of inadequate speed rating even if a car were driven at well above the legal speed limit.
That said, in over 30 years of towing caravans, the OEM tyres were always, without exception, right on the MTPLM limit and yet I have never experienced a tyre failure for that reason.

 

[RogerL]

As the manufacturer has no way of knowing whether a car will ever be driven in a country where roads are derestricted, they will normally fit tyres that meet or exceed the maximum speed of the car. I don't know whether that is not even a legal requirement in the UK. One could argue that an accident should not occur as a result of a burst tyre of inadequate speed rating even if a car were driven at well above the legal speed limit.
That said, in over 30 years of towing caravans, the OEM tyres were always, without exception, right on the MTPLM limit and yet I have never experienced a tyre failure for that reason.

UK Construction & Use rules are largely still in line with EU Type Approval rules - tyres must be suitable for the maximum design speed of the vehicle although it seems that fitment of lower speed tyres isn't policed/prosecuted. since all available car tyres have speed ratings in excess of the UK national speed limit.

 

[Mr Plodd]

Most modern cars have much higher speed ratings than normal cruising speeds, apart from derestricted German autobahns. To meet it's designed top speed my car needs V-rated tyres but there's none available at that size/speed/load rating so has to be fitted with W-rated tyres, good for 168 mph some 2.4x the UK speed limit of 70 mph - in contrast my caravan tyres are N-rated at 87 mph just 1.45x the UK towing limit of 60.

In addition, car maximum weights are generally way below their tyre's load limit, typically 60% while caravan weights are usually about 90% of their load limit.

Taking speed and load into account, caravan tyres are much nearer their limit than car tyres - personally, I prefer as big a margin as possible.

A tyre manufacturer produces a tyre to cope with a clearly displayed speed and load. I expect they know exactly what they are doing when then specify both dont you? Think of the reputational damage even if there is ever half a suggestion that a tyre failed due to it being run near, at, or even a little above its designated load rating.

In addition I doubt very much that there isn't a pretty substantial safety margin built into any classification.

Does anyone worry if their cars tyres are very close to the designated loading? How many drivers even know that their tyres have a load rating? Or even that their car has axles and gross permitted weights?

My cars tyre size is made by many different manufacturers, I am happy to fit those that are in the mid price range. Some cost nearly double, so does that mean they are twice as good, or that the mid range ones are only half as good as the super expensive ones.

Trust me when I tell you that something like 90% of drivers never get anywhere near the limit of the tyres on their car, and would almost certainly be bricking it if anyone took them anywhere near such limit (as I have done a fair few times over the years with other officers having a few days attachment to traffic)

Everyone has the right to spend their money as they wish, but in my experience (30 years as a traffic cop, and many as a collision reconstructor where tyre adhesion is a very important factor) I have driven many cars, of many makes, at some VERY high speeds and am not at all convinced of the "value" of fitting expensive tyres (unless on a track, but thats a whole different ball game).

Others are, of course, totally at liberty to hold a different viewpoint, but is that viewpoint based on fact, hearsay, what a mate down the pub reckons, "gut feeling" just supposition, or clever marketing by tyre manufacturers? ?