Tyron Bands and Tyres

[ThePolisher]

For the first time in 22 years of towing a caravan, I had my first puncture on Sunday. Shame was, I only just picked up the new caravan so it did less than 4 miles!!

Never mind. Screw right through the middle of the tread, easily repairable.

I pumped it up, seemed to hold air ok so I limped it to the nearest Kwik-Fit. Imagine my shock at being told by the Manager than Kwik-Fit will not work on caravans. They wouldn't even do it if I removed the wheel and took it in.

I was not happy to say the least, but wondered if it was just a fob off as he didn't want to do it with Tyron bands fitted.

So, I carried on for a few miles, then at a safe location I jacked it up and put the spare on, then carried on home.

Today, I called into my local Kiwk-Fit, to be told the same. No caravans at all.

ATS, "We can't do Tyron bands, I can call the commercial HGV team out to you, they can......... but the cost would be horrific".

In the end, my local tyre place knew about Tyrons and did the job in 20 minutes for £10.00.

I am STUNNED at the attitiude of Kwik-Fit, has anyone else had problems like this?

I think some coverage in a National Magazine highlighting this is needed. If you haver a puncture, what are you meant to do?!?!

 

[brian_c]

Hi Polisher.
My recent experience of the same company was opposite to yours. I ordered two tyres to be fitted by their mobile service. Obviously not puncture repairs but still required working on a caravan. And no mention of Tyron bands.

Well when the fitter arrived he took one look and told me the tyres I'd ordered were not suitable. He reassured me that he could sort it out which he did via a phone call. Then a couple of days later he returned and fitted the tyres with no problem wheels balanced new valves etc. Plus I was given a credit for the price difference only about ten pound but very welcome.
It just goes to show how two opinions of a company can differ so much.
Mind you I hope my messing them around with ordering the wrong tyres hasn't made them rethink their policy regarding caravan tyres.

I think this post may perhaps get moved to a different section of the forum it's come on my page via the new members section.

Best regards Brian

 

[ThePolisher]

That's my fault, I forgot to change the category when I posted it........ I'm sure admin will move it for me!?

Interesting about your experience, I wonder if the difference is mobile vs centre?

 

[emmerson]

That company once tried to get me to have a complete new exhaust system on my Range Rover, for over £300, because they said they couldn't separate the pipes to just fit a silencer. Strong words were exchanged. I bought a silencer from a local motor factor, cost £35, and fitted it, on the ground, at home in 20 minutes!
I wouldn't spit on their depot if it was on fire!

 

[Hutch]

If you look at the Kwik Fit website, under Tyres and types of tyre, they have a section on caravan tyres and also Tyron bands, They do say their mobile units have more knowlege about fitting them.
Hutch

 

[ThePolisher]

So it does.

No one mentioned mobile to me, if they had offered that t might have helped!

Just completed a contact us form to ask them to explain.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Polisher

When we had our wheels replaced under warranty the supplying dealer sent the wheels via courier and they arrived with new tyres, as we needed the tyron bands moved from faulty wheels to new wheels I obtained various quotes and Kwik Fit were the cheapest and the mobile workshop came to our house. The van was spotless inside and he swapped the bands over and balanced the tyres,Very pleased with the service, and the supplying dealer reimbursed us for the cost. and collected the old wheels and tyres from us.I think we found Kwik Fit by way of the Tyron website.

 

[ProfJohnL]

It is of course a personal matter if you want to spend money on fitting wheel rim bands to your caravan, but to my knowledge there is no definitive or corroborate evidence wheel rim bands improve outcomes when a caravan tyre deflates. Modern wheels already incorporate ridges to retain the bead or the tyre, so bands are not necessary.

The band manufacturers show examples of fitments to emergency and military vehicles, where those vehicles may be at danger from having forced blow outs, which are entirely different to the typical blowout you will experience from an a tyre with wall damage from underinflation.

If you believe they are essential for your caravan, then you should also be fitting them to all the wheels on your car. Ask yourself why don't the insurance companies or the authorities make them compulsory?

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi, I know this thread is aimed at Kwik Fit and Tyron bands, an while I have never had the bands fitted, I have used Kwik Fit a couple of times.

first was in early 90's when I suffered a puncture on the A9 on the way to Inverness, at 3am in the morning while doing a overnighter, in the days before I carried a spare, the tyre blew out on a bad bend, after I stopped, while looking for somewhere safe, a police patrol LD stopped, asked what the problem was, and after I explained he escourted us to a layby, as the tyre was a write off anyway, he place a warning sign and cones around the unit told us to get some sleep and he would come back in the morning.
at 7am he returned, got a huge jack out of the RR and removed the wheel, put it in the police car and drove me to the tyre centre in Inverness. we pulled into the carpark of the Kwik fit, at 7.30am before they opened, the manager greeted us, saying the police had informed them we were coming, he fitted a new tyre and balanced it.
then the officer took me back to the van and refitted the wheel wished us good luck and left after we got going again.
this is an endorsement and thank you of both the Scottish police and Kwik fit, without them we would have been truly stuck.

since that day I always carried a spare, but never needed it until I had another puncture on the A30 near Okehampton no problem I just stopped and put the spare on, rather than use the van until I got home with a busted spare I called in the Kwik Fit in Okehampton still with the van on the back, to get a new tyre on, which they fitted without fuss,
on neither occasion was it a problem being a caravan tyre, so don't understand the problem unless it is the bands.
I have no complaints about Kwik Fit, at all they have served me well, when I needed them.

 

[Dustydog]

As Mr Newton said
"For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action." B)

 

[ThePolisher]

Had a response from Kwik-Fit Customer services. They confirm that only the mobile services can do caravan tyres.
That is not what their website says, it says "not all centres can".

Still, my point being that 2 centres I visited just refused to deal with me, rather than explain that they had a mobile service that did this.

 

[Gozza]

I guess that every Kwik Fit depot will be a bit different, but my experience has always been on the negative side. Most recently (about three years back) I took a caravan wheel with old tyre, and a new spare wheel without tyre, in to have two new caravan tyres fitted - the idea being that I'd keep the other wheel and old tyre as a spare.

1) They rang me on Thursday (five days after drop-off) to tell me the wheels were ready to collect. When I arrived, by appointment, Staurday morning, they hadn't started fitting the tyres.

2) They were astonished I hadn't brought the caravan in to have its wheels fitted by them (hint...you've got the wheels...how was I supposed to get it here?)

3) Once they started trying to fit the tyres they discovered they were unable to do so...as with the OP's experience, they said caravan tyres are different to cars and they'd have to get their mate from the commercial depot over with a special tool.

4) I came back Sunday morning to be told by the manager that he'd had to work late the night before to get my wheels ready for collection. He was rather indignant that I failed - rather loudly - to be impressed at his "special efforts" to only deliver the job "only" three days late.

5) Since there was some tread left on the old tyre they'd removed, they suggested I might like to keep it as a spare, as they'd had trouble sourcing the tyres for me. When I got home and checked the bill I discovered they'd charged me for "environmental disposal of two tyres".

Suffice to say I shan't be using that branch of KF again

 

[Gabsgrandad]

I had Tyron bands on and had my last flat. the wife heard a bang but neither of us realised what it was! Continued on but it seemed that the Freelander was losing power, could see nothing wrong,no instrument warnings, van looked ok in the mirrors. At 1st. opportunity pulled up and walked round outfit checking hitch and coupling - no problem, it was then that we spotted this:-

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv4/Petjea/Project1.png

It had Tyron band fitted , proceeded to change wheel, and proceed on holiday. Rim wrecked and a bit of wheel arch damage. so don't know whether Tyron band did good or bad, but the inherent stability of the Lunar and Freelander was obvious as no handling problem during incident. Haven't had Tyron fitted since as I found out then "most" tyre places can't deal with them. And even after this incident, wasn't convinced that they had particularly helped.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

No, the band didn't seem to retain much of the tyre.

 

[Gozza]

Still, my point being that 2 centres I visited just refused to deal with me, rather than explain that they had a mobile service that did this.

According to a Kwik...sorry, quick...bit of online research, Kwik Fit branches are franchises, so it goes against the depot's interests to draw your attention to the fact there are mobile fitters...I guess that once most people have had a positive experience of the mobile fitters, they would be less likely to go back to the fixed depots even for things the fixed depot could do, like car tyres.

In addition to my caravan tyre experience with my local KF (above) I've also had a negative experience there with car tyre fitting, so I won't use that depot again.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

ATS Euromaster have been good to us over the years with our cars. They've even done work free of charge when the job isn't listed on their computer screen menu. And they say loyalty doesn't count.

 

[Raywood]

I not convinced about the advantages of Tyron bands but I cannot see any evidence that they do not work. It is really a question of if you feel the possible advantages of the bands are worth the money and possible problems if the tyres need replacing. We did have them on our Eldiss some time back and we were supplied with special tools and an instruction sheet to give the fitter if the tyres were changed but it never happened. It may be the tools are not supplied with them now which is causing the problems.

Have to say when we changed the tyres last time Kwik fit were not very good on finding them and we used e tyres who knew exactly what we wanted and came to us. Given many tyre depots are quite tight for parking and I doubt the ramps would be any good I prefer the fitting to be done off site.

 

[Jaydug]

When I bought my Avondale in 2011 it was already ten years old. From the file of manuals and receipts I saw that Tyron bands had been fitted to the wheels. I also quickly realized that the tyres were the originals, fitted at the factory. I always buy and pay for new tyres on line and have them delivered to a local tyre shop where they are fitted with new valves and balanced at no extra charge. Having checked with the tyre shop's head office that they could deal with Tyron bands, I ordered on the internet a pair of new tyres, the same as those fitted, to be delivered to them.

Three days later I removed the caravan wheels and took them to the depot where the new tyres were waiting. I saw at once that the young guy was having difficulty removing the old tyre from the rim. After quite an age he brought me the band saying, "I'll put that in your boot. There's no need for it to go back on" Obviously he hadn't a clue about why it was there. I don't think he liked been told..... :dry:

 

[Gozza]

In my moan about the local KF above, I forgot to mention that when I first took the wheels in I asked the manager about fitting Tyrons...he'd never heard of them, although one of his staff admitted to having read about something like that years ago.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Tyron for caravans, and even if his depot didn't deal with them, I found it a bit concerning that someone who earns a living as a tyre specialist had never heard of them.

 

[ProfJohnL]

In my moan about the local KF above, I forgot to mention that when I first took the wheels in I asked the manager about fitting Tyrons...he'd never heard of them, although one of his staff admitted to having read about something like that years ago.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Tyron for caravans, and even if his depot didn't deal with them, I found it a bit concerning that someone who earns a living as a tyre specialist had never heard of them.

I'm sorry but I can't agree with your position.
Wheel bands are not a legal requirement, nor have they any proven track record of performing any better than wheel not fitted with them. The fact that not all fitters are fully aware of them also points to the conclusion they are not a proven bit of kit. otherwise there would be better awareness of them throughout the industry. If you read the various forums about them and people's experience of them whilst abroad, you will find they are virtually unknown on the continent. It's not as if they are a new idea, they have been around for several decades, and it certainly suggests there is no groundswell of opinion or body of evidence to support the manufacturers claims.

So I don't find it particularly disturbing that several mainstream fitters have no equipment or knowledge to deal with them.

As for insurance companies offering discounts where they are fitted, the discounts do not fully offset the cost of buying and fitting them,and the inconvenience if you have to have a tyre replaced. But if it offers you peace of mind then thats fine, but you should also consider having them fitted to your car as well.

 

[Raywood]

I did not know you could get a discount for them but I cannot see that attracting many people.
I do however think that as they are fitted to a lot of vehicles, tyre fitters should be trained to deal with them and it does appear that those who do not may lose business as a result.
It is just a case of fitting them if you feel the alleged benefits are real and justify the costs.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

... as they are fitted to a lot of vehicles......

Do you have any figures as to what percentage of vehicles have them fitted? My guess is that it is probably less then 1% as I've never heard of them being fitted to any car in my nearly 50 years of driving.

 

[Sproket]

... as they are fitted to a lot of vehicles......

Do you have any figures as to what percentage of vehicles have them fitted? My guess is that it is probably less then 1% as I've never heard of them being fitted to any car in my nearly 50 years of driving.

Looks like thesy are used by different sevices

https://youtu.be/qKwjfWXGU4U

 

[ThePolisher]

Having towed a caravan with tyrons fitted and had a puncture, and seen the resulting damage from not having them, I'll stick to the tyron bands.

As for KF, their own website details them and says they can supply and fit them....................... so why don't the centres know about them?

 

[PaulT]

The problem with Tyron bands is that they only come into their own once the tyre has deflated and is (probably) destroyed. Surely a better option is to fit sensors to the wheels to warn of a deflating tyre in good time. My 'van came with the sensors already fitted, all I had to do was to buy the unit to fit in the car.