Hi all,
What are your thoughts on the optimum time to change the tyres on your van due to age as opposed to wear, my 09 plate Autotrail Excel on a Ducato chassis has only covered 9000 miles and is fitted with the original Continental Vanco camper tyres which have very little signs of wear but at 6 years old should I be thinking of changing them?
there seems to be no consistency in how old they are before you change, most of what I read says about regular checks when they get to 5 years old, and some say just change at 6 years anyway. The michelin website says change after 10 years no matter what, but from 5 years onwards thorough checks by a specialist.
I am no expert but as its only 9000 miles in 6 years it may have been stood for a while on one area of the tyre which apparently isn't great for them,
others will argue they are fine until you see cracking etc.
My personal opinion is with such an expensive vehicle and my 4 year old daughter travelling in the back of an thin aluminium can I would change them after about 5 - 6 years, and we recently did that on ours even though the tread was fine.
Thanks for that PeeWee,
I have just checked and the tyres were manufactured in week 15 of 2008 and I think that for the same safety reasons as yourself I will get them changed soon,
regards,
I changed mine, same tyres on an 08 Fiat Ducato (Swift Sundance) last year at 13,000 miles.
The originals looked OK but I believe that they would have deteriorated due to exposure to UV light, as well as standing for long periods.I would change them for piece of mind
Thanks George,
Next question to everyone is where is the best place to buy 4 Continental vanco camper tyres, I can get them from Black circles for £108 per tyre fitted, are there any better deals going?
I was reading van manual last week to look up bulbs etc and read in tyre chapter, it read as follows Caravan tyres must be changed when 6 years older than date on tyre ,ignore condition of tread on tyre either part worn or new looking.
I used a Hoya tyre as all the field service engineers around here (East Anglia) seem to fit them on their service vans.
As they're working on Farm machinery in poor conditions most of the time, I thought that they would be ideal.
They have proved to be quiet for road use and the ride is good
I purchased my tyres from Asda last year - the best price against all other suppliers- even Black circle.
I went for Continental Vanco Camper tyres and Asda arranged to have them fitted by Halfords!
In all it was very easy and professionally done..
Hi Guys, thanks for all the helpful comments, I have taken Basa's advice and booked the van in on Thursday for 4 new Continental Vanco Camper tyres through Asda and fitted by a local Arnold Clark Fiat dealership working out at £104.40 per tyre fitted.
Thank goodness that I've changed my van. I've obviously been living on borrowed time with the last one - the tyres must have been at least 11 years old. I pity whoever buys it - looks like they'll have to splash out another £600! (spare wheel was never used)
(The original Michelin tyres suffered from splits in the sidewalls after 4-5 years.)
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Had mine changed last year as I noticed that the side-wall on one was cracking need the rim. I arranged to have all four done at the same time as they were all showing similar effect. I am glad I did as when they were removing the off side rear tyre it collapsed along the rim. So having had a blow out many years ago the thought of it happening with a motor home was truly frightening. The tread though was well above the legal limit, so tread depth is no guarantee of tyre quality.
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Topic: Tyres
