I am looking at replacing all 4 tyres on my 2019 Swift Elegance 645 over this winter ready for next season touring.
Can anyone recommend a good brand / model tyre that would be suitable?
Thanks
I always fit Hankook tyres and find that they perform well, even when I change them at 6 to 7 years old they are hardly worn,and no cracks. Fit them to my motors as well. I would not of thought 2019 tyres needed replacing yet.
If the tyres are in good condition I would leave them on, my last tyre change was at 6 years and my 2018 swift will also be at 6 years (which will be in 2023 due to tyres being a year older than the caravan).
Hi Trog100
Nothing more than I am a stickler for good tyres and keeping them spot on. I am no different with car tyres , they never get anywhere near the limit. I change them well before they ever get anywhere near the minimum .
Caravan tyres never wear out on the tread but do suffer sidewall degrading and or cracks due to long periods standing.
The date on my caravan tyres show 18 on my 2019 Swift.
Next touring season for 2023 will make them 5 years old and it�s recommended to change caravan tyres at 5 years anyway. If I didn�t change then this winter , I would at the end of next year touring .
We have some long trips planned for next year to Croatia, South of France and Spain and will involve much motorway and Autoroute driving.
I just find it reassuring that I have good tyres fitted to the towcar / caravan and know that if nothing else the grip and handling on good tyres is the best I can make it in all weathers .
I know some people will run them at 6-7 years and longer and have had no issues, but I prefer to change early if anything .
I know people who have had blowouts on a caravan and caused extensive damage to the wheel arch.
For me personally, I wonder if keeping the tyres within the 5 years helped on one of my trips to France a few years back.
We were heading back to Calais on the A26 , at the I time I had an Elddis Super Sirroco twin axle. We pulled into one of the services for a rest / coffee break and did my usual walk round the caravan checking all ok when we have any rest or fuel stop.
I noticed that one of the rear tyres on the caravan was virtually flat , barely 10lb of pressure in it .
We had been on the autoroute for over two hours since the last stop and the caravan tyre had picked up a nail and was virtually flat for how long I don�t know, as the caravan ran perfectly and like a dream , no notice of any movement in the van at all .
I don’t know where it picked up the nail, but it could have covered many miles on the motorway with the other tyre that side taking most of the weight of that side of the caravan. I will never know?
However , I was able to change the wheel , no tyre damage everything fully ok .
If those tyres were 7 years old , I could have suffered a tyre blowout like many stories I have heard and read about .
As I said , I will never know one way or the other , but I am confident it helped having good tyres within the 5 year recommended period?
thanks for your reply dave.. have you heard of the tyrepal system..
i dont worry about age so much but a van tyre can get a puncture and the driver has no knowledge of this until the tyre comes off the rim causing what appears to be blow out damage..
Maybe preferable to change prematurely rather than pushing luck on very old degraded tyres, but do think you are being a little too concerned IMHO.
If visual inspection prior to each trip shows no obvious degradation like sidewall cracking or tread splitting, then my real concern would be the ever present risk of puncture, which from the drivers seat you will be oblivious to, as you found out.
With a twin axle puncture you run the serious risk of overloading the single still inflated tyre, old or new, it's at greater risk of blowout due to overheating from the excess load placed upon it.
A Tyrepal type system as mentioned by trog seems a wiser investment than premature tyre changing.
My van came with Tyron Bands fitted (to prevent deflated tyre coming off rim - and doing damage to van), which have proved to be a bit of a pain as nearly all tyre fitters refuse to touch them, so my imminent new tyres (due to being 6 years old) (and chosen on performance, good fuel economy/wet grip, rather than brand alone, but avoiding truly obscure budget brands!) will see the Tyrons removed and a Tyrepal system installed. If I can't get tyres changed because of Tyrons in a big city with dozens of tyre companies, what hope would I have somewhere remote when I get a puncture and only one tyre fitter in a hundred miles, besides I'd rather have early warning of a deflating/overheating tyre than trying to keep a completely wrecked tyre on the rim!
i just fitted and used a tyrepal system on a run up to durness and back..
i was surprised how much difference temperature made to my tyre pressures up to 5 psi between a hot sunny day and a more normal one.. this affects the low pressure warning setting i had to lower mine by a few psi from what i originally thought..
but basically once you get used to the pressure variations the tyrepal system works fine..it would give plenty of warning of a pressure loss in the van tyres.. but the main thing is.. you know what your tyres are doing at any one time with just a glance..
We got a puncture on the way to Padstow in June went to Kwik Fit in Newquay and got a Hankook when we got home I got the other side tyre and the spare too they cost about £81 each
Thanks for the replies , Trog100/Monty 15 , yes I have heard of the Tyrepal sensors.
May well give them a try, the car has a tyre pressuring monitoring system built in which is on many cars now and works well.
Can understand the suggestion of visual inspection of the tyres for cracks , problem is you can’t see the back of the tyres.
I have an AWD Powertouch system fitted , it makes it virtually impossible to get to look behind the wheels without taking them off to check the tyres .
Changing them within the 5 year recommended period should stop the possibly of sidewall cracks appearing through age deterioration?
I would hope any tyre issues on the rear of the tyre would be picked up at the annual service, but I don’t rely on that.
surface cracking on the outside of a tyre dosnt actually affect the structural integrity.. the strength is in the steel and fabric inner casing.. however you do what you need to do for your own peace of mind..
Dave, as others have mentioned, I’d be more concerned with getting tyrepal than new tyres, we have it on our swift and the only problem we had was an over pressure warning last year, tyres were set at 64psi and they were running at 79psi, although we were driving in 37c temperatures on the way back to Normandy, just pulled over for 30 minutes to let them cool down a bit and they were fine after that
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Topic: Tyre Recommendation for Swift
via mobile 04/9/2022 at 12:09am
