My van is 5 years old and its time to change the tyres. Where do you get caravan tyres from are they different to car tyres. And who would you reccomend do it. Mobile service would be good.
Heavier caravans, say over about 900kg generally use commercial van tyres but lighter caravans can use car tyres, it depends on the combined weight rating of the 2 tyres. If you want a mobile service e tyres are as good as any. They will come to you & fit & balance.
As there are only two tyres on a single axle caravan they need to carry the extra load therefore commercial tyres should be fitted and balanced. Car tyres are radial tyres which are banded and designed to roll and grip the road but when towing a caravan we don't drive the same as solo therefore we don't use high speeds or heavy cornering so radial tyres are not recommended for this reason. Many tyre fitters won't fit car tyres to a caravan anyway and quite rightly so too merely because of safety reasons as a caravan should not roll when entering a bend or corner and if a tyre fitter did happen to fit radial tyres to a caravan then they would very likely be held accountable for fitting incorrect tyres if any accident ocurred. An insurance assessor would clarify that the tyres fitted to the caravan were not fit for purpose therefore making the insurance void.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 16/9/2012
As there are only two tyres on a single axle caravan they need to carry the extra load therefore commercial tyres should be fitted and balanced. Car tyres are radial tyres which are banded and designed to roll and grip the road but when towing a caravan we don't drive the same as solo therefore we don't use high speeds or heavy cornering so radial tyres are not recommended for this reason. Many tyre fitters won't fit car tyres to a caravan anyway and quite rightly so too merely because of safety reasons as a caravan should not roll when entering a bend or corner and if a tyre fitter did happen to fit radial tyres to a caravan then they would very likely be held accountable for fitting incorrect tyres if any accident ocurred. An insurance assessor would clarify that the tyres fitted to the caravan were not fit for purpose therefore making the insurance void.
Where on earth did you learn this? it is completely incorrect. All modern tyres are radial tyres, car & commercial. Provided load rating of tyres add up to more than caravan weight it is ok to use use car tyres on a lightweight 'van. For example 155/80x13 car tyres usually have load index of 79 which allows 437kg on each tyre so they are ok to use on a caravan of 750kg all up weight.
Heavier caravans will need commercial van tyres to allow sufficient weight rating, for example 185/80x14C commercial van tyres usually have load index of 102 which allow 850kg on each tyre so total of 1700kg which is more than adequate for heavier 2axle caravans.
Quote: Originally posted by Jason Neville on 16/9/2012
My van is 5 years old and its time to change the tyres. Where do you get caravan tyres from are they different to car tyres. And who would you reccomend do it. Mobile service would be good.
Contact Event tyres http://www.event-tyres.co.uk/ and give them the tyre size and have the tyre loading index available. They come out at the time you ask for, they do a superb job and their prices are right. If you are at all unsure about tyre size or load index ring them. I was impressed by their service.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
We have used e tyres and they have fitters who do understand about caravan tyres, and having them done on your drive is easy. As Tentz says the load rating is the key aspect for caravan tyres
IMO you don;t need to worry so much abouyt premium brand tyres as they aren;t required to do same job as tyres on a car or van/truck. We got E tyres budget commercial tyres and they are fine - do however check the manufacturer date and request a recent 2011/12 set
Tyre safe website worth a read to understand about this
We upgraded our folding camper tyres to commercial ones with an increased load rating over Pennine's original (underspecced) ones
Ensuring tyres are correctly inflated at all times and rotated i the off season is just as important however
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 16/9/2012
As there are only two tyres on a single axle caravan they need to carry the extra load therefore commercial tyres should be fitted and balanced. Car tyres are radial tyres which are banded and designed to roll and grip the road but when towing a caravan we don't drive the same as solo therefore we don't use high speeds or heavy cornering so radial tyres are not recommended for this reason. Many tyre fitters won't fit car tyres to a caravan anyway and quite rightly so too merely because of safety reasons as a caravan should not roll when entering a bend or corner and if a tyre fitter did happen to fit radial tyres to a caravan then they would very likely be held accountable for fitting incorrect tyres if any accident ocurred. An insurance assessor would clarify that the tyres fitted to the caravan were not fit for purpose therefore making the insurance void.
What Tentz is trying to say is, Your talking complete B******S.
Quote by Tentz: Where on earth did you learn this? it is completely incorrect. All modern tyres are radial tyres, car & commercial. Provided load rating of tyres add up to more than caravan weight it is ok to use use car tyres on a lightweight 'van. For example 155/80x13 car tyres usually have load index of 79 which allows 437kg on each tyre so they are ok to use on a caravan of 750kg all up weight.
Heavier caravans will need commercial van tyres to allow sufficient weight rating, for example 185/80x14C commercial van tyres usually have load index of 102 which allow 850kg on each tyre so total of 1700kg which is more than adequate for heavier 2axle caravans.
The information I have learned about caravan tyres has come from various caravan handbooks so technically I take it that you are suggesting that the info printed in these books is incorrect then?
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 16/9/2012
As there are only two tyres on a single axle caravan they need to carry the extra load therefore commercial tyres should be fitted and balanced. Car tyres are radial tyres which are banded and designed to roll and grip the road but when towing a caravan we don't drive the same as solo therefore we don't use high speeds or heavy cornering so radial tyres are not recommended for this reason. Many tyre fitters won't fit car tyres to a caravan anyway and quite rightly so too merely because of safety reasons as a caravan should not roll when entering a bend or corner and if a tyre fitter did happen to fit radial tyres to a caravan then they would very likely be held accountable for fitting incorrect tyres if any accident ocurred. An insurance assessor would clarify that the tyres fitted to the caravan were not fit for purpose therefore making the insurance void.
What Tentz is trying to say is, Your talking complete B******S.
I thinks that's a bit unfair. The first sentance is ok
Quote by Tentz: Where on earth did you learn this? it is completely incorrect. All modern tyres are radial tyres, car & commercial. Provided load rating of tyres add up to more than caravan weight it is ok to use use car tyres on a lightweight 'van. For example 155/80x13 car tyres usually have load index of 79 which allows 437kg on each tyre so they are ok to use on a caravan of 750kg all up weight.
Heavier caravans will need commercial van tyres to allow sufficient weight rating, for example 185/80x14C commercial van tyres usually have load index of 102 which allow 850kg on each tyre so total of 1700kg which is more than adequate for heavier 2axle caravans.
The information I have learned about caravan tyres has come from various caravan handbooks so technically I take it that you are suggesting that the info printed in these books is incorrect then?
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Post last edited on 17/09/2012 22:03:42
I would I'm afraid, all tyres are now Radial in design, Crossply tyres are now only made for the classic/vintage market.
ie, 175R13 97, 185/75R14 102, the 'R' standing for Radial!
Neither is there 'car' tyres or 'caravan' tyres, nor indeed today 6ply or 8ply, simply, tyres needs to be comfortably capable of carrying the load put on them
So and in short and apart from the tyres size, the most important next thing to know, is how much weight a pair of tyres can carry as given by the load index number, this is the number, (97, 102), shown in example, (with a letter), following the tyres size on the tyre wall.
To be 'comfortable' the tyre chosen should be able to carry the total weight of the van, plus an extra 10%, ie, a 900kg van should be fitted with a pair of tyres that can carry no less than 990kg and avoid fitting tyres that can only just carry the vans weight, or, excessively more than the weight of the van
After that, it is most important for the tyres to be balanced and the correct pressure for that tyre and weight. Any doubts about tyre pressure, state the vans weight and tyre size with load index number and I'll give you the correct pressure.
The link to the Tyresafe site gives lots of other good info
Maybe I have mis-understood reading these books but I do know that all tyres are now radial and that cross ply tyres are manufactured mainly for the classic and vintage market. All I am saying is that what I have read in these handbooks is that it states that only commercial tyres should be fitted to a single axle caravan and even the local tyre fitter also said that he would refuse to fit car tyres on any caravan wheel. I don't know the technical facts regarding tyres but I have well known branded commercial tyres fitted on my caravan because of the reasons mentioned.
Most modern caravans are fairly large & even 2berths weigh
over a tonne so tyres would have to be commercial van type
to achieve sufficient load rating at this weight.Much
older small caravans can weigh under 800kg all up & car
tyres of correct size can often be of sufficient load
rating for these. Theres no technical reason why car
tyres cannot be used on a caravan or trailer provided load
rating is enough.
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Topic: Caravan Tyres
