I've invested a lot of money in our caravan to be able to have the holidays we both enjoy. We've both now retired and look forward to as many years good health as possible and time to enjoy it. I would like to think I now have an outfit that not only suits our needs but is safe for both us and other road users.
It came, therefore, as a bit of a shock to discover that my caravan handbook was wrong, and I had been using a tyre pressure 10psi higher than the maximum rating of the tyre. Furthermore, on reading up on the subject, together with some expert help on this website (thanks Gary and Simon), I discovered that the tyre loading is very very close to the limit, and below that recommended by the UK Tyre Industry. See their website for useful guides for caravans and motorhomes: http://www.tyresafe.org/tyre-safety/
Their document states: "The extra demands placed on tyres fitted to caravans mean that, in the interests of safety, it is prudent to avoid continuous operation at or approaching the tyres maximum load capacity. Accordingly, the national UK tyre industry strongly recommends that the maximum vehicle load should not exceed 90% of the combined tyre load capacity as indicated by the load index"
My tyres were running at 95% max capacity, legal but probably not as safe as they could be. I rang the CC technical help this morning and they admitted that British caravan manufacturers do fit tyres above the 90% load recommendation. It makes a bit of a nonsense to paying all that extra for ATC fitted when such basic safety measures are ignored.
There are so many posts about overturned caravans or snaking caravans, and have we looked closely enough at the tyres fitted. Certainly anyone out there with a reasonably new Trigano Silver caravan needs to reduce their tyre pressure, as the handbook is plainly wrong, and their tyres possibly now unsafe because of this. How many more of us are thinking our new and not so new caravans are quite safe when we have tyres close to their load limits and above recommended margins.
3 new tyres are going to cost me over £200 for quality tyres with a higher load rating, which am none too pleased about, but what price safety, and peace of mind?
A lot of people dont realise the importance of correct tyres with a higher ply and load rating and a speed rating.
They tend to put car tyres on and usually the cheapest they can find and i think that is down to mainly not wanting to pay the extra for a tyre that they are going to have to change 3 or 5 yrs down the line that possibly tread wise looks like new but will have 'flat spots' on the inside where the tyre has stood for amounts of time in storage or on a site.
When my daughter bought her van (private sale) a little elddis 2 berth i went to pick it up, the tyres were soft so drove down to a garage within a mile of the site inflated them and checked them over, went into the garage and got dirrections for the nearest tyre supplier/fitter and got all three tyres changed to correct van tyres. she was anoyed that i did it(said that made her bargin van not so much a bargin now) but as i pointed out the ones on were not right and were over 5yrs old and i didn want a blowout on the 100 mile drive back home which would also probably take out part of the floor of the van and any equipment near it - something which she had not realised would happen with a caravaan tyre blowout.
If it was me I would take it up with the dealer or manufacturer if you feel you have been mislead. Didn't know Trigano made caravans. Thought they only made motorhomes
I think you have missed the bigger issue here. There have been many posts about caravans overturning or snaking, and yet manufacturers, not just Trigano but some of the British ones too, are fitting tyres to new caravans that are very close to their maximum load, and over the advisory safe limit.
How many of us are towing caravans thinking we have our units as safe as possible but without realising that the manufacturers have skimped over such basic safety standards?
My Fleurette (similar Van) was delivered with standard 3 ply tyre which had a max load of 375kg . Which as the max load is 750Kg , meant that the tyres were well overworked. I replaced them with trailer tyres that I bought over the internet. But I must admit that I did use them for a few years.
Is the cheaper answer to fit Tyron Bands rather than buy expensive tyres all round? Would this then make the van safe to be towed on the "near limit " tyres with the Bands as a fail safe?
It may be that you have not been as 'near the limit' as you think, depending on the speed rating of your tyres. The load rating is for the corresponding speed rating.
The 91H tyres on our 1200kg MPTLM 'van have a 615kg load rating.
In the first place, the '91' or 615kg load rating will include a safety margin - they are not going to go 'pop' if loaded to 616kg.
Second, a further safety margin is conferred by the speed rating 'H', for 130mph, given that I aim to tow at no more than 60mph - the tyres are nominally good for 615kg at double the maximum speed I will be doing, so I feel OK about them carrying 600kg at less than half the rated speed.
I can't prove it, but I believe that by far the biggest contributor to tyre failure on caravans is under-inflation. The 10psi over-inflation you have used, while clearly inadvisable, is unlikely to have created a significant risk given the safety margin on the rated pressure - the worst that is likely to have resulted is uneven wear.
I'm not in any way suggesting you shouldn't use higher rated or reinforced tyres if you want to, but I doubt that you have been in much danger from the tyres and pressures you have been using, and I don't think it is necessary for me to be concerned about my tyres being run at 97.6% of the rated load, provided I ensure they are in good condition and properly inflated.
I won't presume to advise anyone else to do the same, of course - "do your own research" as the saying goes
I managed to get 3 brand new tyres free from Coachman after I experienced 2 blowouts when the 'van was less than 3 years old. I had been running the caravan tyres at the pressure per the handbook which differed from the tech-spec book.
They admitted liability (sort of) - typo caused by rushing out the handbook and replaced all 3 as I had run all 3.
I also had a letter from the tyre manufacturer (Hankook) stating that underinflating would cause damage - so I reckon I had all the amunition I needed. Can give details if you need them.
Quote: Originally posted by misterg on 30/7/2009
Is the cheaper answer to fit Tyron Bands rather than buy expensive tyres all round? Would this then make the van safe to be towed on the "near limit " tyres with the Bands as a fail safe?
Tyron bands will not stop the tyre failing they will only stop them coming off the rims after it has failed.
Incidentally, the dealer's response was outstanding when I told him the handbook was wrong. He asked if I could put all the details in an email for him to go back to the company. He immediately offered to pay for a new set of tyres, though I had not raised this with him.
Just taken the spare out as I am getting them changed today and found that it has a higher load rating and runs at a higher pressure, although it is still not the tyre specified in the handbook.
For me, its just not worth skimping on tyres. It could be a ruined holiday and lengthy repairs, or it could be my car overturned on the hard shoulder with bits of caravan stretching back along the motorway.
The rating of the tyres is usually at a higher speed than you are likely to be going with a caravan and can be increased if the maximum speed is going to be lower than that stated on the tyre. I did see the formula for this in a post here some time ago, but cannot remember what it was.
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Topic: How safe is my van to tow?
