Reminder - check the age of your caravan tyres
If, like us, you store your caravan in France most of the time, then don't forget to check how old your caravan tyres are. We were surprised to find that both ours are over the recommended age. As caravan tyres of the correct size can be hard to source
in Europe you may need to take some with you and get them fitted next time you pick up the van!
Here's how to check:
Tyre Age
To help identify their age, all tyres display a coded date of manufacture and these codes are usually located in a “window” on the tyre sidewall. The first two digits represent the week and the second two the year of manufacture.
While tyres contain anti-oxidising chemicals to significantly slow down the rate of ageing, they actually need to be in use to slow down the ageing process. In other words, infrequent use and poor storage and can accelerate the ageing process and render
them unroadworthy. Low mileage, older cars tend to be most at risk from premature ageing - as motorists assume there is no problem if they can still see plenty of tread.
Tyre ageing is commonly identified by small cracks (crazing) appearing in the sidewall but in most circumstances tread depth can be used as a suitable indication of when tyres should be replaced – as tyre treads generally wear out before the ageing effect
becomes a problem.
Premature tyre ageing can affect safety and increase the risk of failure, this is why Kwik-Fit urge all motorists that think they have a tyre older than six years or more, or if they are not sure how to tell the age of their tyres to have it checked professionally,
especially if it’s fitted to a spare wheel, caravan or trailer - which see less use.