Tyre change
The tyres on my 2017 TA Crusader Storm are nearly six years old (4316) and I am considering changing them, because I am supposed to.
I have had a (very) good look at the tyres and they are in excellent condition, no cracks no damage, no perishing. They have probably done less than 10,000 miles, the caravan is stored at home on it's legs with the wheels off of the ground and the only time they see the sun is the 18 (non peak summer) weeks a year that we are on site.
There is an element of tight fistedness here but I can't get past the feeling that it is such a waste throwing away what I consider to be perfectly good tyres.
Any thoughts.
Comments
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Have you taken the wheels off and inspected the inner sides as well as the outer? Have you inspected the valves? Are you experienced enough to identify tyre defects? Will your insurance company be happy to pay out if you have a tyre blow out which causes an accident although you say the tyres seemed OK at 6 years old?
If you can answer 'yes' to those questions then carry on using them. Personally, I'd change them regardless.
PS. I hope you don't use the cornersteadies to take the weight of the van when it's stored.
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The received wisdom on this is to change after five years, I'm sure you know the reasons why.
I changed mine at five years and yes they looked fine and had the same feelings as you but safety concerns trumped all that and that's the decision you have to make, not only for yourself but for other road users too. Just think about what could happen?
I'm interested to know what you means by on it's legs?
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Yes advice is that at 5 yrs they may need changing almost certainly after 7 yrs. I last changed mine at 6 yrs outside of tyres looked fine but there was slight cracking on the inside. Why not get your local tyre dealer to check them for you.
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Your caravan is 5 years old but how old are the tyres, the original tyres on our van were 12 months older than the caravan and while ours looked OK on the annual service a couple years ago we were advised by the mobile engineer to get them changed
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I felt exactly the same as you about waste so hung on till this year to change mine which made them 10.5 years old. Asked at tyre depot about old ones and he said no visible sign of wear so am quite happy with my decision. There is a lot of tosh spoken about tyres on Internet from armchair experts but if they were that dangerous at 7 years old they would be made illegal. If like you say you have given yours a good inspection then I see no problem in keeping them on a few more years.
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Manufactured week 43 of 2016 so just shy of 6 yrs old.
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Have you taken the wheels off and inspected the inner sides as well as the outer? Have you inspected the valves?
Wise words TW. We've just had our caravan serviced and I asked them to inspect the tyres as the unit is 5 years old and not done a great number of miles, just like the OP. They found cracks on the inside and to be honest I wouldn't have noticed them if they hadn't been pointed out. So 2 new tyres. Not worth the risk of giving it another year.
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In response:-
I don't consider it a great mystery to identify tyre defects, as motorists we are expected to inspect our vehicle tyres regularly and the 4 on the caravan are the easiest (apart from the spare) of the 15 tyres in the household. I am very critical and work on the basis that if something looks untoward it probably is.
Luckily I can inspect the inside edge of my tyres and the treads from underneath the van and I have done so by feel and visually with a powerful LED torch. I am (more than) happy with their condition which is why it seems such a waste to scrap them.
I have already taken responsibility for the valves because I have TPMS valve caps so the schrader isn't in use, the valve stem could come out of the rim but I feel that is unlikely.
Currently I am of a mind to note the Caravan club advice and will probably carry out their recommendation that they should not be used after seven years.
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To change at 5 years or 7 years? Some tyre wall breakdown and cracking you will see, others you will not. If my van was stored outside on it's wheels I'd change at 5. As it has been garage stored when not used and on axle stands most winters, one it was on tyre savers, I'm going to replace for it's 7th year.
If you looked at the financial side, a £70 tyre lasts 7 years, so £10 a year, or £20 as most vans have two when I last looked. We are towing vans that could cost up to £30/35K so is it really worth possibly risking your pride and joy for such a comparatively small outlay? Just think £20 is one night on a CL or definitely less than one night on a main site.
Colin
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It’s your choice, Roger, but I can’t help wondering why you asked for our thoughts🤷🏻♂️
I have huge difficulty in accepting you can thoroughly examine the inside walls of your tyres from underneath your van with a torch.
However, may your journeys all be safe ones.👍🏻
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It can bring tears to one's eyes to see a perfectly good (in one's opinion) set of tyres disappearing into the back of the tyre bay. I am an experienced engineer and caravanner and have to accept that tyres can deteriorate without showing any visible damage. Valve stems are definitely even more risky. After 6 years, I always "bite the bullet" and pay for a new set with upgraded (100psi) valves. I too use Tyre Pal senders, but consider this to be irrelevant to the issue. In the case of the OP the 18 weeks operating probably means the season is over, so change them in the new year before the first trip out.
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As tyre retailers and manufacturers also reminds us there is a safe time limit regarding tyres and ageing ("you'll say they would say that, wouldn't they"), I think they're more than armchair experts.
I wonder how your insurance might view it if an accident occurred due to a tyre blow out, and an examination revealed 6/7/8 year old tyres. For me and anyone else accompanying me on my journeys, for safety I'll err on the side of caution and replace them.
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🙄🙄🙄
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I'm confused on the Commercial Tyre comment. What is wrong with them? The weight of "normal" caravans is such that they generally require the load rating of a Commercial Tyre.
Colin
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Tyres on certain commercial vehicles have to be changed before a certain age by law. (This followed a horrendous accident in which many children were badly injured, and afterwards the very old tyres were found to have been partly the cause.
Some caravan and motor caravan tyres may be commercial grade, but the vehicles are not included in the law mentioned.
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It's O3 that is the issue. O3 causes flex crack growth in the tyres, which is the problem. O3 concentrate increase where electric motors are in operation, so fridge / motor mover comes into play. Most likely tyre on side with fridge will exhibit cracking first.
Tyres are black to deal with UV. The filler used is a cheap by product of processing oil. O3 protection is by more expensive compound ingredients, hence more scope to cut costs and subsequently quality of tyres.
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You say that some damage I will not see, this is the sort of information that prompted this thread, I have not found anywhere that details invisible tyre damage so if this really is a possibility I would change them straight away. This would also make a nonsense of taking them to a tyre dealer for inspection.
In my view my tyres have had a charmed life and are only one small step away from being garage stored. They only touch the ground when travelling, only see direct sunlight when travelling or on site and we don't holiday in the height of the summer and being stored over winter close to the house in a narrow drive, probably have never seen a frost.
Four tyres (about £280) so £56 a year after 5 years. not really a problem I just hate the idea of throwing away what I consider perfectly good tyres.
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I am confident in my inspection technique and as I have mentioned I can't find any information that tyres can have invisible damage. We have a wide range of "experts" in club together and the reason for the posting was to see if there was someone, perhaps working for a tyre manufacturer. Also it can never harm to raise awareness of the importance of checking tyres.
I use an inspection lamp with a wide LED floodlight head, laying on the ground (while I still can) the darkness under the van means you concentrate more on what is seen in the beam of the torch, spin the wheels and check every inch of the tyre by sight and feel.
4 wheels on my wagon!!
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Don’t forget the spare 🙄
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