They are called a ‘distress purchase’, something you have to spend your hard-earned on, but derive no joy from. True as that may be, those black rubber rings are crucial for our comfort and safety, and an incredible amount of science and technology goes into making them.
In the same way suitably matching a car to a caravan will be a crucial step to staying safe and legal on the road, you’re going to want to make sure you don’t overlook your tourer’s tyres either. In fact, we recently highlighted failing to check their condition as one of the technical mistakes caravanners would want to avoid.
Caravans use commercially rated tyres, which have much stronger sidewalls than standard car tyres. For example, car tyres are typically designed for inflation up to 45 psi, while commercial ones can be inflated to 65 psi.
This makes caravan tyres costlier than equivalent standard tyres, but perhaps most distressing of all, they usually have to be thrown away long before they’re worn out!
Experts agree, car and caravan tyres have a lifespan of five to seven years, because their compounds degrade over time. This is due to the weather, pollution and damage caused by the UV in sunlight. Eventually, they become unsuitable for safe use. Obviously, the average car, doing 10,000 miles a year, will wear out its tyres in two to three years, when the remaining tread depth nears the legal minimum of 1.6mm. Tourers, however, may only do 1000-2000 miles a year, particularly if you’re not embarking on some winter caravanning, so they rarely wear out before that five- or seven-year age limit.
Yes, it’s likely you’ll have to bin your seemingly excellent tyres and buy new ones. It’s painful, but necessary. Unless you went through the process of buying a caravan in recent years, you might want to check the age of your tourer’s rubber now.
This is easy to do by reading the characters on the sidewall. These number and letter combinations reveal its age, size, profile and tread type, and whether it’s a run-flat tyre (take a look through our gallery at the top to see the different characters you will need to decode).
1. Check your tyre pressure
This is an important caravan tyre safety check. You should check your tyre pressures on a regular basis, and certainly before you set out on any long tow.
This is easy to do, using an analogue or a digital tyre pressure gauge. These can be bought cheaply from places like Halfords, or you can obtain them online. On many caravans, you’ll find the recommended tyre pressure stated on the weightplate next to the door, where you would look to find out your caravan weights. Alternatively, it should be in your handbook.
There are 14.5 psi in a bar, so the 4.5 bar on this Adria weightplate equates to 65.25 psi. That might sound a lot, but don’t be tempted to underinflate your tyres – it may increase tread wear and instability.
2. Balancing your wheels
In recent years, many manufacturers have stated that their caravan wheels and tyres should be balanced. Some caravanners did this anyway, but now some of the best makes of caravans, such as Elddis, Swift and Bailey, are recommending it. In theory, this should give a smoother tow and reduced wear, as the forces an unbalanced wheel and tyre place on a hub at speed are incredible and create potentially damaging vibrations in the caravan chassis.
3. Tyre pressure monitors
It can be almost impossible to detect a slowly deflating tyre as you tow, yet this is one of the most dangerous situations you’ll encounter, especially at speed. Several companies have developed tyre pressure monitoring systems, designed to alert drivers to a flat, a low-pressure tyre or one that is slowly deflating.
Each wheel has a sensor, inside the tyre where the valve enters via the wheel rim, or on the tyre valves outside. With the tyres correctly inflated, the sensors and control unit are calibrated, then significant drops in pressure are beamed to the display, alerting the driver.
TyrePal is one such system. A two-sensor kit with TC 215 dash monitor costs £132. Extra sensors for twin-axle caravans cost £29 each.
Take a look at our guide to how to install a TyrePal TC 215 system if you decide to get one.
A TCRR-2 Smart Signal repeater boosts the signal if the monitor is more than 7m from the sensors (if you tow a long twin-axle with a VW Transporter, for example). The booster costs £44. And don’t forget, your spare wheel can also be monitored!
4. Checking tyre condition
To prevent the occurrence of dangerous or inconvenient scenarios when towing a caravan – and to avoid breaking the law – you should check your tyres on a regular basis.
Ideally, the wear across the tyre should be even, with at least 3mm of tread depth remaining. Although the legal minimum is 1.6mm, when the depth of the tread gets that low, it is much less efficient at dispersing water from under the tyre, which makes aquaplaning more likely.
Owing to this, many tyre experts recommend 3mm as a minimum tread depth. As mentioned earlier, most caravan tyres do not cover enough miles to cause that amount of tread wear.
Uneven wear on a tyre could be due to under- or overinflation. Underinflation generally affects both sides of the tyre, while overinflation creates increased wear in the centre of the tread. Wear on just one edge of the tyre could be due to wheel, hub or axle misalignment, perhaps from hitting a pothole.
Check for signs of damage, including blistering, deep cuts, gashes or cracks, and sharp objects (usually screws or nails) penetrating the tyre. Consider using your phone camera to help you check the inside tyre walls, which may be hard to access. If you find minor damage, seek advice from a tyre professional.
5. Tyron safety bands
Tyron steel bands are fitted around the wheel well, with the tyre removed or pulled back to allow access. They are designed to prevent the bead of a deflated tyre ‘jumping’ off the rim. With a deflated tyre kept in place by a Tyron band, you should maintain an element of control over your caravan. However, if a tyre is pulled right off the rim, the damage sustained by your tourer, and potentially other vehicles nearby, could be greatly increased.
To buy and fit Tyron bands costs from around £90 per wheel. “Dealerships, independents and firms like Kwik-Fit will fit them,” says expert caravan technician David Hayes, at Out & About Motorhome & Caravan Services. “It’s crucial to buy the right ones as there are caravan-specific Tyron bands. Your fitter will love you if you get it right, as almost all the ones that we fit are made for cars, which are much harder to install.
“Normal vehicle bands have blue plastic button spacers, but caravan ones are slightly smaller and are green. This makes it easier for the technician to fit them; the 2-3mm differential makes life much easier. You can buy bands direct from Tyron. Ideally, you’ll need to know your wheel rim diameter and internal wheel-well width. But Tyron staff know their stuff and know the fitments for most vans.”
6. Consider buying tyre covers
Many of you will probably have the best caravan cover to ensure your tourer stays protected from the external factors such as the elements and UV rays. You could also consider getting one for your tyres too – a wheel cover from the likes of Specialised Covers or Protec Covers could help to protect your tyres from harmful UV.
Don’t miss what I had to say about caravan ATC either – it’s a simple yet brilliant feature which senses unwanted movement in your tourer, helping you stay safe on the road.
Future Publishing Limited, the publisher of Practical Caravan, provides the information in this article in good faith and makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgement in determining the appropriateness of the advice to their circumstances and skill level. Individuals should take appropriate safety precautions and be aware of the risk of electrocution when dealing with electrical products. To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither Future nor its employees or agents shall have any liability in connection with the use of this information. You should check that any van warranty will not be affected before proceeding with DIY projects.
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