Caravan & Campervan Tyres

Caravan & Campervan Tyres

Tyre plan for your caravan

Have you checked your tyres? Are they over 5 years old?

At ETB Autocentres, we’re urging you to think of your caravan & camper van tyres.

All tyres age and deteriorate due to exposure to sunlight and atmosphere, even when they’re not being used and, if they’re more than five years old, we recommend they be replaced. And if they’re more than seven years old, they should just be replaced full-stop.

Caravan tyres can suffer fatigue due to the repetitive small impacts they suffer in everyday use and being stored for long periods of the year without use can put undue strain on one particular part of the tyre.

It should go without saying that tyres which are damaged or worn to the legal minimum tread depth must be replaced immediately. Caravan tyres need regular replacement, irrespective of their visual appearance. If your tyres need a high inflation pressure (50psi or more), you should check regularly for signs of deterioration from three years old and should not be using them when they reach five years.

And remember…the tyres age starts from when it was made, not from when it was fitted.

To find the age of your tyre look at the DOT code on the tyre sidewall, a  four-digit number code would indicate the week and year of production. For example, 1417 = 14th week of 2017 

How to care for your caravan / camper van tyres and wheels:

• Check inflation pressure regularly

• Examine tyre treads and remove stones regularly

• Remove any oil, fuel or paint

• Check the tread wear regularly – the legal minimum is 1.6mm across the central three quarters of the tread breadth around the entire circumference of the tyre. A 20p piece can do the trick here, if you don’t have a tread depth gauge. Major tread wear during the normal life of the tyre may indicate a more serious problem, such as incorrect loading, wrong inflation pressure or even poor wheel alignment.

• Tyres which are operated in an overloaded condition may also show uneven wear across the width of the tread. Even a small variation in wear across the width (as little as 1mm according to tyre industry sources) is a possible indication of overloading.

• Replace any tyre that has blistered, ruptured, or been cut penetrated by an object. Developing problems can sometimes be detected most easily by running a gloved hand over the surface to the tyre, feeling for any raised or uneven areas.

• If you’re not going to use your caravan for a lengthy period of time, we recommend that your remove the wheels and tyres and store them at normal inflations pressure in a cool, dry place and protect them from direct sunlight, sources of hear and fuel/oil spillages. Cover with a natural material, not plastic, for protection.

• Note that the terms and conditions of your caravan insurance and/or storage site might prevent you from removing the wheels during storage. This may either be to facilitate the use of security devices, or conversely to ensure the caravan remains moveable to provide access within the storage area. If wheels must be left on, rotate them regularly, so that the caravan’s weight does not rest on one area of the tyre all the time

• Check the condition of your tyre valves. Make sure the valve stem is undamaged and is correctly aligned with the valve aperture in the wheel, and not distorted when the wheel trim (if fitted) is installed. Be sure that all valves have suitable valve caps. Valve caps that have sealing washers offer better protection against dirt and dust. Check the valve is not leaking especially after measuring the inflation pressure. Make sure the valve has closed again correctly - if in doubt, fit a new valve.

Failing all of this, bring your caravan in to us and we can check your tyres for free and provide our expert advice thereafter. It’s what we’re here for! Our quality cheap caravan & camper van tyres are available at an ETB store near you. Reserve or buy online or call our store for expert advice and with next day deliveries from our warehouse if we don’t have them in stock, we can get them for you ASAP.