# Tyres - Replace or not?



## Dopeyngrumpy (May 13, 2005)

Hi 

I know the responsibility is mine, but all opinions welcome. 

I've a Benimar on a Mercedes 316CDI chassis, all 4 tyres are showing some signs of surface cracking, I've had the garage (also a tyre dealer) that does my MOT and Servicing have a look and they've said that there is no MOT problem, and they are not by any means dangerous but you never know... hardly a good reason to hand over in excess of £400 for replacement boots all round. The van is a 52 plate so I guess the tyres are around 6 years old and it's only done 20,000 miles or so. 

Regards

David


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi David, I would stick with your experts advice for now,if they were dangerous he would fail them as part of the MOT.There are bits on changing tyres at say 6 yrs but if your guy recons they are fine then trust his judgement ----Or bite the bullit if you are not confident.Without seeing them it is hard to judge.
terry


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## pneumatician (May 1, 2005)

*Tyres*

Got the same concern, same chassis at 25K. I am going to try and get another season out of my tyres.

Steve


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## richardjames (Feb 1, 2006)

*Age of tyres*

Hi :lol: 
Sorry to be a damp squid but your tyres may be older than you think! The year of manufacture is on the sidewall see http://www.tyres-online.co.uk/techinfo/sidewall.asp for the information
regards
Richard


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## Dopeyngrumpy (May 13, 2005)

Hi Richard

Did that - they're 02 ... so only a little older than the van,

Davi


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi David

Interesting you should ask this question at this time as I too popped into a tyre centre last Friday to get mine changed. Although I do not know them as friends as such I have for about 10 years used a company called Hardwick Tyres in Bury St Edmund.

My tyres are approaching ten years old and have a slight crazing on the side walls but plenty of tread.

The main man - so the one to gain financially from me changing had the tyres in stock and was happy to change them but advised against it. He advised that the tyres were totally safe


stew


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## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

Interesting topic,
Doe's tyre safety deteriate with age OR wear and tear.(The rubber,perish)
Example a occasional vehicle, 7 year old tyres used for 1000 miles
or 7 year old tyres used for say 30,000 miles,it must be the latter
surely.


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## Dopeyngrumpy (May 13, 2005)

Thanks everyone, The salesman would not offer any real decision - but surely if they were not safe they would be an automatic fail...?

David


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## smick (Jun 1, 2005)

*Changing Tyres*

Sorry Guys, but my view is that if they're over 5 years old, and are showing cracking signs then I would change them. I had a set of Continental Vancos on a VW, with only 24K on them. I then read an article in Commercial Van that these tyres were intended to withstand two years of hammering up and down motorways, not for sitting on little used motorhomes for 10 years. The surface cracks are symptomatic of chemical changes taking place in the rubber, which will eventually lead to failure. When I had the tyres changed, the splits were quite deep in the sidewalls, and the fitter concerned thought that they would have failed fairly soon after.

Yes, it's a lot of money to shell out - but cheaper than turning your van over on a motorway at high speed after a blow out. Even if you do them two at a time, start thinking seriously about it now.

Smick


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## oldun (Nov 10, 2005)

artona said:


> Hi David
> 
> Interesting you should ask this question at this time as I too popped into a tyre centre last Friday to get mine changed. Although I do not know them as friends as such I have for about 10 years used a company called Hardwick Tyres in Bury St Edmund.
> 
> ...


I presume that he did not inspect the inside, only the outside so only a casual inspection by your retailer of unknown expertise.

Almost all qualified independent tyre specialists recommend changing the tyres every six years or so due to the depredation by UV light etc. Apparently tyres degrade faster when not used very much. So this is very relevant to most motorhomers and caravanners.

As stated above you should check the date of manufacture on the tyre sidewall. The tyres could be several years old when fitted to the vehicle.

You must remember for a relatively small amount of money you could be endangering the lives of others in the van and other innocent soles in vehicles you may hit after a tyre has blown.


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## solentviews (May 9, 2005)

A few years ago my tyres showed signs of wall cracking. I was convinced they would fail the mot and need replacing. It passed the mot, so I queried the state of the tyres with the garage. They stated that as the cracking was not through to the beading it was not a fail on the mot. I then asked them if they would use tyres in that condition. The answer was no way. I had the tyres changed.
Ian


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## motoroamin (May 22, 2006)

3.5 tons or more riding on patches of rubber about 6 inches square each;

Van value, thousands of £...... ;

Occupants value - immeasurable ;

£400 is a small price to pay for peace of mind, but it needn't cost that much if you shop around, but don't buy the cheapest !

For me its a no-brainer.

MOT pass or not, most motorhome tyres are running close to full load or more.


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## moblee (Dec 31, 2006)

The tyres on motorhomes should be light commercial,correct
What is the safe weight for these tyres :?:


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## citroennut (May 16, 2005)

hi,
had a caravan and the tyres looked fine, went on hoiday and returned safely. next day neighbour said i had a flat tyre, on inspection all the wires had come out the side, looked as though i had driven over thin copper wire. on inspection the other tyre was showing wire starting to come out. replaced both, worst thought was that i had been travelling at 70mph on the dual carriageway.
strongly suggest you look at www.mytyres.co.uk.
cheers
simon


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Tired Tyres*

Hello David,

I am so glad you asked this question, something I have written a lot of advice about on the forum.

Okay you have a £25k motorhome and the only thing that connects you to the road is four round rubber things. They as a group are probanly one of the most important compenents of any vehicle.

Firstly, could you tell me what size your tyres are inculding the weight indicator.

Ie 195/70/R15 98/99 S

Then could you give an indications of what type of holidays you take.

E.g.
Tour all year
Tour all of Europe
Tour UK Summer only
Intend to go to the Alps skiing next week

Let me know and I will give you some recomendations, in the meantime if you need to research further, google "tyre bible" for more info.

Do come back to me and I will help you all I can.

Regards,
Trev.


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## StAubyns (Jun 4, 2006)

Me, I would change them. No if, no buts, change them.

If you are asking the question then you have your own doubts.

My life is worth more than a few hundred quid - and peace of mind, cant put a price on it

Geoff


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## alunj (Sep 5, 2007)

me too, i have just replaced 6 perfectly good looking conti vancos on my 680. 6 years change them whatever, the UV and standing will have got to them.


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

The absolute maximum recommended age for a tyre is seven years with replacement recommended at 5 to 7 years (out of a michelin data book).
The mot fail criteria is relatively casual being cracking ok so long as it doesn't expose any cords, tread condition and depth, not mixing tyres of different sizes on the same axle plus a few others, an mot certificate is not a certicate of roadworthiness it's a basic safety check AT THE TIME OF THE TEST. Passing an mot test , does not mean that the tyres are definately safe for road use,an mot test is a visual inspection only.
I realise that this sounds daft but thats as it is! Do you really think it's worth the risk, have you seen the damage a blowout can do, I most certainly have, I have seen a wheelbarrow wheel/tyre explode when I worked for a tyre company it put a 2 foot hole through the roof of the workshop!
(i was a tyre company manager for 6 years and have held a mot testers cerificate for over 20 years). When we imported our RV a few years ago the first thing I did was replace all 6 tyres at an age of 4.5 years.If you do replace the tyres make sure they have at least the same load index(carrying capacity)as the old ones if not a higher one as motorhome tyres are nearly allways loaded near to there max capacity.Dunc.


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## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

Good morning! Here's the link to a topic I started last summer, when I changed all my tyres on my Boxer, for £44 each, plus £20 fitting of all.

Changing "GOOD" tyres!

On inspection, one "good" tyre had an 8" split running round the rim!! Wow!! How close was that?!

More info: the MH (since changed) was reaching its 6th birthday, still on its original tyres and showing 24K miles. The chassis might have been a year older, putting the tyres at 7 years old. BUT... how old were the tyres before they were fitted to the chassis by Peugeot? So my "good" tyres might have been around 8 years old!


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## 108370 (Nov 20, 2007)

one point that seems to be missed here is the actual tread situation.

I am not suggesting that the sidewalls are unimportant , they are, and in my opinion cracked means worn, means change them!!

However you must remember that the reason for cracking is , as suggested before, caused by a change or if you like ageing of the rubber.

From the time a tyre is made the rubber starts to harden, this will mean less grip on the road surface.

For the first 2 or 3 years this will not matter as it is anticipated by the manufacturers but as the tyre gets older and the rubber gets harder grip is lost and therefore vehicle control is compromised.

In my opinion tyres should be changed at 5/6 years old regardless of tread depth.

It is after all only lives you could be saving :!:


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## dbh1961 (Apr 13, 2007)

Change them.

It is too easy to be tempted to get another year out of them.

The truth is that they would very likely last another year, and another, and another - but every year they get more likely to fail (even if the chance is still slight)

A bit like saying should I wear a seatbelt, should I lock my house door, etc. They are all precautions against an unlikely event, but they are easy precautions, and the unlikely event could happen.

For the cost vs benefit, I'd say change them now.

......and finally - it could be me coming the other way when you lose control!


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi, all having read all replys, and answers,has anyone asked the manufacturers ? what they say ? I don't think I have ever kept a veicle for six years on the same tyres to be too woried by this, but I suspose it is a bit like timing belts after you have one go on you,you soon learn to change them at the said intervals or in my case as soon as poss after getting the vehicle if I intend to keep it :lol: 
terry


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## 108370 (Nov 20, 2007)

*see here*

http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/advice/motorvehicles/tyres.htm


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

My 2002 tyres have lots of tread (35k only) and there isn't a sign of cracking anywhere. BUT they are 6 years old and they WILL be replaced before we venture anywhere.
£400???What's your life worth????


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## 101405 (Oct 15, 2006)

*Tyres*

Biggest threat to tyres is kerbing/and under Inflation. kerbs either driving over them or hitting them with the side wall can break the steel weave.
under Inflation makes the tire run hot . and lack of use is not good as this distorts the profile if let in one postion for long periods, beware of info on tyre side walls as this is mostly for the US market. Tyres are your life treat them well?


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## RAH (Apr 22, 2007)

Good topic! Six year old tires, regardless of what conditions they are showing, should be replaced, IMHO, as a measure of safety for both occupants and motorhome investment.

When replacing, be sure to check the manufacture date stamp on the new tires and insisit on recently manufactured ones. Some sit on the shelf for a while and even though they may be fine, they devalue your resale value. And if an option, get the higher ply rating. You usually get what you pay for.

We have owned a few used coaches over our time and have always immediately replaced tires, even if they were only a couple of years old, so that we know the history first-hand.

Since we have larger tires, we also make sure they have metal (aluminium) valve stems and never add extenders.

A very good point already mentioned is tire pressure. A weigh station and tire manufacture inflation chart is a good idea. We use a PressurePro tire pressure information system in the coach that, hopefully, will highlight any potential problems going down the road before a tire blow-out damages the wells and internals. Good for those pulling trailers and cars on A-Frames also.


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