The time has come to replace all three tyres on our Triton - but doesn't it hurt when they still have lots of lovely tread depth but have to be condemned purely on age grounds?

Has anyone fitted new tyres recently and if so, which did you buy, where did you get them, how much did you pay and were they fitted at a depot or by a mobile fitter? I'll be happy to remove the wheels and take them to a fitting depot in the car if necessary.

The tyres that came with our 2003 van (which we bought in 2011) are Japanese made Toyo Teo Plus 195/70 R14 91H but I haven't been able to find anyone who stocks that brand locally.

Also, what is the general opinion regarding buying the cheapest as opposed to mid-range or premium caravan tyres? Is it worth splashing out on what will be low mileage tyres when they have to be scrapped?

The roadwheels (possibly not the spare) are also fitted with Tyron bands. Have these caused anyone problems when having replacements fitted?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Quote: Aaron Calder wrote in post #1

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Has anyone fitted new tyres recently and if so, which did you buy, where did you get them, how much did you pay and were they fitted at a depot or by a mobile fitter? I'll be happy to remove the wheels and take them to a fitting depot in the car if necessary.

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After a lot of consideration, I went for the same size and weight code as were originally on the van and was quoted on the tyre size chart. We have 13" wheels.

We went for mid priced tyres which were about £48.00 each including balancing and fitting. We did two trips to the garage, the first with a road wheel and the spare, and the second with the remaining road wheel.

Please bear in mind that although the tyres sizes and weight loadings may be correct, it doesn't always mean that the maximum tyre pressures are the same.
Our original tyres had a 43psi rating, our second set (on the van when we bought it) were only rated at 36psi and the set we bought for the start of last year's season are rated at 54psi.

I'm with Pepe regarding Tyron bands only because I've heard they're a nightmare to remove and not all outlets and certainly roadside rescue services, can remove them.

Randa

It is a few years since I replaced caravan tyres and I cannot advise on Tyron bands, but I found out the following:-
- I used http://www.etyres.co.uk/car-tyres-uk/sea...u=YES&tyre4X4=F
- the fit at your home people cost about £1 per tyre than the cheapest tyre depots I could find, so not worth the hastle of taking the wheels off yourself.
- do not go for a higher load index as this will result in a harder ride due to loss of some of the suspension offered by the now more rigid tyre wall.
- you do not need a premium brand, all the tyre is doing is rolling, unlike a car tyre.
- when you phone up the home fit people tell them specifically what you want the tyre for and how you want the freshest tyres available. etyres advised against a higher quality price that was at a lower price as they had been on the shelf for longer.

Colin

ps - as regards wheel balancing - is this needed - I have owned 4 eribas, 2 of which have been factory fresh and none have had the wheels balanced

Quote: eribaMotters wrote in post #5

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ps - as regards wheel balancing - is this needed - I have owned 4 eribas, 2 of which have been factory fresh and none have had the wheels balanced

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The main reason I have not previously considered having wheels balanced, [I am known for being particularly over the top, ocd, anal when it comes to such issues] is that when the van leaves the factory it has not had the wheels balanced by the manufacturer.
Add to this, after owing eribas since 2003 [bar 2 years] I have not had a cupboard/door pop open, or anything come loose. On one journey I travelled 700+ miles with a box of meringue nests hanging from a hook of which none broke. Some 300 miles later I found the other box that I had forgotten about in a floor locker, again intact.

Colin

Thanks for all the considered replies, gentlemen. You've given me food for thought.

I shall take one of the wheels to my local tyre depot tomorrow and ask their advice re tyres and Tyron bands. I'm sure that when I mentioned Tyrons to a mate who runs a tyre business in Poole he too was very dismissive of them and recommended binning them when the time came. He said that from a fitter's viewpoint they are more trouble than they are worth. Doubtless his French colleagues would take a similar view and give me a right earful if asked to do a puncture repair with them in place.

As the price of new tyres includes wheel balancing, it makes sense to have them done. Having driven cars with out of balance wheels in the past, I'm all too familiar with the vibration they can cause at particular speeds so, like Pete, I'd rather err on the side of caution and have them done.

£55-60 fitted looks like a typical price for a reasonable quality tyre but when compared with the Michelin Pilots that I put on the Audi recently, that doesn't seem too bad.

Quote: eribaMotters wrote in post #8

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...when the van leaves the factory it has not had the wheels balanced by the manufacturer.

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Well, what an interesting day I've had.

First job - remove spare wheel from under the caravan. Not a hope; the special all-brass, corrosion proof padlock I'd fitted was (you guessed) corroded internally and no amount of WD40 would release it. Thankfully, my junior hacksaw went through the shank like a hot knife through butter. Some deterrent.

Crawling around under the van struggling with a surprisingly heavy steel spare wheel left me feeling very conscious of my advancing years as not so long ago I'd have been able to handle it without a problem. The tempus certainly is fugiting and far too rapidly for my liking.

Next job was to remove one of the road wheels and take that and the spare to the tyre depot. This was easier said than done as the wheel bolts, although correctly torqued last summer, resisted all attempts to remove them with a wheelbrace. Luckily I have a length of scaffolding pole from my car maintenance days and together with a socket and ratchet drive that gave me sufficient leverage to loosen them. Each one released with a loud 'crack' which I'm pretty sure was due to the corrosion between the steel bolts and the alloy wheel.

At the tyre depot I was delighted to be told that as the spare tyre had never been on the road, had never been exposed to direct sunlight and was only six years old, it was considered suitable to retain for temporary use in the case of a puncture. So now I needed only two new tyres instead of the three I'd budgeted for.

In the end I decided on two Falken Sincera SN828s which at £46.43 each seemed to represent good value. When I mentioned the Tyron Bands on my wheels, the fitter's face dropped, "Oh, I was hoping you weren't going to say that." he said. When I asked what the problem was, he said that removing and refitting them makes a simple job much more complicated and time-consuming so I told him not to bother refitting them.

Another trip with the other wheel and it was time to pay a total of £133.56.

As I was putting the tyre into the car I said, "You have balanced them?" at which he said with some embarrassment that they don't normally balance caravan tyres - this despite the invoice clearly showing that I had been charged £12 for 'computer wheel balance'. So both wheels went back into the workshop for balancing. I'm glad I asked.

This picture shows what came out of the tyres together with the special ball-ended Allen key and the multilingual instruction book.

Tyron bands.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

If anyone wants them, make me an offer. You should get 10% discount on your caravan insurance if they are fitted.

I like the story about the spare wheel. That happened to us so we resisted changing it for a few years. Eventually we used it when we discovered that one of the more recent road wheel tyres needed changing immediately.

We eventually re-booted the spare last year although the tyre company still insisted it was good. It was a Dunlop SP that came with the van when new (dated 1998 ).

Best thing to do with the padlock is to wrap it in a small polythene bag and seal it up with masking tape after fitting it.

Randa

Quote: Aaron Calder wrote in post #11

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As I was putting the tyre into the car I said, "You have balanced them?" at which he said with some embarrassment that they don't normally balance caravan tyres - this despite the invoice clearly showing that I had been charged £12 for 'computer wheel balance'. So both wheels went back into the workshop for balancing. I'm glad I asked.

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Quote: Randa france wrote in post #12

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Best thing to do with the padlock is to wrap it in a small polythene bag and seal it up with masking tape after fitting it.

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