There was a thread on this subject recently but lost it. The Puck hasn't been used over a year now and it's on the driveway. It seems well sheltered from the sun being shaded on it's south side by the house, the west side by the garage and the north side by a hedge.

I need to get out and tinker before our first trip which is the EOC rally in Charmouth in 3 weeks. Carole had a scare in a story about a horsebox tyres and has asked me about the Puck's. They were new in March last year I THINK !!!!! Oddly the AL invoice doesn't detail them so will call them tomorrow and confirm.

Anyway I might have to get a local man in to check them for me. I had intended to check the pressures in them sometime this week.

The canvas had been reproofed, I will fire up the gas fridge again and generally tinker.

AAAaaaahhhh!!

Madam has just remembered that we didn't replace the tyres last year, she remembers AL saying they were OK. That's why it's not mentioned on the invoice. But I have already emailed AL to check. It seemes they will search to no result. I will let them know.

Maybe a chap locally can check them.

As has been mentioned elsewhere recently Derek the perceived wisdom is to replace tyres that are older than 5 years. They will have a date code on them.

The trouble is it's an area where you can never be sure who's right and who's wrong. Some say that the 5 year recommendation is just tyre company marketing because usually at 5 years old most tyres look in fine shape and it's v rare for caravan tyre treads to wear anywhere near legal limits in that time. Others say that age affects the internal construction of tyres and the external rubber surface due to suns rays and that they can be dangerous when older than five and you can't see what's going on inside.

Some tyre retailers will do anything for a sale and scare you into replacing, others can assure you they are safe, but how can a layman be sure?

Me, I doubt the Caravan Club are getting kickbacks from the NTDA, so I suspect their advice is made with the best interests of their members at heart, so I'll swap when 5 years old.

Oh yes and there were some cases a few years back where 'Matador' caravan tyres of relatively new age were blowing out. In fact it drove major van manufacturers like Swift Group et al to use more mainstream 'premium' tyres as original equipment. So it may well be that the five year recommendation is based on the cheapest tyres about and if you use a 'premium' make you can expect longer tyre life.

Quote: hampshireman wrote in post #1

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There was a thread on this subject recently but lost it.

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According to KwikFit https://www.kwik-fit.com/caravan-and-mot...-tyre-aging.asp

As a general rule (and following guidance issued by the tyre makers' trade body, the British Tyre Manufacturers' Association, it's advised that caravan tyres should ideally be replaced when 5 years old, and should never be used when more than 7 years old.

Ok thanks, I knew there would be a lot of response. I still need to get a chap to look at them as my mobility on kneeling and feeling behind the tyres is not a given and especiall when I don't know what I am looking for.

This morning other jobs were done such as : -

The mossy net went back in,
The gas on the fridge fired up easily
as did the Truma heater, not that we have ever used it
the water system works OK
greased the lever cross hinges front and back for the pop up roof up and down

Carole didn't want to leave her gardening for other bits and pieces but we are getting there.

I gave our tyres the once over yesterday and they look perfect to my untrained eyes. The trouble is there just on the age were im starting to get paranoid on whether there safe or not.
On another note while checking everything works after the winter hibernation ( on the caravan .....not me ) i always come across the same old problem. The micro switch in the tap always fails to work .It takes about 20 to 30 minutes of switching to tap on and off and eventually it bursts into life. After this palaver its ok for the rest of the year. Its been like this now for the last 8 years.
When i think about it I've sent 4 hours of my life turning the caravan tap on and off to get it to work !!!!!
I could of flown to the canaries islands in that time.The mind boggles.

Little things eh? Tell me about them.

I have a Heinemann trailer which I bought in Hameln Germany in 1991, I put VW alloy wheels on it as we had an Autohomes and an Autosleeper both on VW base vehicles.

I have 23 year old tyres on it, they're fine externally, internally I have no idea, I only use it for the tip run these days, which is a 3 mile round trip at most.

I worked briefly for Continental in Hannover but apart from them being fitted to my car I have no idea what they recommend.

We are having new tyres on ours probably this week before we go away

I was told by an MOT tester that the EU want to introduce a 5 year limit on tyres and that would be checked at MOT time.

I have posted this before but if tyres are only allowed to be 5 years old at MOT time then I want "fresh" tyres fitted ie those with a 5 year life not some that have only 4 years and so many months

It does make you stop and think about how old your " new tyres " are when being fitted.
The tyre fitter would be impressed when you ask him for the date code on them before he fits them.
But that's not the customers problem at the end of the day ,as we all want the best for our hard earned cash.

Thanks for the words of wisdom Aaron.
I will have a nosey around at the pump tomorrow after work. The pump is the original as far as i can tell ,so it has not do done to bad considering its 17 years old