Ford Transit (mainly) tyre valves - possible danger.

[Brian Kirby]

Thanks Derek

Afraid I'd just assumed you'd stopped for fuel on an Autoroute aire de services, and then noticed the air loss.  (Its that "aire" thing again!) 

Well done with the valves.  I take it the type of clamp in valve usually fitted to the rim/tyre combinations supplied with Michelin Campings (Schrader?) won't fit the valve aperture on the Ford rim?

I was prompted to ask how you'd fared, as I was warned while in France that getting assistance for punctures on autoroutes is a bit of a nightmare, and wondered if your tale might confirm this.  Under the circumstances, clearly not!

Forgive the off topic, but I was warned that normal breakdown services won't/can't attend to breakdowns on toll autoroutes, and possibly not on the non-toll variety either.  My informant had direct experience of a flat on an autoroute, which I understood to be the A71 in the vicinity of the Millau viaduct.  Having a duff back, he knew he couldn't change the wheel himself, plus with a flat on the rear of his 3,850Kg Autotrial, he could see the spare couldn't be released from its carrier until the van was actually lifted.  He had therefore called his UK breakdown service (didn't ask which), to be told that as he was on an autoroute they couldn't attend.  He was advised to use the roadside emergency phone and eventually got through to the police.  Having found an English speaking officer, they asked if there was an emergency, or if there had been injuries.  When he said no, they said they couldn't offer any direct assistance either, but as he was English speaking only limited French, the officer summoned roadside assistance from the autoroute operator on his behalf.  (11/10 to the French police, so there's a first!). 

Autoroute operator arrived, understood, duly summoned help, and stayed to translate for my informant while the wheel was changed (another story there, but that is to much of a digression!).  He was then given a phone number to ring which, it seems by remarkable chance, took him back to the French end of his breakdown service, and to the person he'd previously spoken to, who recognised him from the earlier conversation.  The breakdown operator then asked to speak to the repairer, apparently agreed his costs, and our boy was on his way without putting his hand into his pocket.

I haven't researched this yet, but does anyone know different?  It seems that whereas the cost of a breakdown/recovery from an autoroute - even a toll autoroute - may be covered by the breakdown services, the actual task has to be carried out by a designated recovery service that can be summoned only by the autoroute operator.  Since the roadside phones appear not to connect to the autoroute operator, but to the emergency services (reasonable), the obvious question arises: how to summon help in similar non-urgent circumstances?  Does anyone know the answer?  For example, is there a breakdown number on the autoroute ticket, where issued?

[Derek Uzzell]

Brian: The rim-hole on 'SEVEL' wheels is 15.7mm in diameter, whereas the Transit's is 11.3mm. So tyre-valves (whatever their type) suitable for the former won't be suitable for the latter and vice versa. It's quite possible that clamp-in valves customarily found on SEVEL wheels fitted with Michelin XC Camping tyres are sourced from Schrader, given that Michelin and Schrader have a French Connection. But Schrader isn't the only company making clamp-in valves for 15.7mm rim-holes, so who knows? The Transit wheel (and the Renault Master wheel too) has restricted space around and above the rim-hole, presenting potential fitting difficulties for anyone wishing to fit clamp-in valves. The particular Alligator-made valve I mentioned earlier fits easily to a Transit steel wheel and is available retail from Auto4 in small quantities. I'm sure equally suitable products are made by other valve manufacturers, but I don't know which ones. (Incidentally, I've been told that at least some (perhaps all?) motorhomes based on the very latest SEVEL chassis don't have clamp-in tyre valves, even though 'camping' tyres are fitted to their wheels.) There's a useful section on Page 121 of the CC's "Caravan Europe 1" 2007 handbook relating to autoroute breakdown service.