Archiesgrandad Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 We have just returned from a 2 week trip to France to sort out progress on the house, and we took with us a few bits and pieces on the trailer, a flat pack kitchen, 2 flights of stairs and sundry bits for the showers. Because we had had it all shipped to us in the UK we knew all the shipping weights, so we were able to make sure that we did not overload the trailer or the van, and we also had about 200 kilos in the van. We travelled with a near empty water tank, and poor old CG was restricted to a change of undergarments and a tee shirt, but it all seemed pretty heavy. Our dear old Pilote is a bit reluctant in the power department, although since we bought it she is improving, and sometimes seems quite spritely , so we were never going to race down there, but we took it pretty steady, and whenever we stopped I checked everything, including the tyres. Because the trailer was pretty close to the weight limit for the tyres, rated for 385 kilos, I was particularly concerned that I did not overcook them. I was surprised to find that the trailer tyres remained quite cool and in fact gave me no cause for concern , but the van tyres, which were inflated to their correct pressures, ran quite warm, almost hot. Needless to say we continued on our way quite carefully and gently, and we arrived safe and sound. I'm not the sort of bloke that goes around fondling the tyres of cars and vans normally, but on the return trip I did just run a hand over the van tyres each time we stopped, and even with a more modest payload the tyres still ran extraordinarily hot, ambient temperatures were in the mid 30s for most of the trip, but the trailer seemed OK. If there is anyone out there who has experience of getting close up and friendly with their tyres, I would,like to know if this is normal. Many thanks AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docted Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 AGD I stopped hugging tyres a long time ago, I ruined too many shirts and I found it difficult to keep up with the van on the motorway the late Mrs docted had a wicked sense of humour :-S On a serious side the trailer tyres look to be at proper pressure for job, however the van tyres look to be little low leading the tyre walls to flex more and generate heat which you feel when you stop the van. Time methinks for you to follow the advice often given on the forum and do the weighbridge thing: get weights for front and rear axles and then speak to the tyre manufacturers to get their figures. If they were just warm you must be very near correct pressure remember to put 200kg in van and CG in a teeshirt and underwear. docted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I dropped, in stages, the tyre pressures on our present van from the manufacturers recommended to closer to the tyresafe recommended pressures. I always kept a 'check' of temperatures to ensure they didn't start to heat up more than when at the manufacturers pressures. I would not say at any time they where "extraordinarily hot" , they do run fairly warm, but you can hold your hand on them with no discomfort at all. Maybe you need to ask the tyre manufacturer if they have a recommended max temp. p.s. at that weight it would occur to me that the trailer is unbraked, if so there is no heat disapated from the brakes into the wheels/tyres, but you have been putting extra strain on the vans brakes and generating extra heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Thank you both, perhaps I exaggerated a bit about hot, but it really surprised me how warm the tyres were. Perhaps I should have recalled the good old days, hauling ballast for the M1 in an old Fordson 3ton tipper on piecework. Would you believe that we could get 8 tons on, and if you worked your logsheets right, you could do 14 or 16 hours, 7 days a week without being caught. The tyres used to get extreemely hot when loaded, but the trips were short, and they cooled down as you ran back empty. Those were the days! I will keep an eye on things, and I am fastidious about tyre pressures so in hindsight I think I am OK, but the tyres are coming up to 5 years old soon so when I change them I might do some research. The problem with that is that when I go to my regular man I just say" new tyres please, cheapest you've got",and that's what he fits. Have done it for years that way, All my cars, the family cars, the chauffeur cars and it has served me well and saved me a fortune. I suspect that the people who make these cheap tyres may be outside the UK, and I doubt that an outfit like The Bombay Icecream and Tyre Company will have an English Language Help Desk to help me work out if there is a more suitable tyre. We'll just have to see. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 I've learnt my lesson on 'cheap' tyres, fortunately without injury, with the present tyre marking regs first thing I do is look to see which tyres have best rating, price is a secondary consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globebuster Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 IMO there is nothing worse than considering cheap tyres. There is very little between you and the road surface, if there's one thing you should never compromise on and that's rubber. I don't often fit top spec tyres - I go for well proven mid-range makes like Falken, but would never consider 'Linga-Long' or 'Sunny' or other budget crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Can't tell you what is hot for a motorhome tyre but fondling tyres was common when I was a caravanner. It provided a simple guide to whether your breaks were on when you were driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Archiesgrandad - 2014-07-19 10:47 AM Thank you both, perhaps I exaggerated a bit about hot, but it really surprised me how warm the tyres were... AGD If your tyres were very hot (eg. so hot that you would have found it uncomfortable to keep your hand on them) it's certain that you were running them at too low an inflation-pressure for the load being placed on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Strangely I've just started indulging in this habit :$................... What surprised me was that the trailer tyres were cold when compared to the camper, but I put this down to the trailer being unbraked :-|................the camper tyres all felt the same, so I expect they were all at the same pressure? ;-).............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Archiesgrandad - 2014-07-19 10:47 AM ... but the tyres are coming up to 5 years old soon so when I change them... AGD Hi AGD, Do I take it from your comment that you plan to change them when they are 5 years old? If so I have to ask why??? Are they cracked and perished or still looking good? What make are they? The reason I ask is that Continental recommend replacing their tyres when 10 years old so if you change them at 5 years you are wasting half of their potential life! I am sure other manufacturers must have similar life expectancies. I replaced all 5 of the original Continental tyres on our MH when they where 9 years old (by date on tyres) and then sold them on fleabay as 9 year old part worns (only 20,000 miles) to a white van man who would finish them off in under a year. This saved me the disposal cost of the old tyres and paid for 2 of the new tyres into the bargain! How else could I have bought 5 new Continentals for under £300! Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 ..... Continental recommend replacing their tyres when 10 years old so if you change them at 5 years you are wasting half of their potential life! I am sure other manufacturers must have similar life expectancies. Really? I'd read that manufacturers were reluctant to give a tyre life because so much depended on the variables of usage and storage, i.e. exosure to UV light etc. My tyres are now eight years old and have done under 40,000 miles, fronts about 30% tread left, rears more, no surface cracking - probably because it lioves in a garage when n ot in use. I was thinking that I was over-life already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 StuartO - 2014-07-20 6:21 PM ..... Continental recommend replacing their tyres when 10 years old so if you change them at 5 years you are wasting half of their potential life! I am sure other manufacturers must have similar life expectancies. Really? I'd read that manufacturers were reluctant to give a tyre life because so much depended on the variables of usage and storage, i.e. exosure to UV light etc. My tyres are now eight years old and have done under 40,000 miles, fronts about 30% tread left, rears more, no surface cracking - probably because it lioves in a garage when n ot in use. I was thinking that I was over-life already. Quote... "Tyre service life recommendation Continental is unaware of any technical data that supports a specific tyre age for removal from service. However, as with other members of the tyre and automotive industries, Continental recommends that all tyres (including spare tyres) that were manufactured more than ten (10) years previou) be replaced with new tyres, even when tyres appear to be usable from their external appearance and if the tread depth may have not reached the minimum wear out depth." Quoted from Page 110 of this download... Link to 2013/14 Technical Databook. I can only find this reference on Conti's website but they do make reference to 'other members of the tyre and automotive industries'. Read into that what you will. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 First set of tyres lasted less than 5 years as the MOT man failed them for being square.................... I was a yachty and working fulltime so Horace got used very rarely....................second set of tyres were Hankooks which I only changed after joining this forum and heard about tyre age :$..................they were not cracked or perished which was probably due to being garaged.................but it did notice a discernible change in ride comfort when I changed them ;-)..................... I also overheard the lad who changed them ask his boss if my old tyres were for scrap................No was the reply .....................so expect they had an after life on some white van :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I always fondle my tyres when I stop on a long run especially when the weather is hot, i.e. Summer here or Autumn Spain. I now know how hot they feel and can judge that all is normal. No brake binding or other problems causing one or more tyres to be hotter than the others. I have also been told that across the tread should be an even temperature, more heat at either the edges or middle may well indicate too high or too low a pressure. Just changed my tyres from Hankook original fitting to Continental at 6 years old. The Wagon runs better on fresh rubber and as per the previous poster, I believe my tyres had a new life on a white van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Thankyou all, I feel much happier now that I have read all your comments, I will be changing the tyres on the van later this year, because I believe it is a wise precaution. I am recently retired from running a Chauffeur business, and we generally had around 15 cars at any time. Mostly they are middle range executive saloons costing around £30 to 40,000, we kept them round 4 years during which they would cover 250,000 miles, and we carried quite expensive senior company executives for major companies, with a bit of interesting stuff with famous people on the side. Over the life of each car we probably fitted about 9 sets of replacement tyres, and our policy of buying cheap ones, incidently the recommendation of the major national tyre company we used, saved us a lot of money, and we never had a single problem that could be ascribed to cheap tyres.( Cheap drivers were a different matter.) The nature of our business meant that we could not afford the delays caused by punctures, our reputation would have been ruined if we had been found to have been jeopodising the safety of our clients by cutting corners, and I personally am not careless of the safety of myself, my family, or friends. We should each do what we think is right. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Further to my earlier post I contacted Michelin and got the following back, very quickly: Thank you for your enquiry about your XC Camping tyres. Because of the changes linked to tyre usage being quite variable, it is impossible to predict exactly how long a certain tyre can be used for. This is why, after 5 years of use, we recommend an annual inspection of the tyres (including those for the spare wheel) by a professional. We also recommend that tyres are replaced before reaching 10 years or more, even if these tyres appear to be good enough to be used and if they haven’t yet reached the legal wear limit. Should you require any further assistance please contact us on 0845 366 1590 (UK & NI) or 0044 (0) 1782 401590 (ROI), quoting the reference number above. Regards Joanne, Consumer Contact Team This is consistent with what Continental have said and it sounds like all tyre manaufacturers have arranged to sing from the same hymnsheet. I'm going to replace my tyres without delay and hope to get some value from selling the old ones to a white van man. (Thanks for that idea.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 An update on my tyre replacement plans. I shopped around (on t'internet) and Halfords came up as the cheapest among companies which I felt I could rely on to fit and balance properly. I even rang the local Halford tyre depot I would be using to check what tyre valves they would use. The guy I spoke to was very nice and sounded like he knew his stuff. You pay on line at the time you order and part pof the pordering process is to choose an appointment time for fitting. £711.55 for five Michelin Agilis Camping, including 10% off the order because I ordered more than one tyre. Not 10% for every additional tyre unfortunately but a worthwhile discount nevertheless. I have checked the tread depth left on my existing Michelin XC Camping tyres; 10mm on the unused spare, 8mm on the back tyres and 6mm on the fronts - remarkable after 51321 k (32,075 miles) . Not a big mileage for eight years of course but I still think only 2mm of wear on the rear tyres is not a lot in over 30,000 miles. The date stamp on my existing tyres is 3405, so week 34 of 2005. Still another year for white van man to get some more miles out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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