Time to retyre ? would you ? (5 Viewers)

[sparkyvanman]

Hi all , advice please. My Hymer A class is now 5 years old . The tyres are the original ones from new . I have rotated the tyres to even out wear . They all have about 5mm of tread . I have done 26,000 miles . There is no signs of the walls degrading, I have Continental Van Contact Camper tyres. My question is should I put new tyres on the van ? The last thing I want is a puncture as I don’t have a spare only the tyre sealer / inflator. An online search tells me 4 new tyres will cost about £1k .

Should I fit new tyres ?



Thanks

 

[Spriddler]

My question is should I put new tyres on the van ? The last thing I want is a puncture as I don’t have a spare only the tyre sealer / inflator.

No. 5 years isn't old IMHO.
New tyres can also get punctures. In my experience Sodde's Law says they will.

 

[Otter Spotter]

Hi all , advice please. My Hymer A class is now 5 years old . The tyres are the original ones from new . I have rotated the tyres to even out wear . They all have about 5mm of tread . I have done 26,000 miles . There is no signs of the walls degrading, I have Continental Van Contact Camper tyres. My question is should I put new tyres on the van ? The last thing I want is a puncture as I don’t have a spare only the tyre sealer / inflator. An online search tells me 4 new tyres will cost about £1k .

Should I fit new tyres ?



Thanks

No

 

[Jev88]

7 years is my limit unless true truck tyres - 10 years (like on our RV).
My local trusted tyre fitter will fit your own tyres but have a limit of 5 years or they refuse.

What you can't see is inside your rim where moisture gathers and can perish from inside out.

 

[TerryL]

If you have a friendly fitter ask them to check over your tyres; it's important to check the inward facing surfaces too. Regulary used and properly maintained/inflated they should last more than five years and 5mm thread is still okay IMO.

But if you do decide to replace them you should be able to do better than £1k. Plenty of threads about alternatives.

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[Hettie's Crew]

You haven’t said how old the tyres are, just because they were on when the van was new doesn’t mean they are the same age.
My Continentals are coming up to seven years old and have excellent tread but very slight side wall cracking. Continental’s technical advice was a ten year life span but to keep an eye on them after seven years.
I’ll be replacing them next year.

 

[Lenny HB]

The age of the van is not relevant it's the age of the tyres you need to check.
There will be a date code on the inside wall next to the DOT marking it will be week/year 20/19 would be 2nd week of may 2019.

Your tyres will probably be 6 or7 years old so probably best to change them.
If you go for van tyres rather than camping tyres you will get better grip and a much softer ride and will only cost £500 - £600 for four and with the money you have saved you could buy a spare.

 

[Northernraider]

The age of the van is not relevant it's the age of the tyres you need to check.
There will be a date code on the inside wall next to the DOT marking it will be week/year 20/19 would be 2nd week of may 2019.

Your tyres will probably be 6 or7 years old so probably best to change them.
If you go for van tyres rather than camping tyres you will get better grip and a much softer ride and will only cost £500 - £600 for four and with the money you have saved you could buy a spare.

20/19 would be week 20 of 2019 surely

Week 2 would be 02

 

[Lenny HB]

20/19 would be week 20 of 2019 surely

Week 2 would be 02

Read again boy week 20 is the 2nd week of May which is what I said.

 

[Northernraider]

Hi all , advice please. My Hymer A class is now 5 years old . The tyres are the original ones from new . I have rotated the tyres to even out wear . They all have about 5mm of tread . I have done 26,000 miles . There is no signs of the walls degrading, I have Continental Van Contact Camper tyres. My question is should I put new tyres on the van ? The last thing I want is a puncture as I don’t have a spare only the tyre sealer / inflator. An online search tells me 4 new tyres will cost about £1k .

Should I fit new tyres ?



Thanks

At 5 years old no I wouldn't be replacing them .

On every other motorhome I've owned I've found that with camper tyres the sidewalls usually start cracking and perishing way before they run out of tread which is why I never buy camper tyres and tend to fit van commercial tyres instead.

BUT

On the current motorhome I have which I bought last June I was very surprised to find the continental vanco 2 tyres with almost new tread were actually dated from 2014 ... so were 9 years old ...now 10 years old. But there isn't the slightest trace of cracking or perishing etc anywhere on the tyre , and having had a leaking valve on one of the front tyres and having it removed to be repaired there was no sign of wear on the inside either. So I decided I'd hang off on replacing them for now.
I've had both continental and Michelin specific camper tyres with cracked sidewalls etc at 5 and 6 years old so I think the van tyres are far better. I've done 11k miles with the van since last June so perhaps by next spring they'll be worn down enough to justify fitting a full set of winter tyres to replace them. All 4 are still perfect on sidewalls outside and inside so no reason yet to change them.

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[Northernraider]

Read again boy week 20 is the 2nd week of May which is what I said.

I beg your pardon uncle lenny it must be the heat and sun getting in my eyes ...I never saw "may"

 

[andyelbac]

The age of the van is not relevant it's the age of the tyres you need to check.
There will be a date code on the inside wall next to the DOT marking it will be week/year 20/19 would be 2nd week of may 2019.

Your tyres will probably be 6 or7 years old so probably best to change them.
If you go for van tyres rather than camping tyres you will get better grip and a much softer ride and will only cost £500 - £600 for four and with the money you have saved you could buy a spare.

Hi Lenny, I know you favour Toyo tyres but I understand you probably do a fair amount of mileage and don't have the MH parked up static for too long? As I'm not yet retired we have found the van sitting around for months on end during the winter (although try to take it out for at least one day per month during these times). Would you only recommend Toyo van tyres for vehicles that are used more regularly?

 

[EuroTrotters]

I run a small fleet of vehicles.

Based on what you have said, and for the cost involved, yes, I would change them .

 

[jennywren]

Hi
I have just changed my Conti Vanco Campers, they were about 7 years old with 3/4mm of tread left, no visible cracking whatsoever. I noticed I was losing a bit of traction/grip on the front. I was advised (at time of MOT) that this could be due to the rubber in the tyres hardening a bit over the years. Not sure if this was the case or not but thought it time to change them anyway (due to age).

Like others on here have suggested, I went for 'commercial' van tyres. I stuck with Continental (they appear to have good reputation, I was happy with the Vanco's, they also have decent tech team on end of phone) and bought 4 new Continental Van Contact 4 season (with the snowflake symbol), cost fitted £164 each from Asda Tyres Online, fitted locally (included in cost). Tyre size was 215/75R/16, load rating 116. They all came with different date stamps, the oldest of which was November 2023. All in all, I was very pleased with that.

Hope this helps, good luck, but shop around.

 

[Flairy]

For 22 years I’ve changed mine every 5 years purely for peace of mind having had motorcycles for many years 49 in total ,tyres have been ultra important.Germany has a norm of 5years .not sure if it’s advisory or a rule.

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[haganap]

If you are asking the question,
Then you know the right answer.

I change every 5 years regardless.

 

[HugoBNB]

Does it make a difference if your vehicle is stored indoors with no direct sunlight?

 

[PP Bear]

Like this…

 

[jennywren]

Does it make a difference if your vehicle is stored indoors with no direct sunlight?

I think it must be advantageous to prevent UV degradation, especially direct sunlight. But sidewalls can also suffer potential damage and 'flat' spots if left standing for prolonged periods, especially if tyres not adequately inflated. We always 'over-inflate' ours during the winter when the van is not used for 3 months. Probably best to run the van on a regular basis for this reason if you can.

 

[Lenny HB]

Hi Lenny, I know you favour Toyo tyres but I understand you probably do a fair amount of mileage and don't have the MH parked up static for too long? As I'm not yet retired we have found the van sitting around for months on end during the winter (although try to take it out for at least one day per month during these times). Would you only recommend Toyo van tyres for vehicles that are used more regularly?

We do 8k-10k a year but most of it is in two or three trips, we have a couple of 6/7 week trips of about 3000 miles and maybe a 2000 mile one as well apart from that the odd music festival and rally. So the van is often standing for 6 to 8 weeks therefore I take is for a 20 mile drive every few weeks to keep the mechanics & tyres in good order.

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[cyberyacht]

Replaced my Michelin campers at 7 years. tyres are covered when parked at home and for 5 day+ stops in hot sun.

 

[sparkyvanman]

Thanks all for the great advice , can anyone tell me the differance between "camper" and "van" tyres , I assumed camper tyres were for the heavier weight ?
thanks

 

[Northernraider]

Thanks all for the great advice , can anyone tell me the differance between "camper" and "van" tyres , I assumed camper tyres were for the heavier weight ?
thanks

They claim camper tyres are designed for vehicles that sit around in the one spot for long periods of time and that the sidewalls etc are made to endure this.

But the strange thing is I've never had sidewalls perish and crack on any other tyre bar the Michelin and continental camper tyres . If I have to replace tyres on a motorhome i always replace them with ordinary commercial tyres with as high a load capability as I can get. These days if I replace them I try to get winter tyres instead as so many countries now require them for half the year anyway and I think you get better grip.

Normally work out at a better price too

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Thanks all for the great advice , can anyone tell me the differance between "camper" and "van" tyres , I assumed camper tyres were for the heavier weight ?
thanks

CP (Camping Pneus) or C (Commercial)
What really matters is the load rating.
As far as I can figure out the CP rating thing was started by Michelin, hence the French for tyres and taken on by the EU in a paper they produced, called something like ETRTO which laid out standards. I’ve only seen CP rating on Italian, French and German tyres, all EU.
I’m suspicious that Michelin have heavy influence with the French government.
The claim is that they have stiffer side walls to resist standing around with heavy loads. But, Michelin insists they are pumped up to 80psi rear and 65 front regardless of motorhome axle weights.
Because of the rock hard ride some get tempted to reduce the pressure but this just increases side wall flex that stiff ridged side walls can’t handle, so cracking starts.
A marketing scam is my opinion.

 

[sparkyvanman]

Thanks for the advice , my tyres are 4818 , so i guess that they were made at the end of 2018 . So that makes them 6.5 years old . I think i will replace them before our trip to Spain in September . I am 67 , never had a puncture in all my driving years sinve passing my test at 18 .! . Have had a motorhome for ten years with no flats of punctures. My nightmare is having a blow out on a motorway, is this common

thanks all.

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[Northernraider]

Thanks for the advice , my tyres are 4818 , so i guess that they were made at the end of 2018 . So that makes them 6.5 years old . I think i will replace them before our trip to Spain in September . I am 67 , never had a puncture in all my driving years sinve passing my test at 18 .! . Have had a motorhome for ten years with no flats of punctures. My nightmare is having a blow out on a motorway, is this common

thanks all.

Considering the amount of motorhomes on the road travelling around I'd say it was very uncommon .

In 34 years driving I've had possibly 3/4 punctures and no blowouts .

I did once have an entire wheel. Drum and hub come off the car while doing 70 on a motorway but that was on the drive home having just bought it and down to the previous owners negligence... it was a little exciting and involved 2 or 3 360° spins but ended with no impact , injuries or soiled underwear

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

Thanks for the advice , my tyres are 4818 , so i guess that they were made at the end of 2018 . So that makes them 6.5 years old . I think i will replace them before our trip to Spain in September . I am 67 , never had a puncture in all my driving years sinve passing my test at 18 .! . Have had a motorhome for ten years with no flats of punctures. My nightmare is having a blow out on a motorway, is this common

thanks all.

Your tyres are 5.5 years old. My tyres are 6 years old but won't be changing them for another year or two as we put our van up on our E&P self levellers if not using the van for more than 3 weeks to take the bulk of the weight off them.

 

[AGT]

I had a Continental VanCo CP blowout yesterday with an almighty bang after 70 miles of use. Something not right with that I think. AA man suggesting that it was a defective sidewall which split.

I can’t get a like for like replacement quickly and so am planning to have a non CP Continental VanCo fitted. Any views on having a CP and a non CP on one axle?
The spare is an unused 2017 Michelin CP which looks a bit grotty from life in the cradle but has no cracking. It’s older than I would normally run but I could keep it on and monitor it.

 

[Northernraider]

I had a Continental VanCo CP blowout yesterday with an almighty bang after 70 miles of use. Something not right with that I think. AA man suggesting that it was a defective sidewall which split.View attachment 897318

I can’t get a like for like replacement quickly and so am planning to have a non CP Continental VanCo fitted. Any views on having a CP and a non CP on one axle?
The spare is an unused 2017 Michelin CP which looks a bit grotty from life in the cradle but has no cracking. It’s older than I would normally run but I could keep it on and monitor it.

So new tyres can potentially be more dangerous than old ones .

 

[Lenny HB]

Any views on having a CP and a non CP on one axle?

It would be illegal in France & Spain and quite a few other countries.
Also having a tyre with much stiffer side wall on one end of the axle may give odd handling I wouldn't do it.