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Caravan Tyres – Tips to Keep You Safe This Summer
As we fast approach the Australian summer break and as we begin preparations for a long-haul or even just towing a short distance. Our caravan’s tyres are just as important to check as the tyres on your car. Caravan tyres are often over looked as they do not do the same kilometres through the year as our everyday car and it’s this reason we don’t give them the same attention.
The reason is simple, caravan tyres do a lot less work than the tyres on our car. You may only use the van a couple of times a year. They do not work as hard as the tyres on our car. They do not turn as much as our front tyres and when it comes to acceleration, they don’t put the power down like the rear (or front). For this, wearing the tread down on caravan tyres would mean some serious touring kilometres.
In this article, we look at 5 great tips to assure your caravan tyres are safe for any kind of traveling this summer.
TREAD
When it comes to towing a caravan, there are two main types of tyre tread, passenger (P) and Light Truck (LT). For towing a caravan, you would typically choose an LT tyre for just about every trip planned. LT tyres have stronger sidewalls, can take a higher load capacity and are more resistant to puncture and harsh road surfaces that the Australian touring can often provide.
When it comes to choosing the right type of tyre, this is where planning comes into the decision. An important factor of the tyre is its sidewall and more importantly, how many sidewall and tread plies are in the tyre. The higher the tread pile count the more suited it will be for off road surfaces like the Aussie bush. It can usually range from 4 – 10, with a 10-ply rating being most suited to rugged 4X4 off road conditions. For on-road travel you obviously want to look at a lower tread pile count to suit smoother conditions on the road.
Every tyre has an expiry date, this is usually set by the manufacturer and can be typically around 6 years. Even if your tyre has sufficient tread left on it after this time, your tyres will need to be replaced. The rubber compounds break down over time and can be deemed extremely dangerous when traveling on a highway. Heat causes the tyre to expand and because of the tyre compounds breaking down this will lead to the tyre ripping open and you do not want this happening at high speed.
LOAD CAPACTITY
Before choosing your tyres, it’s important to know the weight of the fully laden caravan. This can be achieved by towing to a weighbridge for inspection. Once you know your car can safely tow the specified weight, choose a set of tyres on performance, conditions and budget. You can get your tyre load capacity from a local Donnellans and you will be specified by their load-rating index (ask your Donnellans experts for ratings information).
It’s also a good idea to think about the way you load your caravan and the use of distributing bars could be right for you. These distributing bars are necessary on all but the lightest camper trailers. When fitted correctly the bars will ensure that some of the ball weight is carried by the front two wheels. As a result, the complete fitout will be level but slightly lower. It’s important to distribute the weight evenly as to ensure steering and braking are not affected.
TYRE CONDITION
Every tyre has a ‘shelf life’ and the tyres manufactured date will be stamped on the sidewall as a four-digit code. For example, ‘3317’ means that the tyre was made in the 33rd week of 2017. There is a big difference in buying a new caravan from a dealer opposed to buying a second-hand van from Gumtree. You might be getting a bargain but more often than not, the van will need a full new set of tyres.
It’s important to find out from the seller of a second-hand caravan the frequency, distance, maintenance and type of travel the owners have been doing. Most vans coming from a dealer will have brand new tyres that have been specifically chosen by the caravan’s manufacturer.
When buying second-hand vans, find out:
- The age of the tyres
- The TTT ratings is the tread, traction and temperature ratings. Do they match the type of traveling you intend on doing?
- The tyre pressures
- The overall condition of the tyre. Have they lasted their intended life expectancy?
TYRE PRESSURE
You’ll find the correct tyre pressure noted on the caravan’s placard for most modern vans. Its paramount you have the correct tyre pressure in your vans tyres. This can be checked when the tyres are cold or hot. If you are checking with cold tyres, it’s important to re-check after 50Km.
The tyres PSI should have risen around 4 PSI, this is normal and spot on. If the pressure increase is less, then your cold pressure is too high; conversely if the pressure increase is more, your cold pressure is too low. You can always tweak your caravans tyre pressure while travelling until you see the right increase and decrease from cold to hot.
THINGS TO AVOID
Things to avoid when towing your van to ensure you arrive at your destination or return home as planned. It’s important to avoid sharp turns when towing large caravans. The result of this is usually two of the vans 4 tyres being dragged across the surface of the road, gravel or ground. This can lead to flat spots; the tyre being pulled off the rim entirely or doing a wheel bearing further down the track. If you must do a U-Turn look for an area with enough turning room to avoid these things from occurring.
If your caravan was intended for highway use and equipped with passenger vehicle tyres then try to avoid going off road and sharp objects like rock and stones. Most caravans are not set up for this kind of treatment anyway but it’s important again, to plan your trip well in advance and choose your equipment accordingly. If you are intending to go off road then apply the right tyres, like LT tyres.
Donnellans The Tyremen are your tyre experts. We have the right advice and the right tyres for up and coming holiday during the Christmas break. So, don’t hesitate and give us a call today at anyone of our great locations across Melbourne.
Blackburn – (03) 9894 1223
Collingwood – (03) 9417 5527
Preston – (03) 9480 0044
Prahran– (03) 9510 3199
Balwyn– (03) 9816 9900
