Tyre safety for a caravan or motorhome!

Checking and looking after your caravan or motorhome tyres is probably one of the most important things you should do to make sure you’re safe on the road.

More than a THIRD of road accident claims made to Caravan Guard in 2015 were due to tyre blow-outs – so checking your tyres should be a priority and fitting extra safety devices like Tyron MultiBands are worth considering before setting off on your holiday adventures.

In most cases a blow-out will cause damage to your wheels and the underside of your caravan or motorhome, but in more serious incidents it can cause you to lose control of your vehicle, putting you and your passengers at risk. Safety devices like Tyron MultiBands will help to keep the tyre on the wheel in the event of a puncture, blow out or under-inflation.

They work by converting your standard wheels into safety wheels by locking the tyre to the wheel. This helps the caravanner or motorhome driver remain in control of steering, braking and cornering control and gives a short distance runflat capability so you can drive somewhere safe to change the tyre.

We’ve long supported the fitting of Tyron wheel safety bands with a 5% insurance discount for caravan owners, and from September 2016 we offer the same discount for motorhome owners.

Here’s some quick facts about Tyron wheel safety bands:

Tyron is a patented lightweight low-cost well-filler band that converts a standard alloy or steel wheel into a safety wheel – protecting you and your expensive wheels from damage, it can also help to prevent wheel­box damage and reduce the chances of bodywork damage caused by a flailing tyre.

Portable Fitting Machine for when it’s time to change tyres

Have your Tyron MultiBands refitted easily anywhere in the world. This small, collapsible machine weighing less than 3Kg is designed to be kept with your vehicle or caravan so that tyre fitters around the world can easily refit your Tyron Bands when installing new tyres.

Caravan and motorhome testing

On repeated tests, including 113 mph caravan tyre blow-out and 106 mph emergency stop – the vehicle pulled up under control – no drama, no damage! Without the caravan, this vehicle completed 4 Km with a flat front wheel at speeds up to 130 mph. Again, complete control was maintained. Tyre and alloy rim undamaged!

Swift Suntour Motorhome demonstrating a controlled blow-out at 55 mph. The vehicle remained under full control and completed a slalom course.

 Here’s some more top tips for checking your tyres:

• Check your caravan and motorhome tyre pressures monthly as well as the condition and tread depth. Check pressures when cold and then make sure the valve is not leaking and valve caps are replaced.
• Motorhome and caravan tyres should be inflated to the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended pressures for the load. If not, it will affect the way your vehicle brakes and steers – sometimes with serious and dangerous consequences.The correct pressures can often be found in your owner’s manual, and remember there are pressures for when partly-loaded and when fully-loaded. Not-for-profit organisation, TyreSafe has also recently released an online tyre pressure calculator for caravan owners.
• Check the tread depth is a minimum of 1.6mm or Tyresafe recommend doing the “20p test” by placing a 20p coin into the main tread grooves of your tyre at three different points. If the outer band of the coin is obscured, then your tread is above the legal limit. But, if the outer band of the coin is visible, then your tyres may be illegal and unsafe and should be checked immediately by a qualified tyre professional.
• Examine all tyres for sidewall cracks, cuts, impact damage or embedded material at both sides.
• Check the age of your caravan tyres and replace any over 5 years old irrespective of remaining tread.
• If you’ve not used your caravan for a while, if possible try each month to move your caravan or jack up your caravan and rotate the wheels, to make sure different part of the tyres take the weight of the caravan.
• If travelling in hot temperatures such as abroad, take regular breaks to stop your tyres getting too hot.
• Consider investing in a tyre pressure monitoring system, such as TyrePal, that can monitor car and caravan tyre pressures and temperatures on the go and can warn you in advance of any problems.

There’s more information about tyre safety on the Tyron website or from leading tyre safety organisation TyreSafe.