Failed car tyres

[oldwheels]

It does seem that low profile tyres are more fragile than traditional ones, more vulnerable to damage from potholes or careless mounting of kerbs.
However it has been a thing on motorways for many years that larger tyres from trucks etc have been seen at the roadside after deflating and breaking up for whatever reason so it's not a new phenomenon.

I have noticed, perhaps due to keeping cars for a long time after buying them, that cars with alloy wheels tend to suffer corrosion inside the rims after they have had several winters which means that they are less air tight than when they are new. I've had to have several ground back, repolished internally and recoated to get rid of slow leaks. A combination of low profile tyres and old alloy wheels is not a good one as losing a little air has a bigger effect than on a conventional tyre on sidewall life. With steel rims this was not such a problem.

Since having a car with low profile tyres I've had to replace a few tyres before they were worn out due to pothole damage on the rotten road surfaces that my wife regularly has to use on her daily route. They might look nice, but they're not really tough enough. Back to conventional profile wheels and tyres for the next one, if they're available.

Don’t think it had alloy wheels but a Panda we had needed all 4 wheels replaced as they would not hold air due to corrosion. This was only discovered after I had done several high speed runs to Aberdeen and back. 400 miles each return trip. Scary.

 

[Scottish Scrutineer]

Now ours in storage, the tyres are covered to give them some respite from UV light
I'm also considering going down & putting it up on wooden blocks, to take the weight off the tyres & suspension units
I'll consult the dealer, about suitable points to stand the chassis on them

Can you not just raise the caravan using the levelling jacks so the tyres are not taking the weight?. Its also worth increasing the tyre pressure when parked for a long period as that reduces the tyres developing "flat spots" during storage.

It is mad isn't it, I saw one of those outrageous penile extension Audi Q8 turbos in a car park recently. Something like a 5 litre engine with 300BHP. And all the tyres were shockingly bald, maybe 1mm of tread depth left where there was any. I'd have had them replaced a long, long time before that, when the wear bar was close (at the latest).
This guy could afford 70k for the car, but then clearly reality bit when Kwik Fit wanted 350 pounds for one tyre. And I suppose with cars like that being bought as a "lifestyle image enhancer", spending over a grand on tyres doesn't add any to his imagined "cachet" so he just battles on until they fail I guess.

More likely the user can afford the monthly PCP payments, but not the servicing costs including replacement of the stupidly wide low-profile tyres. It's coming to that time of year when these 4x4s are found stranded at the bottom of a slight rise, or in the ditch at the side of the road because the driver thinks "4x4" means they are invincible. I used to have great sport smiling and waving to them as I passed in my RWD BMW 1-Series (with winter tyres fitted).

 

[I like Skol]

Can you not just raise the caravan using the levelling jacks so the tyres are not taking the weight?

Absolutely NO. The stabiliser feet are only intended to stop the caravan from rocking and should only touch the ground. They are not intended or designed to lift the whole 'vehicle' off the ground. Doing so risks damaging the stabiliser or twisting the caravan chassis.

 

[DRM]

@I like Skol


I agree totally


Now ours in storage, the tyres are covered to give them some respite from UV light
I'm also considering going down & putting it up on wooden blocks, to take the weight off the tyres & suspension units
I'll consult the dealer, about suitable points to stand the chassis on them

Just get some winter wheels for it, take the wheels home and store them somewhere dark, also acts as theft deterrent
https://www.towsure.com/bulldog-wl1...MIv9DO5JKl9AIVjJBoCR3McwwmEAQYBCABEgJXNvD_BwE

 

[DRM]

Can you not just raise the caravan using the levelling jacks so the tyres are not taking the weight?. Its also worth increasing the tyre pressure when parked for a long period as that reduces the tyres developing "flat spots" during storage.


More likely the user can afford the monthly PCP payments, but not the servicing costs including replacement of the stupidly wide low-profile tyres. It's coming to that time of year when these 4x4s are found stranded at the bottom of a slight rise, or in the ditch at the side of the road because the driver thinks "4x4" means they are invincible. I used to have great sport smiling and waving to them as I passed in my RWD BMW 1-Series (with winter tyres fitted).

I used to love to ride past BMW’s and Audi’s in the snow with the all terrains on the Discovery, especially uphill, went round to the shop on our estate, up a steep hill straight past a BMW floundering in the snow, I heard him shout flash b*st*rd no doubt the “You can go fast, I can go Anywhere“ sticker hit a raw nerve

 

[CXRAndy]

I know a trucking company. First thing they do when getting a new rig is to remove the new tyres and fit retreads.

 

[DRM]

I know a trucking company. First thing they do when getting a new rig is to remove the new tyres and fit retreads.

Probably leased and they send them back with the original new tyres to save expense, but the retreads are the ones that the tread separates from the carcass

 

[Drago]

It is mad isn't it, I saw one of those outrageous penile extension Audi Q8 turbos in a car park recently. Something like a 5 litre engine with 300BHP. And all the tyres were shockingly bald, maybe 1mm of tread depth left where there was any. I'd have had them replaced a long, long time before that, when the wear bar was close (at the latest).
This guy could afford 70k for the car, but then clearly reality bit when Kwik Fit wanted 350 pounds for one tyre. And I suppose with cars like that being bought as a "lifestyle image enhancer", spending over a grand on tyres doesn't add any to his imagined "cachet" so he just battles on until they fail I guess.

A not uncommon sight. I browse - but im not a member of - the UK volvo forum, and the XC90 page is full of idiots that bought a 2.2 tonne car that cost from £48,000-£80,000 new, and then moan about the poor economy, group K road tax, the group 43 insurance, and then try and run then on cheap tyres and back street servicing.

And then having moaned about the cost of dealer work and gone to Bombsite Motors, who are ill equipped to maintain such a beast, the car then breaks down and it is somehow Volvo's fault for building such a P.O.S, and the fact that its been tun and maintained on the most tenuous of shoestrings is conveniently forgotten.

The then throw a childish wobbly, proclaim they'll never have a Volvo again, go an buy an X5 or Q7 and go through the whole process all over again.

It costs what it costs, there are no realistic shortcuts, and if people can't afford the tyres or maintenance then they shoud be forced to drive a Kei car for 5 years as of the court imposed punishment.

Not only that, but most folk dont check a thing on their car between services and MOTs, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

My tyres were picked up on the MOT as wearing. They had about 4-5 mm and I knew where they were at, butnid already noticed they were getting a bit squirmy and uncertain feeling in the wet so I bought four new 255/50 19's. Sure, it made me wince, but given the choice of being alive (and also not killing any innocent passers by) and spending 800 sheets on new rubber, I took the "look after number 1" optiom.

TBH, bald tyres disgust me at so many levels. Anyone that careless, contemptuous or skint that they choose to run a car with them should receive a ban and punishment akin to a drink driver.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Tyres seem to have a surprisingly short lifespan. My motorhome tyres which I replaced when I got the van looked perfect but were well beyond their use by date. When I sold the van I pointed out that the tyres were getting a bit old but the new owner simply remarked that there was plenty of tread and I doubt very much if they were ever changed.

5 years is the oft-quoted lifespan, for safety, due to UV light

It is mad isn't it, I saw one of those outrageous penile extension Audi Q8 turbos in a car park recently. Something like a 5 litre engine with 300BHP. And all the tyres were shockingly bald, maybe 1mm of tread depth left where there was any. I'd have had them replaced a long, long time before that, when the wear bar was close (at the latest).
This guy could afford 70k for the car, but then clearly reality bit when Kwik Fit wanted 350 pounds for one tyre. And I suppose with cars like that being bought as a "lifestyle image enhancer", spending over a grand on tyres doesn't add any to his imagined "cachet" so he just battles on until they fail I guess.

A few years ago we bought a Jaguar XKR, not a new one
The rear tyres were at about 4mm, the garage put a new pair of Continentals on it, before letting us take the car away!
(Hatfields, the main-dealer, in Wakefield)

I change mine, at about 3mm
Quite a few years ago, I was driving my Octavia estate along a very wet M62, with 3 passengers
When the traction-control light is coming on at 55-60MPH, as there's insufficient tread-depth to clear standing water, that's time to change them
(just over 3mm was the depth on the fitting garages examination)
No messing about. no thinking about it

Don’t think it had alloy wheels but a Panda we had needed all 4 wheels replaced as they would not hold air due to corrosion. This was only discovered after I had done several high speed runs to Aberdeen and back. 400 miles each return trip. Scary.

My mother used to have a 'R' plated Corsa, that she bought new
She kept it for 16 years
Towards the end, the tyres were constantly deflating, due to rusty rims not sealing correctly
Oh!, & twice I had to persuade her to buy new tyres, as they'd gone grey

 

[Drago]

Im right with you Mr T. RoSPA and just about every manufacturer advise tyres be replaced at 3mm.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Just get some winter wheels for it, take the wheels home and store them somewhere dark, also acts as theft deterrent
https://www.towsure.com/bulldog-wl1...MIv9DO5JKl9AIVjJBoCR3McwwmEAQYBCABEgJXNvD_BwE

I've seen those on a few
My idea was to use some rather large wooden blocks that I have (Oak; cut-offs from Lock-Gates!!) to go under the chassis to relieve the compression of the rubber in the suspension units

As stated, I will be speaking to the supplying dealer, it's out of warranty, so there's no comeback on them

 

[DRM]

I've seen those on a few
My idea was to use some rather large wooden blocks that I have (Oak; cut-offs from Lock-Gates!!) to go under the chassis to relieve the compression of the rubber in the suspension units

As stated, I will be speaking to the supplying dealer, it's out of warranty, so there's no comeback on them

It’s not the suspension that you need worry about, it’s the tyres, they do start to fail, even though they look good, I’ve seen the damage caused by a blow out/tread failure with the wheel arches ripped to shreds at best, worst case imagine doing 60mph when it lets go and the car & caravan end up wrecked

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

It’s not the suspension that you need worry about, it’s the tyres, they do start to fail, even though they look good, I’ve seen the damage caused by a blow out/tread failure with the wheel arches ripped to shreds at best, worst case imagine doing 60mph when it lets go and the car & caravan end up wrecked

I appreciate that much, & we were assured by the dealer that it had had new tyres at the previous service/inspection by themselves
(a big main-dealer)

 

[I like Skol]

I appreciate that much, & we were assured by the dealer that it had had new tyres at the previous service/inspection by themselves
(a big main-dealer)

Tyres should have a four digit date code on them (year & month).

Although this is manufactured date and doesn't allow for the fact they could have been in the supply chain for a year or two if a slow mover.

 

[Gillstay]

I keep the average mpg on all the while and refresh it often, so that I note it. This is to spot low tyre pressures as despite checking often,
you can still get caught out.