Recommendation for Hymer tyres (1 Viewer)

[veevee]

Have an MoT in a couple of weeks and looking around our 1992 Hymer S 670 found fine cracks on the sidewall of two tyres. They are fine enough for me not to worry about just to keep an eye on, but a tester may think differently.

Are there tyres that suit MH use as against commercial van use for the same chassis, or if it's good for the original van it's good for a MH?

I think that there are one or two companies who list MH specific tyres? what would be the difference?

The tyres were under inflated when we bought it, the two with cracks had the lowest pressure so quite happy with understanding the reason for wall cracking, the treads are all as new.

The tyres are all winter tyres at the moment, not sure if that was for winter use or they are cheaper. They are made up of 4 Continental and 2 Toyo.

I think we will change to standard tyres of reasonable quality if we have to change, but any opinion of staying with winter tyres will help too.

Thanks as always

 

[bigfoot]

My local tyre depot used to fit to my Hymer 'Stunners' sounds like something you'd get from The Sun,but they were reasonably priced and did the job.
Previously I have had Handkook,Korean and Bodrum,Czech tyres. My new Hymer has Michelin 'Camping'fitted,but now I've found that COSTCO do them at a reasonable price.
Also have you tried Black circles, they are an Internet supplier who work through local tyre fitters?

 

[coldstreamer]

Coldstreamer

Really interested in the thread, we have run on Michelin 'Camper's' for many years and always very satisfied. Finding them in 15" is a big problem.
Last Friday I was returning North from Lincoln on the Louth Bypass, when 'Bang' an almighty 'Bang,' managed to pull in a Farmers Gateway.
Then discovered the rear Tyre had blown its tread off over half the Tyre. The tyre still inflated. Phoned AA had me back on the road in a hour.
On arriving home made contact with my local tyre Depot and attended next day.
In the mean time searched the 'Net' for tyres and reports, No! 15" Michelin
available. Then found a survey on Hankook, which looked good, talked to the Tyre Depot they were available. So the following day had 4 fitted.
The manager told me its probaly the worst 'Blowout' he had seen on a commercial tyre and his opinion was not wear, but 'Standing Time'. There was no 'Wall, cracks at all.
The Mitchelin tryes were 5 yrs old with loads of tread.
I have now had chance to use the van with the Hankook's fitted, a really 100% improvement, the van drives better that my car. Brilliant bit of Kit.
Total Cost for Tyes, Balance, fitting, etc. £380, a good deal I thought.
This incident has certainly focused my mind on Tyres, I would hate to think what a front wheel 'blowout' would have done.
Best Regards, Mac

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[TheBig1]

Tyre fitters will always tell you..... you need to replace tyres at 5 years regardless of apparent condition, due to internal degradation. Once you start seeing cracks in the sidewalls its too late and they can potentially delaminate at any time

camping tyres have reinforced sidewalls to cope with the extra permanent weight on them and the extra standing time. Comercial tyres are good for vans and tipper trucks that are loaded up then emptied and dont carry max weight 24/7

 

[dave newell]

Fin e cracking on the sidewalls will not fail the MOT, the tester needs to be able to see the cord structure inside the tirewall through the cracks for them to fail. Yes really!

However ask yourself a couple of questions, do you think they'll get better or worse? What if you have a blow out? Big tyres such as those fitted to motorhomes have a huge amount of energy when inflated to 60-80 psi and travelling at 60mph, how much damage do you think a blow out at speed could cause?

DfT recommendation is tyres have a maximum life of six years used or not, how lucky do you feel?

D.

 

[CazPaul]

Depends on your style of motorhoming in choosing tyres, do you camp in the winter, use CL's on grass etc or are you a summer camper trudging from campsite to campsite only ever seeing tarmac.

We are the former and so choose winters all the time, the difference is unbelievable, we thought we couldn't drive until we changed to winters.

Great winter tyres are Continental Vanco Winter2, brilliant but expensive, go anywhere. We currently have x2 Toyo H09 winters on the front and x4 Bridgestone Blizzak W800 on the rears, excellent tyres, these were cheaper than the conti's and is the only reason we went for them.

Hope that helps a bit.

Paul

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[veevee]

Fin e cracking on the sidewalls will not fail the MOT, the tester needs to be able to see the cord structure inside the tirewall through the cracks for them to fail. Yes really!

However ask yourself a couple of questions, do you think they'll get better or worse? What if you have a blow out? Big tyres such as those fitted to motorhomes have a huge amount of energy when inflated to 60-80 psi and travelling at 60mph, how much damage do you think a blow out at speed could cause?

DfT recommendation is tyres have a maximum life of six years used or not, [HI]how lucky do you feel?[/HI]

D.

Like your phraseology Dave, did you leave a word out?

You have made some good points, first I'll find out how old these are as they look like new on the tread and the walls, no scuffing or marking at all.

Thanks for your input

 

[TheBig1]

How To Read Your Tyres Manufacture Date (How old are your tyres?)


The week and year of manufacture of the tyre is always marked on the sidewall. A tyre marked 2501 was manufactured in week 25 of 2001. Manufacturers usually also mark tyres to show which factory they were made in, so they can trace where and when a faulty tyre was made.
Where do I find this on my tyre?
Find a string of numbers & letters close to the tyres bead usually starting with DOT at the end you will find the 3 or 4 numbers relating to your tyres age. If your tyres have just 3 numbers they will have been made pre- 2000 and even if they still have plenty of tread on them we suggest changing as they may be subject to rubber corrosion.
You too might want to check when a tyre was made. Tyre makers specify strict storage conditions for tyres, as they can deteriorate if these aren't met. Signs of ageing can include cracking in the sidewall area due to ozone attack, and discolouring if they come into contact with certain chemicals.
Tyres have protective chemicals impregnated into the rubber compound, released as the tyre flexes when you drive, to resist ozone attack. You rarely see tyres that have evidence of ozone attack unless they've been mishandled before they've been sold.


as borrowed from tyre company website

 

[veevee]

Really interested in the thread, we have run on Michelin 'Camper's' for many years and always very satisfied. Finding them in 15" is a big problem.
Last Friday I was returning North from Lincoln on the Louth Bypass, when 'Bang' an almighty 'Bang,' managed to pull in a Farmers Gateway.
Then discovered the rear Tyre had blown its tread off over half the Tyre. The tyre still inflated. Phoned AA had me back on the road in a hour.
On arriving home made contact with my local tyre Depot and attended next day.
In the mean time searched the 'Net' for tyres and reports, No! 15" Michelin
available. Then found a survey on Hankook, which looked good, talked to the Tyre Depot they were available. So the following day had 4 fitted.
The manager told me its probaly the worst 'Blowout' he had seen on a commercial tyre and his opinion was not wear, but 'Standing Time'. There was no 'Wall, cracks at all.
The Mitchelin tryes were 5 yrs old with loads of tread.
[HI]I have now had chance to use the van with the Hankook's fitted, a really 100% improvement, the van drives better that my car.[/HI] Brilliant bit of Kit.
Total Cost for Tyes, Balance, fitting, etc. £380, a good deal I thought.
This incident has certainly focused my mind on Tyres, I would hate to think what a front wheel 'blowout' would have done.
Best Regards, Mac

Hello Mac

In what ways are the Hankooks better? quieter, better grip, less roll, better in the wet. You make them sound a very interesting option, thank you.

TheBig1

Tyre fitters will always tell you..... you need to replace tyres at 5 years regardless of apparent condition, due to internal degradation. Once you start seeing cracks in the sidewalls its too late and they can potentially delaminate at any time

camping tyres have reinforced sidewalls to cope with the extra permanent weight on them and the extra standing time. Comercial tyres are good for vans and tipper trucks that are loaded up then emptied and dont carry max weight 24/7

It was just this sort of detail I had in mind, thank you

CazPaul

Depends on your style of motorhoming in choosing tyres, do you camp in the winter, use CL's on grass etc or are you a summer camper trudging from campsite to campsite only ever seeing tarmac.

We are the former and so choose winters all the time, the difference is unbelievable, we thought we couldn't drive until we changed to winters.

Great winter tyres are Continental Vanco Winter2, brilliant but expensive, go anywhere. We currently have x2 Toyo H09 winters on the front and x4 Bridgestone Blizzak W800 on the rears, excellent tyres, these were cheaper than the conti's and is the only reason we went for them.

Hope that helps a bit.

Paul

Thanks Paul

For us infrequent use of campsites and the occassional odd well off road location. For the next few years we will use our MH during winter and spring, so possibly driving in adverse conditions.

Do winter tyres have a dramatically shorter life than regular van tyres, ie as they are softer compounds do they cut mileage in half say?

How do costs compare winter/regular tyres?

Thank you

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[CazPaul]

Hi
Winter tyres are reported to wear a little quicker but is that a problem on a MH. How many miles do you do a year, most people do not do many and tyres are meant to be changed every 5 to 6 years anyway regardless of tread so its no problem whatsoever. We have not been using them for enough years to notice any difference yet. If you look at reviews on winter tyres(You will see a link on the MY TYRES website it will give you an idea of what people say about them.

Some say there is increased road noise but I have not found this to be the case, it may depend on the brand used, in the 3 different ones I mentioned no difference in noise.

The cost of 6 Continental Vanco Winter2 was £1200 but tyre prices vary enormously depending on when you buy them. I have been on MY TYRES website and one day a tyre will be say £160 and the the next day £125, I,d love to know how they do their pricing, maybe new stock has arrived etc. Tyres are a commodity and they will charge what they can get away with.

The 6 we currently have on cost just under £900 which is not bad for 6 quality winters.

We have seen quite a few stuck this winter(All low profile front wheel drive with summers on) whereas we can go through anything with twin rear wheel drive and 6 winters, its not the driver its the tyres believe me.

As I say we used to get stuck all the time when we had standard Continental Vanco summers on, they are absolutely useless in anything but tarmac, stuck 4 Vanco Winters 2's on on wow, never looked back since.

Paul.

 

[Hayleylulu]

I find the round ones are the best

 

[veevee]

I find the round ones are the best

... you have too much time on your hands Yosser

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