Are your tyres an accident waiting to happen.

My caravan will be two at the end of the month.  The annual service was carried out on Monday, and the engineer called me to say that one of the tyres was 'cracking'.

My immediate response was 'impossible', after all the caravan is used throughout the year, so the tyres do not bear weight in one position.  We use the caravan at least once a month, even in the depths of winter, and make regular visual checks of the tyres before moving off.  Add to that they are only two years old, and have plenty of tread depth.  

Tyre pressures are checked from time to time, usually when we fill up the car.  Bailey's have very kindly put the tyre pressure on a plaque beside the door, in both psi and bar, so the job is really very easy to do.  We also keep an eye on the tyres when we are loaded and ready to go - after all, even radial tyres are not supposed to look squadgy or bulgy, or just plain flat.

Because the caravan is kept in secure storage, we use a mobile engineer for servicing (Bailey and NCC approved so no warranty issues) and he was quite adamant that the offside tyre was not safe.  So, we promptly went over to the caravan, phoned the poor engineer, yet again, and asked him where to find the damage.  Eventually we saw what we thought could be cracks, and asked advice on replacement tyres.  Thankfully there is a national, mobile tyre fitting service - etyres - who came recommended by the mobile service engineer.

I was asked to attend the fitting of the new tyre, and met Mike from etyres just before midday.  He removed the off-side wheel and showed me the problem.  At the very bottom of the tread was the evidence of cracking. Both inner and outer walls were in perfect condition. The depth of tread suggested that there should have been plenty of life still in the tyre, but Mike explained that these cracks along the bottom of the tread pattern could prove lethal if left alone.  This type of damage can soon lead to the tyre bursting, potentially with catestrophic results to the caravan.  The tyre was, of course, replaced on the spot.

This type of damage is not unusual, but it is not always checked.  I can only thank eagle-eyed Jamie from Charnwood Caravan Services and Mike from etyres for their technical expertise which may well have prevented a nasty accident. Thank you both. 

All I can ask everyone else to do is check along the bottom of the tread pattern of your tyres and make sure they are not cracking too.  The tyres in question were Trailermaxx, made in China, and fitted at the factory.