Message Forums

I know on my cars and vans that it is imperative to balance the wheels as out of balance wheels can make them a pig to drive.

When it comes to the caravan, are we better advised to balance the wheels?

I had new tyres fitted and the wheels balanced last summer, the tyres were still within age but the wheels wern't balanced before. It was like towing a different caravan afterwards.

If you think that when you're car wheels are out of balance they are usually at their worst at around 50-60mph, that is the speed you're most likely to be towing around. Surely out of balance caravan wheels display the same problem at the same speed. But who knows unless you could be in the caravan to find out.

From my experience it isn't only the wheels which can be significantly out of balance but the brake drums as well.

Quite amazingly AL-KO do not balance their drums! All they are expected to do by the UK caravan manufacturers is to ensure they run true.  I once enquired with BPW if they only did the same but they didn't have the good manners to reply to my question.

According to what I have read elsewhere written by trade people, out of balance wheels can contribute very significantly to the degradation of our caravans, including break down of the overall structure (which could cause damp), suspension damage etc. etc. and can also result in the van being a pig to tow! 

The worst thing of all is that a seariously out of balance wheel can casue an enormous build it up of heat in the (rubbish) tyres fitted to our vans by the manufacturers which can cause the blow outs we read about.

Under another name on another forum, I posted the following up on the AL-KO specific forum section and received not one response from AL-KO mmmmmmm

__________________________________________

I am posting this question here because AL-KO Kober Ltd watch this forum and I would be interested to find out what forum feed back comes in.

Some time ago I happened to be servicing a caravan we have in store here that is fitted with an AL-KO chassis and noted that the brake drums were very seriously out of balance.

Because of my observations I made direct contact with AL-KO and eventually spoke directly on the phone to one of their engineers.

His comment was that the company are only asked by the British caravan manufacturers and the NCC to check the true running of the rolling mass and not run any checks on balance! Of course, any competent engineering company should have manufacturing tolerances whereby a component such as forged and then machined component such as a brake drum should be relatively speaking, be not only true running but also in balance.

With regards to the brake drums in question, they had very sizeable spew points that lined up exactly with the heavy points, in fact they were/are so very seriously out of balance that they overcome the rotating resistance of the bearing and allow the heavy points to rotate freely to the bottom, indeed they are so out of balance that they over centre and then rotate freely back.

There have been countless dozens of posts on this excellent forum about wheel balance with many a trade person replying that oh so many caravan faults can be directly attributed to seriously out of balance wheels etc.

It would be interesting to see if AL-KO come back with any kind response.

_______________________________________________

So one and all on this excellent forum, it will be very interesting to see if any kind of trade replies are received.

I do know of one service manager at a large dealership who has now installed a very expensive wheel balancer at his workshops and he is amazed how many vans are showing quite alarming amounts of differential!

There was an article a few years back in the Forum section of the Camping & Caravanning Club magazine. Apparently a chap had been towing 4 different types of caravan units for over 20 years without any problem. He had bought a brand new Bailey which every time he hitched up the van started to sway when out on the road. From experience he knew it was nothing to do with loading or nose weights and the van went back to the dealer and eventually to the manufacturer to no avail as to what the problem was. He went out on a DA meet and got talking to another guy about his dilemma. He was advised to have the tyres balanced as the manufacturers don't do this before leaving the factory. He was willing to do anything to cure the problem so took the advice and had both wheels and tyres balanced. Unbelivably, it cured his problem once and for all and he decided to write in to the Camping & Caravanning Club saying that although people don't travel in the caravans as they do in cars, he felt that all wheels should be balanced as a matter of safety to avoid any snaking and instability. I had both my wheels balanced 5 years ago and have never had any instabilty problems whatsoever. I have just recently bought another caravan and towed it to storage but I won't go out with it now until I have had the wheels balanced. I like to be safe on the road at all times so the mere cost of balancing.....well I think it's worth it!

i had three fitted and balanced on the door step.also £15 each cheaper than KWIK FIT.excellent service.had to lend him my trolley jack his was too large to under.he took my card as payment at the door too.

Thank you for requesting a quotation for replacement tyres from Event Mobile Tyres.

Event Mobile Tyres look after your tyre replacement from start to finish. Our vans are equipped with the latest tyre fitting equipment to ensure that we are able to treat your car and wheels with the utmost care and attention while all our tyre fitters, who are employed directly by Event Mobile Tyres, are all very experienced in fitting high performance, low profile and run flat tyres.

195/70R14 95N BRIDGESTONE SF226 RF at £79.67 each (Fully Inclusive)

All our quoted prices include VAT, Valves, Balancing, Disposal & Mobile Fitting at your home or work addressNo payment required before fitting & 5% discount when you buy 4 or more tyres.

Prices are automatically updated throughout the day so quotes are subject to change until a booking is made. Once booked, your price remains the same.

Book Online & Pay NOTHING Upfront - Onsite Payment With Mobile Chip & Pin

Event Mobile Tyres use the latest Mobile Chip & Pin technology to ensure your payment details remain safe at all times. Pay nothing upfront when booking your tyre replacement as our Mobile Chip & Pin solution allows us to take payment at the time of fitting. We also accept cash although our preferred method of payment is by Debit or Credit card.

Have You Read Our Testimonials ?

Event Mobile Tyres believe the best form of advertising is a customer recommendation. Many of our customers are happy to recommend Event Mobile Tyres and have been kind enough to put this in writing in the form of a testimonial. We currently have more than 5,000 testimonials on our website with satisfied customers adding more of their comments every day. View Testimonials.

Buy 4 Tyres - Save 5%

When you buy 4 or more tyres, Event Mobile Tyres will automatically give you an Additional 5% Discount off our already low tyre prices. The tyres can be spread across several vehicles as long as we can fit the tyres in one visit at one location.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have answers to the most common questions put to us by our customers in our Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a question that is not covered in this section then please Contact Us

Thank you once again for requesting a quotation from Event Mobile Tyres and we look forward to helping you with your tyre requirements.

Registered Office:

Event Mobile Tyres Limited
17-19 Talbot Road
Old Trafford
Manchester
Lancashire
M16 0PE

W: http://www.event-tyres.co.uk