we were driving up the m6 when our caravan tyre blew out, my husband managed to steer the car & caravan into the hard shoulder. and on first inspection from the outside, the tyre had gone. When the breakdown van arrived, my husband looked inside the van, and found that there was a hole under the wardrobe and the shower trade had smashed directly over the wheel arch. It could have been a lot worse but thankfully nobody was hurt. We bought our caravan in March for £3200 and its insured for £3800 market value and its built in 1994. Do you think this will be a write off. I am waiting for the insurance company to call back to send out an assessor???
Quote: Originally posted by LobeyDosser on 27/7/2007
I cannot help you with your question but it is reading letters like this that make me glad that our caravan came, fitted with Tyron Bands.
My mate had tyron bands fitted to his van and he had the same sort of damage done to his van but it also damaged his cupboards as well.
When this type of blow out occurs having tyron bands fitted is no help at all because the tyre just explodes outwards.
Hi, We had a blowout but as ours is a twin axle it helped keep it stable, But it still split the inner wheelarch into the van. I've now checked all my tyres, They look as new tread wise but each one is scrap as they are showing signs of sidewall fatigue (slight bulging) so they've all been changed.it's very easy to look at just the tread and think they're ok and if i'm honest thats what i did for too long
------------- Doing as little as possible for as much as possible...
We've just had a similar blowout - with Tyron bands - which don't prevent damage to the wheelarch, but do prevent the tyre coming off the wheel and hence prevent the van possibly turning over if you're going at high speed. We had some damage to the internal and external wheelarch, and to the plyframe of the van - which was repaired for less than £280 by our local dealer. A new wheelbox was provided, and the damage to the ply and frame repaired. I can't believe that adding a shower tray on top of this should cause your van to be written off. If that's what is suggested, then unless you want to accept the price they offer and look for a new van, then I would get an independent estimate of what the repairs are likely to cost.
Don't forget it's recommended you change caravan tyres every 5 years (7 years max). Any tyres manufactured since 2000 have a 4 number code showing the week and year of manufacture.
1204 indicates made in week 12 of 2004
Caravan tyres are loaded almost to the maximum all the time.