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I think I would first try and establish what the correct tyres are for that particular caravan. Now commercial tyres may well be the correct type but you must have sure the load index is right for your van. Most UK caravan manufacturers are now fitting tyres with a higher load index than they did a few years ago. Do you have a caravan handbook? Finally I would say that you are absolututely right in changing the tyres.

David 

Tyron bands are very much a personal choice and there is probably no right or wrong answer. Personally I have them fitted because of their retention on the rim if there is a blow out. Some will come on and say that the tyre does not stay on the rim despite Tyron's assurances. Fortunately I have never had to find out. Just enables you to better control that tail behind you and move to a safe spot to change the wheel. 

I also have the Tyron assist which means that if something does go wrong they will come out with a new tyre for the van and fit it. Green flag will fit the spare but don't actually bring a new tyre out so after your journey you still have that problem to sort out.

Phil

We have Tyron bands on our van as they were already fitted when we brought it. Our local service engineer doesn't speak that highly of them and said that he has seen vans suffering more damage to the floor when they have a blow out as the tyre doesn't drift away from the rim and can fly up and hit the floor...........his words not mine and I have no idea how good they may be as thankfully have never had to use them!

I am not sure I would pay to have them fitted on the next van as they are fairly costly, although the C&CC do give a insurance discount if you have them. Also many tyre garages don't like them, my local one will fit tyres on them but charges an extra £10 per wheel due to the extra work.

I am sure they must be of some use in controling the van in the event of a total blow out perhaps anyone who has experience of this can comment ?

Tyron bands are well worth having in my opinion. They do keep the tryre on the bead in the event of a puncture & having had three at motorway speed they do seem to help keep the van stable while you stop the vehicle.

Tyre fitters don't like them because they create more work for them when they have to change a tyre. The firm I use to supply lorry tyres hates the thought of them for that reason.

Tyron bands won't stop a trye damaging the caravan in the event of a blowout though, if a tyre disintegrates at speed it's obviously going to be flying & flapping around which could & often does cause damage to anything it comes into contact with. IMO it's unreasonable to expect a band designed to retain the tyre on the rim to have any control over the parts of the tyre blown away under pressure.

BB

Hi Margaret,

Having read your experiences i spoke to the dealer today that we are getting our Pageant from and they have offered to fit these for £125, As we will get a bit off our insurance for having them fitted I have ordered them for the van to be fitted when we collect it next month. I guess £125 isn't a great deal for a bit more safety and over 5 years the extra insurance discount will cover a good chunk of the cost! The cost was less then I had expected and although our local engineer doesn't seem keen in them i think that is probably just a personal point of view!

Best Regards

Darren

Quote: Originally posted by magsruby on 12/3/2012

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A tyre's not going to come off the rim that quickly.

I have experienced a blow-out before, at motorway speeds & without tyron bands fitted.
There was no damage & the whole outfit was bought to a halt in a very calm & stable manner.

You don't see them fitted to cars that often, so what makes caravans so different?

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Totally agree that the correct load and speed rated tyres, inflated to the correct pressure is the best piece of tyre safety anyone will ever give either on a caravan or a car. Also ensuring the tyres aren't degraded by age/UV etc

We learned this the hard way on our first trip out in our folding camper. The tyres were quite old and we had a blow out on way home. No drama no tyre flying off, someone waved us down as didn't even realise at 60mph.

I upgraded the tyres to commercial rated 94 load tyres which is way over the required for the weight of our van and I now inflate them (or check anyway) regularly  and check them each trip.

There is no problem with over speccing the load rating but you do not want to underspec it. Tables can help you work out what load rating you wneed depending on vans maximum weight.

this site is well worth a read

Quote: Originally posted by pippa10 on 15/2/2012

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Tyron bands are an absolute must as far as I am concerned. I know without them we probably wouldn't have a caravan now. Twice on our way to Cornwall we had blow outs on either side of the caravan. First on the M5 where the RAC helped put the spare on and we broke our journey at Weston super Mare for the night while we found a garage that could get us a new tyre and refit the tyron bands. The next time was coming down a VERY steep hill in Cornwall when the one on the other side went so once again we had to stop off at Bodmin where we had to get another new tyre and refit the bands. I know on that occasion the van would have turned over without the bands.

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