by Chris Jefferies
With the school summer holidays about to start, families planning on towing their caravan for the first time this year have been advised to check the tyre pressure, or they could be running the risk of a blowout.
Insurance providers Caravan Guard have reported that last summer they saw a 300 per cent increase in claims during July, August and September, with 90 per cent of those claims relating to a burst tyre.
The heavy weight of a caravan means that tyres can wear out while resting in the garage during the winter months, so a pressure check at the beginning of the summer holidays is essential.
Furthermore, UV damage can wear out tyres, so anyone heading abroad for an extended holiday should check their tyres before heading home.
Blowouts often result in serious accidents, with even the most experienced of towcar drivers struggling to maintain control of their rig.
Even if you manage to avoid a crash, the shredded tyre can cause major rim damage to the caravan’s wheel arch and floor.
To reduce the risk of a blowout, TyrePal has launched a pressure monitoring system, which allows towcar drivers to check on the state of up to 22 wheels via a wireless LCD monitor.
Peter Samwell from TyrePal said: “Statistics show that defective or under inflated tyres are a factor in hundreds of fatal or serious road accidents each year.”
He added that tyres should always be inflated to their recommended level when they are cold, as they can increase in pressure by 10 to 15 per cent, while driving.
Meanwhile, Caravan Guard has offered the following tyre safety tips for touring holidaymakers:
- Check your caravan tyre pressures on a regular basis. Check pressures when cold and then make sure the valve is not leaking and valve caps are replaced.
- Examine all tyres for sidewall cracks, cuts, impact damage or embedded material at both sides.
- Check the age of your caravan tyres and replace any over five years old irrespective of remaining tread.
- When not using your caravan for a long period, try to jack up and rotate the wheels each month, to ensure that a different part of the tyre is taking the weight of the caravan.
- If travelling in hot temperatures such as abroad, take regular breaks to stop your tyres getting too hot.
