Trailer tyres & the 7 year rule

FestiveG said:
If there was an age limit on tyres, then your vehicle would not pass its MOT with old ones! We had a tyre die on the waggon over the summer, fortunately before we set off to collect a new horse! The chap who changed it said was 14 years old, It had passed a plating in November 2012, so not something VOSA and/or DVLA are interested in.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately vosa cannot fail an unsafe vehicle if the item is not on their test list. They are also notoriously bad at recognising tyre defects. I put all new tyres on my horsebox 7 years ago and only today (as I returned from the test station with a new MOT)was thinking that I might well change the front tyres.Loosing a front tyre is much more dangerous than a back.Horse boxes and especialy trailers very rarely wear out a tyre .They dont do enough mileage per year. Unfortunately what often happens is that an ancient ,but visibly OK tyre suddenly lets go.
 
I agree that changing them is a good idea, but the garage in the OP are telling pork pies imo, as while the tyres would probably be best changed, it is not mandatory
 
I wouldn't risk it, last year I had mine replaced as they were 7 years old. My dad tows for me and refuses to do otherwise as he once had two blowouts in one journey on the m1 with older tyres. I don't think it's the worth the risk with the value to me of what's in there!
 
I think I will aim for changing 2 tyres (opposite sides) now & then save up for another 2 later. Thanks everyone for their help. It does seem as though there is not a hard & fast rule though which is not what the man servicing the trailer said. You can't trust anyone these days where money is involved. The service cost was to cover light bulbs & covers aswell . I had cracked a cover (brake light) on the way there (reversing into a hedge for someone) & he said there were so many different covers he didn't stock them all !!! So no cover & I will go buy one today. I'm not happy.
 
I've just replaced all 4 tyres on my 7 year old Ifor Williams trailer. I'd noticed myself there were some blemishes, perishing, very small cracks on the walls of all the tyres. So it had to be done. These aren't really obvious to see, and there was no wear at all to the tread on the tyres.
People who say about if you have a blow out on one tyre you can get to safety to change it - surely this would put more pressure on the inflated tyre which also then might blow? A lop sided trailer on your hands then! Not my idea of fun.
I think if I was advised to change them, and I wasn't sure, I would get a second opinion, if they said yes, then change them.
Mine cost £222 for all 4 tyres to be changed, with 8ply heavy duty proper trailer tyres.
 
They certainly do perish but whether 5 or 10 years probably depends on where you live and what you do with the trailer. We replaced all ours this summer as found they had cracked after all the snow and ice last year. They were probably closer to 10 years than 5 years old though. TBH I'd rather pay to replace them then risk a blow out with pony on board, too awful to think about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top