Blog

How are your Trailer tyres looking.

We fitted a set of new tyres to a Horse box yesterday including the spare as all five tyres were showing signs of wear on the sidewalls.In reality we suggest that we will never replace tyres on Caravans,Campervans,Horse Boxes or general Trailers through tread wear as all these types of units do minimal mileage in comparison to the vehicle that tows the unit.Therefore it is very important to check the general condition of the existing tyres on a yearly basis.It is recommended that Caravan and trailer tyres are changed after five years as they could start to lose air pressure as the structure of the tyre deteriorates with age.

Some answers to Tyre related questions we were asked during last week.

Last week we had a varied amount of different tasks to perform and we were asked lots of different questions (which we like) concerning tyres on vehicles and here is a snapshot of the questions and answers.

Q.I have a nail in the centre of a runflat tyre so can a puncture repair be performed?

A.No as the strength of the sidewall could have been compromised when the tyre loses air pressure.

Q.I own a Renault Megane and i have lost my locking wheel nut adaptor but my friend also owns a similar model so can i use their adaptor to remove the wheels?

A.The pattern on the adaptor are designed to fit your car only so there is little chance of the adaptor from another vehicle fitting.

Q.Is tracking and balancing the same thing?

A. No tracking is another term for wheel alignment which relates to how your wheels sit on the road and balance weights are fitted to the wheel when new tyres are fitted to counterbalance any weight difference and therefore give a smoother ride.

Q.I have increased my tyre pressures as i am towing during my vacation so how will my tyres be effected if i leave the high pressure in during normal driving.

A.The tyre pressure plate on the vehicle gives you the correct information for the weight you are carrying at the time and therefore will prolong the life of your tyres. Over inflated tyres will wear in the centre of the tyre and under inflated tyres will wear on the shoulder of the tyre.

When tyres are reaching the end of their lifespan check for inside wear.

We visited a customer near Cambridge this morning who had ordered two Goodyear Eagle tyres size 235/45/R17 for his Ford Mondeo. The customer was fully aware that the existing front tyres had very little tread but was horrified when he saw that the steel cord on the inside shoulder of both tyres was exposed.We see this situation on a regular basis as a tyre tends to wear on the inside shoulder when it is reaching the end of it's lifespan and it doesn't help that it is not clearly visible.If your tyres are ageing it is a good idea to turn the steering lock in both directions when you give your vehicle a wash and have a look at the inner shoulder of your front tyres. The rear tyres are slightly more difficult to see as they do not move but it is well worth kneeling down for a few seconds for a quick inspection.This morning was a good reminder to us all that a few minutes consideration on the condition of your tyres on a regular basis is very important and will help keep you and your family safe on the roads.

wheel alignment in Cambridge

We are heading to Cambridge this afternoon to perform a Wheel alignment on a vehicle and it has reminded us that some customers are unsure on whether they have an alignment issue.Alignment is also known in the trade as Tracking and not to be confused with Balancing.The most obvious sign of an alignment problem is if your steering wheel veers to the right or left when you are travelling in a straight line.Wear on the inner or outer shoulder of BOTH front tyres could indicate that the tyres are not sitting correctly on the road.We have been asked to perform a wheel alignment when a vehicle suffers vibration on the steering wheel but this tends to be a Balancing issue possibly where the weights on the wheel rim have moved or fallen off.If you have any doubts or are still confused call us on 0800 783 910 and we will advise accordingly.

Slow Puncture on a Mercedes 4X4

We were called to a regular customer today who was a bit concerned as he was slowly losing air from one of his tyres and he is setting off on holiday tomorrow.He was not sure why the tyre was losing pressure so we arrived on time with a new tyre size 255/50/R19 just in case it was a puncture repair that could not be fixed.On inspection we discovered a nail embedded very near to the shoulder of the tyre so the new tyre was fitted.Our customer informed us that the vehicle would be carrying a lot of weight during his vacation so we inflated all tyres as stated on the tyre pressure plate for a heavy load but reminded our customer to reduce pressures on his return.Today was a reminder that if your tyres are under inflated they will wear on the shoulder of the tyre and if they are over inflated the centre tread will wear prematurely.

New Nexen tyres fitted to a Kia Soul

Whilst fitting two new Falken tyres to a Vauxhall Insignia last week we were asked by a gentleman living next door to our customer if we would check the condition of the front tyres of his Kia Soul as a garage had given an advisory notice a couple of months ago. We advised that they were getting very near the legal limit which is 1.6mm tread depth so he asked if we could visit him this week to fit two Nexen tyres size 225/45/R18. We informed him that the majority of punctures occur on the rear axle so it was advisable to move existing rear tyres to the front and fit new tyres to the rear axle. The customer sometimes carries a heavy load so we showed him the tyre pressure plate on his driver door and he is now aware of what air pressure to use when pulling a trailer.Our customer was very grateful of the advice we gave him as now he will get much longer life from his tyres.

All jobs local today with new tyres fitted in and around Longstanton.

Hometyre Cambridge covers a large area with customers supplied with new tyres in Cambridge,Ely Newmarket and Haverhill but today all our jobs were near to Longstanton. The first job was to fit a new GT Maxmiler tyre for a Mercedes Vito van for a customer in Bar Hill as the original punctured tyre was not repairable. We then visited a local business in Longstanton and fitted two new Falken tyres size 225/55/R17 to a Renault Megane. The furthest distance travelled today was to Waterbeach where we supplied and fitted two new Nexen tyres size 245/45/R18 to a Vauxhall Insignia.This weeks diary is starting to fill with jobs booked in Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds already and we are confident that we will be visiting Ely,Saffron Walden and Haverhill during the week.

It was boiling hot and busy all day fitting new tyres.

The sun was beating down as we fitted our first new tyre of the day in Milton as we replaced a Continental Sport Contact 3 size 235/35/R19 on a Vauxhall Astra. We then headed to Lode where we fitted two new Falken tyres size 245/45/R18 to a Vauxhall Insignia. A quick cool drink was in order then off to Balsham to replace a Goodyear Eagle size 275/45/R20 on a Audi Q7 and then off to Saffron Walden.On arrival in Saffron Walden our customer kindly added ice to our warm squash and we proceeded to fit four new Bridgestone tyres size 225/45/R17 to an Audi A3. We then headed back to base to collect a General Grabber tyre for fitting in Longstanto size 245/75/R16 on a 4X4 where a welcome cup of tea was provided.The end of a busy and very hot day but also a very rewarding day.

A new tyre fitted at Granta Park near Cambridge

We were called by a customer who works at Granta Park as on the way to the office a tyre lost air very quickly and the vehicle was not usable for the journey home.We arrived within the hour and fitted a new tyre and whilst removing the damaged tyre we found the alloy wheel to be badly corroded on the inside rim so we wire brushed away the corrosion and applied bead sealer.The vehicle was a Honda Jazz and during our vehicle inspection process we found that the front tyres would need replacing soon and informed our customer that there was a good chance we would need to clean alloys before fitting the new tyres. Our customer was very impressed with the speed of response to her phone call and the valuable information that we provided while on site.

Three different reasons why you could be losing air from your tyres.

We visited a customer over the weekend who owns an MG sports car and a Vauxhall Vectra and one tyre on the MG and two tyres on the Vauxhall were losing air pressure over a period of time.We looked at the MG first and found the tyre to be over ten years old and due to the age of the tyre this was why it could not hold the air pressure so a new tyre is being fitted today.We then looked at the Vectra to find that the alloy wheel on the nearside front had very bad corrosion and therefore air was leaking from the rim so we wire brushed the rim clean and applied bead sealer and this will solve the problem.We then spotted a nail embedded in the nearside rear tyre which was luckily in the centre of the tyre so we performed a puncture repair.This job was a reminder that there are many different reasons why you could be losing air from your tyres.

Hometyre vehicle inspection procedure works.

We visited a regular customer in Newmarket to replace one tyre on a Fiat Punto and during our vehicle inspection we noticed that one of the rear tyres was a different size to the other tyres. The customer was shocked at our discovery but thankful we spotted the error.A similar situation occurred last week when we spotted that an existing tyre on a VW Golf had been fitted with the tread pattern showing in the wrong direction.Both customers have benefited from our thorough checking process.

Continental tyres fitted to a Renault Megane and Bridgestone Runflat for a BMW X6

We visited a regular customer last week to perform a free tyre check as his vehicle is due an Mot test next month and we found that two tyres were getting low on tread so he called us back and we fitted two Continental tyres size 205/50/R17 and our customer can be confident that the Mot will go smoothly.Another regular customer called to say that they had hit some debris on the road when driving their BMW X6 and a runflat tyre had been damaged.We arrived on time and fitted a new Bridgestone runflat tyre size 275/40/R20 and the vehicle was only off the road for a couple of hours.We have rescued two more customers this afternoon the first being an owner of a Skoda Fabia who hit a pothole and the second hit a kerb driving a Vauxhall Vectra and with our help both are back on the road.

Kumho,Bridgestone and Dunlop tyres fitted in Cambridge.

The first job was to fit two Kumho tyres size 225/45/R17 to a VW Golf in central Cambridge.Our customer was experiencing some road noise from the rear tyres so we moved them to the front inflated to the right pressure and balanced wheels.We fitted the two new Kumho tyres to the rear axle and our customer should see an improvement in the handling of the vehicle.We then revisited a customer from last week where we cleaned the corrosion from the rims of their Volvo XC90 as all tyres were losing pressure over a period of time.We agreed with the customer to refurbish both front wheels on our visit last week and return today to check that we had stopped the problem.Both front tyres were exactly at the same pressure from last week so we continued a refurbishment exercise on the rear wheels and our customer was very happy.We then headed to Waterbeach to fit four new Dunlop tyres size 205/55/R16 to a Toyota Avensis and our customer was very pleased that they did not have to leave the office to have new tyres fitted.The last job of the day will be to visit a customer in Longstanton where we are fitting two new Bridgestone tyres size 205/55/R16 to a Seat Altea.

Another problem solving day.

We are in Newmarket fitting a new tyre to a VW Golf when we notice in our vehicle inspection procedure that the existing front nearside tyre has been fitted to the wheel incorrectly by a garage and the tread pattern is pointing in the opposite direction and this will have an effect on water dispersion.The customer is shocked by our findings but so grateful that we can rectify the error and make the car safe.We then headed into Cambridge to visit a customer who had just purchased a used Volvo XC 90 and all four tyres were losing air pressure over a period of time.We removed the tyres to find very bad corrosion on the rims so we cleaned back thoroughly using a wire brush and applied bead sealer and this should resolve the problem.

A morning fitting new tyres for repeat customers

This morning was a great reminder of how we have made our customers lives that little bit easier by visiting them at home or work as all our jobs this morning were for existing customers.The first job of the day was to fit two new Nexen tyres size 195/50/R16 for a Toyota Yaris as we advised the customer last week that both rear tyres were ageing and they had a couple of puncture repairs so our customer rightly decided to have new tyres fitted at his home.We fitted two new tyres to an Audi last month and during our inspection process we informed our customer that the tread depth of the existing tyres were getting low and again he made the sensible decision to renew so we arrived at his home and fitted two Pirelli P7 tyres size 245/40/R18 and our customer was left reassured that his tyres would not be an issue for many months to come.We then headed for a regular customer who works for a busy organisation and he just does not have the time to leave the office during the day so we arrived on time at his work and fitted two new Dunlop tyres size 205/55/R16 to his Toyota hence saving him valuable time and money.  

This week we are fitting new tyres for our customers summer break with a few emergencies thrown in.

The good news is that many of our customers are checking the condition of their tyres before they start the long journey for the summer break.Caravan owners are aware that if the tyres are over five years old now is the time to change them and many are considering fitting Tyron bands to the wheels so they are safer if a blow out occurs.Many of our customers are checking the tread depth and general condition of their tyres before they start their journey and they also appreciate that it is important to have a fully inflated spare tyre in the event of a puncture.There have been a couple of emergencies during the week the first being a shredded tyre on a Porsche near Cambridge so we quickly sourced a new Continental Contact 3 size 265/40/R18 so our customer could meet their appointments.We were also called to perform a wheel alignment on a VW Campervan as the tyres were wearing on the inner shoulder.

New tyres fitted to a Mercedes,Citroen C4 and Nissan Primestar van in Cambridge.

Yesterday was a reminder that we do not just fit and supply new tyres for our customers as each job had a situation that we needed to resolve whilst fitting new tyres. Our first job was to fit a new tyre for a regular customer on a Mercedes Benz as the inner shoulder of the tyre had a split and was leaking air.When removing the tyre we noticed that the rim was flaking through age so we applied a wire brush and cleaned the debris away and applied bead sealer to the rim and therefore solving the problem of any air loss.We then revisited a customer who we had rescued in Cambridge earlier in the week as our customer had a flat tyre on her Citroen C4 and after fitting a new tyre to get the customer moving again we noticed that the remaining three tyres were very low on tread so we arrived yesterday and fitted three more tyres and our customer was very grateful that we spotted the problem and resolved it.We were then called to a local business as one of their works van had a flat tyre and could not be moved and on replacing the tyre we noticed that both front tyres were wearing out on the inside so we performed a wheel alignment.

Continental tyres fitted to Audi A4 in central Cambridge.

Yesterday we fitted four Continental Sport Contact 5 tyres to an Audi A4 in central Cambridge for a regular customer who we visit on a regular basis as we look after his company vans and staff cars.He was very impressed with the complete experience and confirmed how slick the ordering and fitting procedure is from a customer perspective.He realised late on tuesday evening that the vehicle required a new set of tyres so he visited www.Hometyre.co.uk and entered his tyre size and was presented with an extensive list of options.This is the first set of new tyres for the vehicle and our customer was very happy with the wear and performance of the Continental tyres that were originally fitted so he ordered another set.The tyres were delivered to us yesterday and we arrived on time and fitted four Continental Sport Contact 5 tyres at our customers offices saving him valuable time and money.

A busy start to the week with new tyres fitted in Ely, Newmarket and Cambridge.

There has been a good mixture of jobs so far this week with customers booking well in advance for their new tyres so that we arrive at a location and time to suit them as well as customers calling in a panic as they have found a flat tyre on their vehicle. We started the week by fitting two Pirelli P7 tyres size 245/40/R18 to an Audi in Cambridge and during our inspection procedure we discovered that the remaining two tyres on the vehicle would need to be changed shortly and our customer was very grateful for the warning. We were then called to Ely as a previous customer had a nail near the shoulder of the tyre on his VW Toureg so we fitted a Goodyear Eagle tyre size 265/50/R19. The Citroen car dealership in Cambridge rang us to ask if we could rescue one of their customers who had a puncture in the centre of Cambridge and we managed to get the lady back on the road within the hour and she was highly delighted with the service she received.We have just received a thank you message from a customer we visited yesterday where we fitted four new Maxxis tyres size 205/50/R17 to his Peugeot and due to uneven wear on the front tyres we performed a wheel alignment on the vehicle.The message stated that there is a massive improvement in the performance of the vehicle.

Organisation near Ely use Hometyre mobile Tyre services and save staff time and money.

Today we visited an organisation near Ely for the fourth time this month as they have discovered that it is a good idea to have the tyre fitting service come to you rather than drive a vehicle to the nearest fitting centre to have new tyres fitted.We first visited the organisation in February when a member of staff saw the Hometyre van in the area and we turned up on time and fitted two new Ovation tyres size 215/65/R15 to his Kia. He was so impressed he called us back to fit new tyres to his caravan and we fitted them at a caravan storage unit saving our customer time and money.Word quickly spread through the organisation and we visited last week to fit a full set of new tyres to the works van allowing the driver to continue working on site whilst the new tyres were being fitted.We arrived today to fit new tyres to a Vauxhall and while we were there a member of staff mentioned that they were slowly losing air from a tyre so we removed the tyre and found the wheel to be suffering from extreme corrosion.We wire brushed the corrosion away and applied a couple of layers of bead seal to the rim and the air loss has stopped.We are back next week to fit a couple of new tyres and while we are on site we are checking the wheel alignment on a Ford Mondeo as the steering wheel is pulling to the left. This organisation is reaping the benefits of a mobile tyre fitting service as the staff do not need to leave the premises saving all valuable time and money.