France in Focus

My Ifor Williams trailer lies unloved for most of the time. I’ve had it for 26 years and I’ve changed the tyres 3 times. The last time in 2019 was using a local french garage. 8 ply tyres 5 of them.
We need to use it after a long rest in the garden. Out it came from the forest of grass. Back tyre completely flat. The tyre is fine but the valve has perished. On checking the others they are all the same.
Mr H made a valiant attempt to take the flat one off but broke the security bolt. So we were stuck.
I had a moment of enlightenment and checked my trailer insurance and I am covered for dépannage à domicile. It took a while to get through and the breakdown garage didn’t really understand that it wasn’t just A flat tyre but we got there in the end and the trailer has gone off for a long weekend in the garagiste.
I am still at a loss as to why the valves have rotted when all the other things we’ve got with tyres don’t seem to be suffering from the same problem although I am a bit paranoid now………

Were the wheels covered to exclude the light?

Did the dealer who changed tyres last time decide to save a few euros?

niemeyjt wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:25 pm Were the wheels covered to exclude the light?

Did the dealer who changed tyres last time decide to save a few euros?

Two of the wheels on the sunny side were covered. 2 plus the spare were not. I think someone didn’t change them! Cant ask them unfortunately

niemeyjt wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:25 pm Did the dealer who changed tyres last time decide to save a few euros?

Probably, but it's impossible to prove anything maybe a couple of years later.

It happened to me with a car which doesn't cover many miles, so the tyres were 10 years old, still with lots of tread, when we last changed them.
A front one went flat 3 years later, luckily when it was parked. The valve was so perished it snapped in two when the mechanic tried to pull it out.
A local tyre shop was responsible - an idiot there also cross-threaded and stripped several wheel bolts with his clattergun. I found this out a couple of weeks later, but his reply was that I had done it.

It should be fairly easy to see if the valves are new, or maybe paint the old valves before handing the car over for a tyre change, to match the wheel colour.

Coincidentally there is an article in the Guardian about cars with prematurely cracking tyres.

Well I’m furious with myself. We have been well and truly ‘plumed’ today by the garagiste.
My fault for not getting a devis but how he has got the bill up to 274 euros for charging 5 tyre valves and 5 locking wheel nuts beggars belief.
That didn’t include the recovery which was paid for by my insurance.

Would this be the same garagiste who may, or may not have changed the valves when they did the tyres?

Headers wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:17 pm My fault for not getting a devis but how he has got the bill up to 274 euros for charging 5 tyre valves and 5 locking wheel nuts beggars belief.

I think you need to find another garage.
When I found the flat tyre mentioned above I took just that wheel to a local garage to repair it, but after they found the rotten valve I drove the car there to replace the other three valves.
The bill was far less than I expected, 45€, so I asked the mechanic if he had balanced the wheels.
He said it was not necessary, as he had not removed the tyres, just deflated each tyre and pulled one side away from the valvs to change it, without disturbing the position of the tyres on the rims.
I'm not sure I'd have thought of that.

The bloke who fitted the tyres originally is no longer trading.
The garage that did the work was the dépanneur. I think I should have got the trailer taken to a tyre place.
Good point about the valve fitting!

My suggestions for the bill - was it a tubeless tyre (i.e. just a valve) or tubed in which case the entire tube has to be replaced.

As others have said, maybe the wheel was balanced after - though I wonder why as not necessary on a trailer.

Also, did I read about cross-threaded nuts/bolts? That may have involved more labour.

And then there's TVA