Just to bring this up to date, this appears on the Parliamentary website regarding the Bill's progress: "Latest news on the Tyres (Buses and Coaches) Bill 2014-15

This Bill was introduced to Parliament on 15 July 2014 under the Ten Minute Rule.

The 2014-15 session of Parliament has prorogued and this Bill will make no further progress."

According to our local facility, although not law, if a bus or coach goes for Class 6 test with steering axle tyres over ten years old it is obviously not looked on favourably by the DVSA and could affect an Operator's Compliance Risk Score Rating (OCRS) ie. more chance of the inconvenience of a roadside check etc.

My bus number (if any): RML 2747

Whilst you are correct in what you say, "being looked on unfavourably" by DVSA staff on annual test is not the same as a "fail", though it may be an "advisory" item.

The test requires the tyres to meet certain criteria, and even if the examiner "doesn't like the look of them" providing they meet the criteria he can't fail them!

On a historic vehicle with a top speed of about 45mph and limited use I personally wouldn't worry too much providing the tyres appear to be in good condition.

But there's a big difference between our buses and modern vehicles which can top 18-20 tons loaded and capable of much higher speeds.

My bus number (if any): RML2532,GS67,MLL721,MLL738 and an RT.

I've decided to keep the front tyres on all my buses under 10 years old. I'm aware of two front blow outs on preserved buses with old tyres. Very scary for the drivers concerned but luckily not resulting in serious damage or injury. It saves hassle at MOTs and they can always be moved to the back when they get to the age of 10. Can't afford premium brands though, Double Coin usually.

My bus number (if any): RMs 238, 471 and 2213, GS17

I know of a couple of class 6 RMs that have suffered front blow-outs. I know Sullivan had one when the bus was stationary on a rail replacement about 15 years ago, during the height of one of the "bomb scare" times.

It makes sense to have newer tyres on the front. I've just changed all the tyres on my GS and whilst they were all street legal, the condition if the inner beads on 2 of them gave some cause for concern, as did the state of the actual wheels. There is an amount of wastage of the metal under the inner flaps presumably caused by water ingress over the years. A good attack with the needle gun to remove the loose scale followed by a coat of primer should sort that for a few years.

My bus number (if any): RML2532

It is the scale and detrius found in the inner rim of a wheel that tends to cause the friction and wear that leads to a tyre losing it's integrity.

When we used steel wheels, along with split rims and the european type wheel, they were checked for true and then shot blasted and the inner rim metal sprayed if necessary.

It's often the areas you can't see that need the care and attention.

These were done by the dozen and a sizeable float was kept. Most of these wheels did a good million miles in all conditions.

With tyres, I'm wondering what the date issue may have with properly stored unused tyres. Maybe they should be tested by ultrasound and date of first fitting added as well as date of manufacture.

What you say there Jack is far more sensible than a blanket ban on tyres over 10 years old. When I changed my GS tyres last week one of the wheels had a hole in the metal where LT used to rivet an ID plate on the rim; rust had eaten away the metal under the ID plate. I had to build up the wheel with weld and grind it back to level, it took quite a while!

I'll have to look at having the rims blasted and legal sprayed as there's a lot of wastage under the rust and scale that was removed. That'll be done over winter as I've got a couple more jobs for the bus in the coming months.

What I found on MLL738 was that the back tyres had a decent amount of tread but the rubber had gone to goo round the inner bead and would probably had failed at some time if it entered service with them on, hence the new set of 1000x20s fitted!

My bus number (if any): RML2532

To revive an old thread, I had a call this morning from another contributor on here who mentioned a sadly fatal accident that happened recently.

An elderly enthusiast who is well-known in the preserved lorry movement notice the tyre on his lorry was a bit flat.Like anyone would, he decided to pump the tyre up. Sadly it exploded and killed him.

We don't know how old the tyre was or what condition it was in, but this serves as a timely warning and emphasises the need for utmost caution when inflating tyres.

The gent concerned was not an amateur, he had been in the heavy transport industry all his life, first as a driver, fitter, then as a salesman for a French manufacturer.

My bus number (if any): RML2532

That's very very sad, we all do it though instead of removing the wheel and placing it in a cage - as was supposed to be the case when split rims were common. The 100 or more psi of pressure contained in a commercial's tyre have been known to embed the rings in to an oak tree across the road, luckily just missing the tyre fitter. Haven't seen a tyre cage on mobile vans or in fitters yards for years. Many won't fit tubed tyres and yet plenty of agricultural trailers still use them as well as our preserved vehicles.

My bus number (if any): RML2747

I understand the tyres in this case were rather elderly 36x8.

My bus number (if any): RML2532