14 | News
Fiat Ducato Tyre Overinflation Alert
T
he following letter was received from Ronald a concerned reader and is reproduced in good faith. The potential overinflation alert only pertains to Fiat Ducato motorhomes with Continental-brand tyres. The overinflation of the tyres on my 3 year old motorhome was brought to my attention in early June 2014 by an alert tyre mechanic at a tyre retail business when I asked if he could inflate one of the tyres that had been partially deflated by a faulty compressed air facility at a local service station. He asked me what pressure I put in the tyres and I quoted the recommended pressure that Fiat stated on their tyre inflation chart (80 psi). He queried as to why I was overinflating the tyres as he said that the maximum recommended pressure for that tyre was only 69 psi (this represents a 15% over-inflation). He showed me where this recommended maximum inflation pressure was shown on the wall of the tyre (I was unaware that the writing on the tyres contained this information). He also expressed the view that this was a very serious situation that gave a substantially higher risk of a blowout occurring. I requested that he reduce the pressure in the other tyres to 69 psi and have been running at that pressure since that time. I subsequently contacted the manufacturer of my motorhome and supplied photos of Fiat’s recommended tyre inflation chart together with the information on the tyres. They took this to Fiat Australia, who were not very receptive. As I travelled I spoke to several Fiat Ducato motorhome owners who still had the original tyres and they were inflating them to Fiat’s recommended 80 psi. A check on the tyres revealed most of them had a 69 psi rating.
As it appeared that there were potentially a lot of Fiat Ducato owners who were running a higher risk of a blowout, I chased up my motorhome manufacturer several times about a resolution to this safety issue and they eventually informed me that Fiat were now fitting a different tyre with an 80 psi rating and didn’t know how many units were affected and were not going to do anything about it. I understand that it was not until I threatened to escalate the problem and contact Government road safety authorities throughout Australia that Fiat started to take this safety issue more seriously. I understand that they have now contacted their parent company Fiat in Italy with the aim of supplying alternative recommended Tyre inflation charts for those affected vehicles. Fiat Australia, through its network of service centres, should have access to the contact details of most of its Fiat Ducato customers, so an alert could be sent out asking them to check if they are in the affected category and if so, reduce the tyre pressures to that stated on the tyre. This surely is the minimum that should be done to ensure the safety of its customers. In discussion with my motorhome manufacturer in early October 2014, they agreed that as there is a substantially higher risk of a blowout, with possible deadly consequences, this information should be released to the RV travelling public without further delay, so that affected owners can take corrective action and reduce the tyre pressures to that shown on the vehicles tyres. I will continue to follow up this safety issue with my motorhome manufacturer until the matter is fully resolved. Note: iMotorhome has contact Fiat Australia for comment but at this stage has received no reply.