Hi rocket - I would say that if the van was moving the statement would definitely be true - if it's stationary I don't know as the tyres are connected by hubs, axles, springs etc. to the chassis so it could give some of the more determined ones a pathway into your van. Maybe they don't like walking on rubber or something, I'll have to let someone with more expertise on ant behaviour answer that one for you.
Vans parked permanently and on blocks may suffer from ant infestation.
If sitting for periods on the tyres the same may happen.
Ants will find the easiest way to track to their food source however, block the easiest route and they WILL find another way.
Ants will walk on rubber unless it is contaminated by a surface spray or some other deterent.
With a parked van they usually go up the lead or hoses or legs or anything that bridges the food source to the ground.
Ants, if left untreated in a van can and will cause major damage.
Once an ant colony realises that the wall voids of a caravan ar ideal areas to set up sub - colonies as nests they will do this.
Ants can cause major damage to wiring and electrical installations within the walls and within the van itself.
So, yes, they will walk on tyres to gain access to a food source.
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We have not have ants travel over tyres since 2005 when we started travelling. They will go up ropes, saftey chains. electrical lead, water hose or anything touching the ground or tree. We use surface spray on legs, hose and leads and never had problems except when I tied awning down and never sprayed ropes. Sprayed ropes and used "rid ant" inside where they ran and then all fixed, other my boxed ears.
When our MH is parked up I add antrid to four one trip water bottle lids and place one on the top of each tyre. I have had no problem with ants while parked. They do love water hoses as they can have a drink on the way to the next meal! Cheers,
good morning everyone. Is it true that ants do not get into van by walking on tyres or is this a furfy.
Dunmowin hi
While I like to have rubber between the ground and our caravan, I do place small squares of rubber under the stability drop down legs most ants seem to land on the caravan from trees or shrubs you park near.
As for being a furfy, a couple of generation of people doing something says it not.
I place rubber and timber under my tyres to make them last longer when parked also because my great uncle told me to do it back in 1955 when I asked why and his 1937 model car still had the original rubber on it when he sold the car in 1970.
I spray grease over suspension between stub axle & body . The stabilisers I put wast oil in the cup shaped footings so ants cannot hopefully get through . Often add borax .. Best thing is not to sweet food around to encourage them !! They love chicken bones too !!
We hired a car at Cairns, went to Cooktown for 10 days. Green Tree ants moved in in numbers and when returning the car, the ants were coming out of every crevice. So post hire inspection, I pointed this out to the dude and he replied not to worry, it happens all the time. So at least the Green Ants climb tyres. You can eat them too, sort of citrus but you only eat the abdomen. Takes a lot to get a feed!
Once when we were camped alongside the Darling River near Brewarrina we had ants crawling up our tyres and depositing their young in the tread grooves and as you may have guessed after that it rained for several days. So yes they will travel over rubber.
Now when in ant prone teritory I spray a surface spray on all things that touch the ground and do not camp under trees but on the easern side for afternoon shade where possible.
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