Spare wheel or puncture repair kit?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sun 30 Mar 2008 21:59
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - movilogo
Many cars are now providing puncture repair kit instead of a full size or temporary spare wheel.

Is it just a cost saving exercise or they do have a logic saying, it provides more luggage space?

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Sun 30 Mar 2008 22:11
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Harleyman
Cost saving. Repairing a flat tyre's fine, but they don't provide enough glue to stick it back together after a 70mph motorway blowout! ;-)
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Sun 30 Mar 2008 22:20
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - jmaccyd
Yes, I think it is one of the questions we should ask as buyers of new cars. I don't think I would buy a car without a spare (either full size or space saver)
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Sun 30 Mar 2008 22:50
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Kevin
It's done for cost, weight and space savings and reflects the fact that complete tyre failures or blow-outs are very rare on properly inflated and maintained tyres. Recent changes to council policy on pothole repairs will no doubt change that.

In a small car the savings could be the difference between one tax band and another, an extra 10 litres of bootspace and £30 profit.

I prefer the space-saver option myself.

Kevin...
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Sun 30 Mar 2008 22:59
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Armitage Shanks {p}
Another point to consider is that most tyre repair places won't try to repair a tyre that has had the glurpy glue/sealant used in it - or so I understand
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Sun 30 Mar 2008 23:14
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - MikeTorque
My wife had 2 total tyre write-offs recently, the spare tyre (space saver) made life easy for the breakdown services, neither tyre was repairable. One of the front tyres exploded when it hit the works car park curb which created a large hole in the side wall, and it was a newly new Michelin as well.
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Mon 31 Mar 2008 00:06
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Robin Reliant
Another point to consider is that most tyre repair places won't try to repair a
tyre that has had the glurpy glue/sealant used in it - or so I understand

Tyre shops base their prices on a repair being about a fifteen minute job. Present them with one filled with a sticky gum that takes about an hour to clean up and you can forget about a repair. The only time I have ever used that stuff was on a motorcycle tyre, and the bit that came through the hole before it sealed was like concentrated superglue.
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Mon 31 Mar 2008 01:01
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - owler
I agree tyreshops will be reluctant to fix a wheel that covered in something sticky.

1) having no spare is a cost-saving issue. But it could cost you your life! Imagine being stuck on a freezing road miles from anywhere, at least with a spare you could get going in 10-15 minutes. If the wheel is damaged then no amount of rubber-gunk will fix it. Furthermore it's getting colder and if you rely on a Motoring orginisation ( assuming you know your position! and have a working mobile phone!), it will be 1-2hrs before they turn up. Brr! No supper for you!
Now, doesn't it make sense to have a proper spare, with the right air-pressure?
The space saved might be marginally valuable in a small car, but frankly the outcome of "not having one " is far worse.
The same appliles to "skinny-spares". IMHO, a silly cost-cutting exercise as the "well" has to be deep enough to take the standard wheel and you have to limp-on with a rubbish wheel. If you are paying a 4-figure sum for the motor, they can slip-in a decent spare.

Edited by owler on 31/03/2008 at 01:03

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Mon 31 Mar 2008 09:03
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - oilrag
A spare tyre (full size, inside the boot) and a fag lighter powered compressor. I reckon the compressor gets you out of at least 70% of tyre problems without needing to change the wheel or get the AA card out.

On our Mk 2 Punto`s, the car version gets a space saver, while the Punto van gets a full size spare, which just shows the issue is driven by buyers expectations.

I suspect that for many cosmetically conscious car buyers, a little bit of cheap `glitter` in the cabin is all that matters, rather than a full size (or any)spare.

I saw a car once that had been flagged down by other motorists, the flat rear tyre a smoking ruin after driving through town with it flat and flapping.
The driver totally oblivious as though the very concept of `wheel` and `tyre` were just being revealed for the first time.

Perhaps that`s an insight into how the first cars with puncture repair kits instead of spare wheels managed to get onto the roads?

While not in anyway being critical of the purchase of cars without spare wheels, i can imagine the howls of derision that would have been levelled at the manufacturers, if `puncture repair kits` had been substituted for spare wheels in a not too distant, more technically capable motoring past.

Regards

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Mon 31 Mar 2008 09:18
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - ijws15
The extra weight affects the economy and CO2 figures and can push the car up a tax bracket for both RFL and company car tax - the old Audi A2 brochure used to list the weights of all the extras and had a warning that they affected the CO2 rating.

SWMBO will only have a car with some form of spare after and incident with the AA and a can of sealant. I have a space saver in the Honda (no cost option so no-brainer) and a can of goo!

I have had 4 punctures including one de-lamination (plus 2 punctures and 2 sidewall blisters for SWMBO) in around 300k of driving combined so would say that makes a spare essential. Mercedes say it is over 200k km on average between punctures so we must be high risk!

The can of goo is no good if you find a blister in a sidewall - still illegal to drive on it!
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Mon 31 Mar 2008 12:49
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - 659FBE
I run a non motoring related business and see all kinds of cars - many fairly new. Various misfortunes have occurred to my customers over the years - flat batteries, no fuel, locked out etc. etc. and I have been able to resolve the problem in all cases to allow them to leave. Except for one.

The only car which had to be removed from my premises with a low loader was a BMW Type 1 with a puncture. The tyre was a mess and goo was everywhere - a complete joke. I would think the final bill for sorting out that little episode would be considerable.

When I was shopping for a big diesel towcar, half of the contenders were non runners due to scooter wheel spares. I wouldn't fancy fitting one of these to the back of the car with a fully loaded trailer hitched to it.

659.
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Mon 31 Mar 2008 13:23
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - menu du jour
I take it that the goo is only a get you home job? If a rescue service attends, would their first action be to use the goo? And what happens next if that fails?
culmhead
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Mon 31 Mar 2008 21:31
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Bromptonaut
Goo and even some space savers are "get you to the garage" jobs. I live in the East Midlands and have 5 tyre depots within 10 miles - but they are 08:00 to 18:00 or thereabouts, 10:00 to 16:00 Sunday. Tyre burst at 15:30 on Sunday and, with no spare, I'd be late for work on Monday.


Regularly travel long distances all over the UK at all hours of the day/night and holiday on the Western Isles where everything is closed on Sunday. Bromp junior is now old enough to help me change a tyre (so's his sister) but it's not long since I was travelling with a five and a seven year old. With no spare I'm supposed to wait for a breakdown truck so big car maker can pocket an extra £5 on every car sold????


No sireee - full size spare or no sale.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 31/03/2008 at 21:35

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Mon 31 Mar 2008 22:41
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - grumpy100
My preferencde is a full size spare. I would accept a car with a space saver provided there was room in the well to put a full size spare in instead. A can of goo and no spare would exclude the car from my short list.

Imagine you are 100 miles from your destination on a late evening and you get a puncture with s spacesaver or worse with a can of goo, neither fix designed for sustained motorway travel, you are basically stuck.
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Mon 31 Mar 2008 22:48
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Robin Reliant
Space savers are rubbish. They do no mre than put you into "Limp home" mode, as it is illegal to use them other than to get you either home or to a tyre fitter. As has been said, get a puncture on a Sunday anywhere in rural Britain and you have no hope of finding a repairer.

Carrying anything other than a full size spare is asking for considerable inconvenience at some stage.
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Tue 1 Apr 2008 00:17
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Dulwich Estate
I echo the recent posts. I drive 600 miles one way from UK through France on maybe 9 - 10 return trips a year. I reckon a good proportion are on a Sunday or during a Saturday afternoon. It doesn't matter if rural or big city - if it's late on Saturday or anytime on a Sunday you will be stuck and not able to get a new tyre because the entire country shuts down and even lorries are banned from the roads. So the sticky goo option is a complete no-no.

Even if you could get a tyre at any other time, what's the betting it wouldn't match (different brand/tread pattern/rating) and so need replacement or matching later.

As for a skinny tyre - do you fancy driving 300 miles (a guess at an average distance) or so miles at 50kph turning a long day's drive into 18 - 20 hour marathon?

For me it's a full size wheel and tyre or no car purchase! But I'm not too fussed if the spare is on a steel wheel rather than on a matching alloy.
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Tue 1 Apr 2008 00:22
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Dulwich Estate
Here's a thought. If the current minimalist trend continues and it becomes impossible to get a car with a full size spare wheel you'll always be able to spot me on the cross-channel ferry.

I'll be the one with a spare wheel on the roof bars like you see on the marathon rallies!
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Tue 1 Apr 2008 00:22
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Big Bad Dave
I've got a full size spare but I've no idea how to get the locking nuts off. Touch wood...
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Sun 20 Apr 2008 23:45
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Dyaneman
I've got a full size spare but I've no idea how to get the locking
nuts off. Touch wood...

>>

With difficulty is the answer... Usual answer is to find the 'special tool', attatch to wheelbrace, then apply force and shear off the crappy pins in the said 'special tool', leaving you well stranded...

I strongly suspect you discard the crappy things and revert them, or at least make sure they undo as insurance, and refit them with copaslip.

Jonathan.
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Sat 11 Dec 2010 21:15
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Lygonos

Many would not advise using copper grease or other lubricants on wheel nuts.

I wouldn't either.

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Sat 19 Apr 2008 13:29
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - motorist
I had a puncture on my Altea yesterday, the first for me on a car with a 'repair kit'. The hole was right in the centre of the tread so I thought it would be repairable. However that's not what the tyre shop told me. They say a patch can't be made to stick on the inside of a tyre once the sealant has been used in it. One new tyre later I get home and phone round some more tyre suppliers. I get the same story from them all.

Is this a problem only with the sealant supplied with Seats, and presumably others from the VW/Audi stable, or are all cars with the kits affected? I also wonder if the older method of 'plugging' a puncture would still be effective?

I've raised it with Seat to get their views. There should be a big warning on the kit letting you know that you are going to be the cost of a new tyre poorer if you use it. To add further grief I'm told by the Seat agent that a replacement bottle of the sealant costs around £35! I'm looking for a full-sized spare.
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Sat 19 Apr 2008 19:52
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - PhilW
"I also wonder if the older method of 'plugging' a puncture would still be effective?"
I hope so - my sister had a puncture while visiting us in her newish Honda Civic which has pretty low profile tyres small nail in centre of tread. I took the wheel off rather than use the repair kit thing, took it to a National Tyre place and they repaired it - with what looked like a plug (£13 all in)

Edited by PhilW on 19/04/2008 at 19:52

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Sat 19 Apr 2008 20:03
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Avant
My Golf has a full-size spare, as all good cars do. SWMBO's otherwise excellent Mini Cooper has the above-mentioned goo-kit. This is fine for her local journeys as she would rather call out the Mini emergency service than change a wheel - but if we were to take it on a long trip and have a blow-out or serious puncture that the goo-kit couldn't repair, and we were somewhere that the mobile didn't have a signal, what then?

I'm going to find out whether you can get a spare wheel as an accessory to keep in the garage and put in the car for long trips - we are unlikely ever to travel more than two-up in it! Thinking as I write, it must be possible, mustn't it - just a wheel and a tyre.

It doesn't have run-flats, but even they can presumably pick up something too big for the pressure to be maintained?

Edited by Avant on 19/04/2008 at 20:05

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Sat 19 Apr 2008 21:15
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Westpig
I think the car companies are thoroughly and utterly 'extracting the urine'.

Some punctures are glaring and obvious no hopers for inflatable glue, although i'd accept they're usually few and far between. However, what is more common is a nail or something in a tyre, which isn't necessarily in the area that a reputable tyre company would repair....so if all you've got is some glue, the temptation is to use it when you shouldn't.

you've only got to bung in extras like a fair bit of weight in the vehicle (4 adults, holiday luggage, roof box etc)..then you're playing with fire

then there's other things like: deepest darkest Wales/Cornwall/Scotland; half way through France; Bank Holiday weekend; etc, etc

put a decent sized spare wheel in there and cut out some of the other carp
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Sat 19 Apr 2008 22:12
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Manatee
Not much support for the gloop then. Mrs M touched a tyre against the kerb the other day right where a misaligned kerbstone projected. Big tear in tyre. Gloop would have been no good at all. IIRC the AA / RAC will only deal with punctures if you are carrying a serviceable spare - perhaps they have modified this policy.
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Sun 20 Apr 2008 01:16
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Dynamic Dave
IIRC the AA / RAC will only deal with punctures if you are carrying a serviceable spare - perhaps they have modified this policy.


www.rac.co.uk/web/breakdowncover/uk/terms_and_cond...f

Please note: Motorised vehicles that are manufactured without the provision of a spare wheel will be considered on their individual merits.


www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/breakdown-terms-cond...l

General exclusions
1. AA Membership breakdown cover does not provide for:
d. any additional charges resulting from Your failure to carry a legal and serviceable spare wheel or tyre, except where this is not provided as manufacturers standard equipment. The AA will endeavour to arrange on Your behalf, but will not pay for, assistance from a third party;

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Sun 20 Apr 2008 09:02
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - SlidingPillar
I carry a can of gloop in one car. Strictly a "get me to a place of safety" item and essential.

The Morgan three wheeler has different front and rear wheels and no place to put one spare, let alone two. Pre gloop one was supposed to carry a spare tube or a puncture repair kit and tyre irons. And folk must have been made of tougher stuff in the 30's as although I can remove and refit a tyre with only irons it is a good hour or more work for me.

I do have RAC cover, and yes, I had noted their cover change last year. but try not to use them. So far the only time so far I've needed recovery, the phone operative took a lot of convincing I'd not accept a tow (old vs modern brakes - no chance), and as it was a three wheeler - needed a flat bed recovery, not a twin rail one. (Luckily the local agent knew exactly what it was, and how to deal).

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Sun 20 Apr 2008 11:24
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Alby Back
A related question for the more technically minded please. I have a car fitted with original 17" alloys. The spare is a "space saver" . As with many of the above posters this sort of worries me due to the fact that I am often far from home and travelling at night. Wouldn't want to have to drive overnight from Italy for example on a skinny. Other models of my car use a 16" wheel on a steel rim and have a higher profile tyre as a result. I had thought of buying one of these 16" wheels to carry as a spare. If I did, would it be safe to use on a long journey at normal speed if it was fitted in conjunction with the remaining 17" wheels?
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Sun 20 Apr 2008 22:08
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Manatee
Shoespy, not an expert answer but if the diameter is similar and the offset is the same then I can't see why there should be much to worry about. You might need another set of wheel nuts to suit the steel wheel. I'd ask the dealer - it can't be a new question.
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Mon 21 Apr 2008 08:45
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Billy Whizz
Shoespy, I think I may be able to help you with this one.
>would it be safe to use on a long journey at normal speed if it was fitted in conjunction with the remaining 17" wheels? In principle, yes, assuming it was the correct matching dimension, with suitable load and speed rating.

What I need are the full details of your 17" tyre: size, load and speed rating and I will look up and tell you what 16" tyre you need.

I have done this for my own car.

Or why not see if you can find a matching 17" alloy and tyre on eBay?

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Mon 21 Apr 2008 10:04
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Alby Back
OK, thanks Billy W. They are 205/50/17W. I notice that the models which have 16's on seem to be be 205/55/16. Does that tie up with your opinion?

Thanks again, SS
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Mon 21 Apr 2008 11:16
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Billy Whizz
Shoespy, yes, that looks good.

For a quick guide, I use Chris Longhurst's useful Tyre Size Calculator which is a third of the way down this page:
www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg2.html

Putting the two tyre sizes in to the calculator comes up with a difference of less than 1% of circumference, with the 16" being the very slightly shorter.

In real life, this will vary with the following variables: tyre manufacturer, tread wear, inflation pressure, weight on the tyre. Drive carefully after fitting the spare to check the car handles and brakes correctly.

A word of caution: A dozen years ago, I drove an old 110 Land Rover in Tanzania belonging to a friend for most of the night on 3 tyres 7.50x16 and 1 of 7.00x16 and it was a nightmare. The small tyre was fitted in the dark after a puncture and I took over the driving. We had not seen it was a mismatch (the 7.00x16 is almost unheard of). The car was wandering all over the road and some of that may have been due to the tyres! One of the worst drives ever.
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Sun 20 Apr 2008 21:44
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - xam
Anytime you have a puncture it is "Inconvenient". But the manufacturers heap more inconvenience on you by not enabling you to immediately fix the problem with the spare. I bought a 4 year old Civic last year and replaced the emergency tyre with a normal one and I live with the deformed floor in the Boot.
This year I took delivery of a new "Burstner" Mobile home and was amazed to find that it too had no spare wheel, the manufacturer only supplying a can of gummysomethingorother with an electric air pump. I completely missed it in the specs
SWMBO looks at it a little differently by saying that, if have a real tyre problem we can wait for the roadside service organisation with Tea, Toilet and TV
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Mon 21 Apr 2008 06:16
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - stuartl
My father in law has a 56 reg Honda Accord Estate which he has owned from new.

He didn't realise until he looked that there was no spare wheel, just a can of ????? and a 12volt compressor. When he went back to the dealer and said he wanted a spare wheel they needed to book the car in as it would need 'specially fitting'.

After charging him (I know what I would have said had they wanted to charge me) I think about £150-00 he went home later to find that they had removed the little compressor and the can of whatever it is. The can he wasnt bothered about but went straight back to the dealer to ask for his compressor back.

Like an earlier poster said, no spare wheel would mean I wouldnt buy the car, full stop.
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Mon 21 Apr 2008 14:33
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - ijws15
On my Accord estate I selected the "No Cost" space saver when ordering. It was delivered with the space saver fitted under the boot floor and the compressor, can of goo, foam block etc loose in the boot so I had both and all at no charge!

It was an 04 and they may have changed the policy.

Also many Mondeo's are delivered with a non-standard steel spare - why don't they make it the same size as the alloy rather than an inch smaller! Many users won't notice when they need to use it!

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Mon 21 Apr 2008 14:43
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Dynamic Dave
why don't they make it the same size as the alloy rather than an inch smaller!


It's cheaper as one size wheel fits all, and they then just fit a different sized profile tyre to match the vehicle it's supplied to.
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Mon 21 Apr 2008 14:48
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - doctorchris
I think that no spare of any kind is a cost-saving and worthless exercise.
For some vehicles, a full-size spare is just too big to be practical. My tiny Panda 4x4 is fitted with 185/65 14 tyres which will not fit in the tyre-well in the boot, in fact will barely fit in the boot itself. A spacesaver is the only practical option, even if not very practical when you have a puncture miles from home, out of tyre depots' business hours and have to limp home at 50mph.
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Thu 22 May 2008 10:31
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Bravo 2
My concern is about the blowout situation or even if the wheel was to become damaged, then you are stuck, The responce to that situation i have been told is that you would have to get the AA to tow you to the in this case nearest Fiat dealership providing it was during the day otherwise your back to square one i would imagine.
I have the New Fiat Bravo Sport t-jet 150/ 07 model which i bought in October last year, at the time i was told you can only have a repair kit on the Sport Bravo, as a spare wheel will not fit, i wasnt that happy to be honest and i did phone around only to get the same answer, that the Sport version of the Bravo cannot have a spare wheel !
But i did want the car so i went ahead and bought it, It was only after i picked it up and had it about a month i got some info that the Sport Bravo was starting to change the repair kit in favour of the space saver wheel in October so i tried my best to get some more info on this from my fiat dealership and from fiat uk only to go round in circles with what was correct and what isn't, at first i was going to give up because i thought i am not going to get the correct info from anyone,but i stopped and thought no why should i stop i will try and get to the bottom of this, right up to now i have kept on about it and said about how unhappy i feel that the space saver wheel is now standard.
I had been on to fiat how unfair i felt that i have to make do with what i have got even though the start of the change over was the same month as i bought the car,even to this day although i am waiting for a phone call from fiat uk today im sure it will be about how i cannot have my repair kit replaced with the space saver wheel and that i should accept what i have is what come with it at the time regardless to what is standard now. I could be wrong and if i am will report back and say so but until then that is the situation.
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Thu 22 May 2008 10:38
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - L'escargot
I wouldn't buy a car if it didn't have a spare. If there was an option to have a full size spare then I would specify that. When I bought a 1.9 petrol ZX Volcane I even got the dealer to change the full size steel spare for a matching alloy.
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Thu 22 May 2008 11:54
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Cliff Pope
Quiz question:

When was the last time in the UK that anyone used a puncture repair kit by the roadside on a car wheel?
(tyre levers, sandpaper, rubber solution, sticky patch, scraping the lump of chalk)
It's so much easier now that wheels are detachable.
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Fri 23 May 2008 13:03
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Bravo 2
Well i got my phone call this morning and have to say that i haven't been treated like dirt like i had been in years, I was lead to believe i might be able to get some help through fiat UK on getting a space saver wheel and giving back the fix & go repair kit,however i was told i would not be getting any help and because my Bravo was built before Sept 07,infact it was made June 07, that i am not entitled, i expressed my concerns to the lady and was told because it was an ex-demo i bought as seen ! i had said what if the tyre had a blowout or wheel damaged,she said to me that is very rare and only a blowout occurs on a bald tyre,so i would be driving illegally in the first place,i tried to differ with her about the situation but could only say to me that if is a big word and we could say if about a lot of things.
So it doesn't matter that the repair kits were being fazed out in Sept and i bought mine in October and at the time was told you cannot have space saver wheel on the Sport Bravo which is now clearly rubbish,you can and it is standard.
I was told by the woman that if i am that concerned then go and buy a kit £250/£19 for the goo cannister.
Fiat dealership very good fiat UK full of excuses, i am not happy with the situation but i don't really know if i can go any further with it with anyone, would i stand to get any help from trading standards or would i be waisting my time.
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Sun 17 May 2009 12:54
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - gentle giant
just had the pleasure? of being stranded due to no spare wheel.
my new honda jazz had a puncture yesterday morning I could see a nail in the tyre close to the sidewall so needed a new tyre. 20+ phone calls later no tyre available at any tyre dealer or honda garage and advised by several tyre places that they would charge extra to clean out the fixing goo if used which i can't because the hole is to large.
so now I have a car which I bought for reliability awaiting recovery next week to get the tyre replaced and I will have to Hire a car on monday moring as I need it for work.
Can I sue Honda as the car is not fit for purpose?
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Sun 17 May 2009 13:12
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - quizman
What size are the tyres?

I agree with you, there should be a full sized spare in every car and if you have alloys the spare should be an alloy as well. Or you get the spare steel wheel with a brand new 8 year old tyre on which is wasted.

Yes I know, some cars have got wider tyres on the rear like my son's MB SLK. Well tough luck.
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Sun 17 May 2009 13:13
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - gordonbennet
II have a car which I bought for reliability awaiting recovery next week
to get the tyre replaced


GG your post shows the lunacy of this situation.

Can't see you getting anywhere suing unless Honda told you the car had a functioning spare wheel, and when you checked it turned out to have a bottle of gloop and a toy pump.

Amazing number of cars that were originally supplied with spares have developed the gloop disease, checked for spare on a Pug 207 t'other day...gone like so many others, but has a great big polystyrene filler in the full size spare wheel well as a space waster..you couldn't make it up.

It's possibly partly the fault of bone idle drivers, how many are capable of changing their own wheels these days, if the AA are coming out to change the wheel cos the drivers too precious then might as well send out ATS to fit a new tyre instead, i can sort of see some logic in this.
The rest of us just won't buy a car without a spare.
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Sun 17 May 2009 13:19
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Alby Back
My car has 17" alloys. Standard fit for the trim level. Other trim levels of the same car have 16" steels and the really posh ones have 18" alloys. My spare is a skinny spacesaver. Better than nothing of course but I've often wondered about buying a 16" steel from the scrappy to keep as a a spare instead. Might be nonsense but I reckon it would be a lot safer to use that to get home if I was a long way away.

Edit - apologies, it seems I've been wondering about this for some time. I asked the same question further back up the thread ! It was a year ago......

Edited by Humph Backbridge on 17/05/2009 at 13:23

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Sun 17 May 2009 13:33
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - gordonbennet
buying a 16" steel from the scrappy to keep as a a spare instead.


Good way to go Humph, though i'd keep an eye on fleabay for a proper alloy wheel of your size.
Sometimes need the correct wheelbolts for the steel wheel too, thats quite a problem with MB's, a surprising oversight when Pug (and others) used to have collar's welded to the bolt holes on alloy wheeled cars with steel spares thereby enabling one set of bolts to cover all eventualities.

Will it be the same wheel size when you get the next flying Mondy, would be well worth if thats the case.
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Wed 20 May 2009 17:32
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - stan10
Humph, i have just returned from having my van mot'd, looking at the tyre posters on their wall reminded me of your interesting question, so i asked ....

Apparently, what you propose is legal, ....... here's the "but",

It won't match the other three wheels/tyres, so you can only use it on the same basis as your regular spacesaver, so limited to 50mph, and the least possible distance to get you out of trouble, (mot man said that the BIB regularly pull people they see driving around on spacesavers).

cheers.
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Sun 17 May 2009 13:34
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - foyboy
Had the same canister of tyreweld on my bike for 20+ years, had puncture yesterday and used it . Left the offending nail in place and let the foam ooze out passed it,spun the wheel untill it hardened, got to nearby garage to fully inflate tyre and then drove the 50 miles home. Brilliant stuff, already bought replacement can. 100% pleased.....'Foyboy'
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Tue 19 May 2009 00:26
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - gentle giant
Jazz tyre is a Dunlop SP31 in 175/65 15 84T, only place in the country I could find one is Manchester on 5 days delivery, so will be getting 2 Continental tyres and fitting them on the same axle.
Contacted Honda customer care and all they said was if tyres are out of stock nothing they could do. So have contacted Which? to get them to look into the problem of no spare wheel on new cars.
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Tue 19 May 2009 00:43
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - CGNorwich
Agree with all the comments in favour of a proper spare but got to thinking when I last had a puncture - must be at least 10 years ago 150,000 miles back. Statistically chances of a puncture must be pretty small
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Tue 19 May 2009 08:03
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Tron
>>Statistically chances of a puncture must be pretty small

Doing 25+k a year I guess I must be outside of the normal statistics then?!

My vehicle has had three in the last year - two being in one month. Always happens to me on motorways; never urban. Probably picked the puncture up urban though!

Hence, I now have a full sized spare and two of the largest tins you can purchase of Tyreweld in my vehicle.

Also placed in to the same 'emergency kit' a knuckle saving long handled 1/2 drive ratchet with a 2" extension bar and a 17mm socket. Longer or night driving journeys I also carry: tiny.cc/15HV9 combined with tiny.cc/os8pv .

Correctly torqued wheel nuts - when was the last time you checked yours? 4 x year I remove all wheel nuts, clean them using a vice and a wire brush, lightly smear with copper grease and refit them using a torque wrench. Weekly I check the torque by backing the nut off and doing it up again.

Also in there: reflective jacket, bottle jack, wind up torch, 12v Amber strobe* gloves, waterproof top and trousers.

Gloves keep your hands clean and the waterproofs may keep you dry if it is raining but what if you are smartly dressed? They also double up as clothes savers.

All of this ?hassle? is so I am not inconvenienced waiting for either recovery or stuck below the speed limit on a space saver.

* Amber strobe came from CPC: tiny.cc/MfpTq modified to take a fabric covered magnet and connected using a coiled and 2amp fused wire to the cigarette lighter socket either in the vehicle or from the 12v jump start pack using tiny.cc/pNBVA .

{edited so that the links now work}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 19/05/2009 at 11:26

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Tue 19 May 2009 10:12
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - ifithelps
Tron - I admire your attention to detail.

The CC3 doesn't even have a jack or wheelbrace, let alone a spare of any description.

You do get a locking alloy wheel nut key - great.

Looks like the tin of goo screws into the compressor which is not an arrangement I've seen before.

Any puncture, other than a neat pin prick on the tread, is effectively a breakdown.

I'm just about OK with that, so long as the nearest tyre place has the right size tyre in stock.

I think the CC3 has something like 205X45X17" which is not very common.

Pity you can't just put a tube in - I could carry on of those.

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Wed 20 May 2009 17:48
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Tron
Tron - I admire your attention to detail.


Thank you Ifithelps.

All down to self pride, common sense and self preservation - that and a military background of course! Belt and braces...
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Wed 20 May 2009 18:00
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - captain chaos
Pity you can't just put a tube in - I could carry on of those.


Ooh no. Can't repair that, sir. Too near the sidewall.
Fit an inner tube, sir? Out of the question I'm afraid. Have a nice new tyre instead. Pity there's 5mm of tread on your old one but there you go.
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Wed 20 May 2009 18:55
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - henry k
>>Fit an inner tube, sir? Out of the question I'm afraid.
>>
IIRC that IS the correct response.
Tubeless tyres are not made to take tubes.
Unless the inner surface is buffed smooth ( and the wheel has no nasties sticking out) there is a risk to any tube fitted that it will be chafed and puncture.
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Sun 24 May 2009 14:18
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - gentle giant
don't need a tube.
just been talking to an old mate who did a vip protection driving course.
says the cars have a product called Linseal in their tyres and will even seal a hole made by a 7.62mm bullet. dosn't affect the balance and washes out with water if you need to replace the tyre. off to do a google for it!
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Sun 24 May 2009 14:26
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - the swiss tony
and washes out with water if you need to replace the tyre.


Hmmm and if its raining when your tyres are shot? :-o
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Sun 24 May 2009 16:08
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - pmh2
But is deemed ' as not suitable for road use' by UK importer.





p
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Wed 12 May 2010 21:11
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - c-lant

herny k... reason for tubes not being fitted to tubeless tyre is for safety reasons where as a tubeless tyre will retain some pressure and gradually go down slowly ( accept not in all cases ) but tubes once punctured will deflate instantly therefore possible loss of control at speed.... safety first..

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Sun 24 May 2009 16:12
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - pmh2
Tron

Correctly torqued and checked weekly,

'Lightly smear with Copper Grease' - so wont be correctly torqued then!

This has been covered many times before.


p
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Sun 24 May 2009 19:40
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Hamsafar
I have used the goop before, both as a slime you leave in to prevent defaltiona nd the aerosol get you home stuff, neither really make a mess at all. The tyre people don't bat an eyelid. It stays well put on the underside of the tread. It isn't sticky either.

I have just bought one of these for £15 delivered via an advert in Motorcycling News. Repaired someone else's tyre in 10 minutes without removing the tyre. I was very impressed with how it worked.

cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1204...1

Idea for screw/nail holes.
You pull out the screw, noting the angle of it's entry, put rubber glue on the reamer and stuff it in and out and then thread a piece of the string covered in brown sticky stuff from that pouch you can see into a tool, these strings you can see are double that length as they are folded and covered in protective backing paper. You push these right in with the tool until 12mm remains sticking out and then twist the tool and withdraw it. The seal was perfect, and the brown stuff sets.

Edited by Hamsafar on 24/05/2009 at 19:45

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Mon 3 May 2010 12:35
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - peter1969uk

I was driving in the country in Scotland and hit a pothole. This buckled my wheel and made the care undrivable. I couldn't get a mobile signal and with no spare I was stuck 4am in the dark in the middle of nowhere.

If there had been a spare wheel 20 minutes of fumbeling in the dark and I would have been on my way. Instead a 40 minute walk just to get a signal for the phone and then the recovery took a couple of hours to reach me.

Some people have said this is to do with space saving. The new fiesta still has a well for a spare wheel which sits under the boot mat so it saves me no space at all. Not only do you not get the wheel but they don't give you a wheel brace or a jack.

I had ticked the box when I bought the car for the spare wheel. But with the waiting list I ended up taking one that had just been delivered to be displayed in there show room which did not have a spare. They said they would try and get me one but it never came through then they said contact ford customer services who were not very helpfull either..

Now after my experiance I have bought a 2 new wheels one to replace the damaged one and the other as a spare. Now I have another delema I need to contact ford to get the spare wheel pack of brace and jack that fits in the boot.

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Mon 3 May 2010 12:59
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Avant

Peter - welcome to the Backroom. Your comments should be required reading for all manufacturers. Punctures are rarer nowadays than they used to be, but they still happen, not least because of the ridiculous potholes that some local authorities are failing to fill in.

Your dealer should have made more effort: if they are as useless as they sound, try another dealer: you'll probably have more joy with them than with Ford directly. It shouldn't be a dilemma: it should be a standard part, able to be supplied easily to order.

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Mon 3 May 2010 13:47
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Sofa Spud

We bought a secondhand VW Touran 1.9 TDI recently. It's a 5-seater version (most are 7-seaters). 5-seat Tourans come with a full-size spare wheel in a proper compartment under the boot floor. 7-seat Tourans have no spare wheel, just a puncture repair kit.

Our Touran cost about £500 less than the equivalent 7-seat version. To us a spare wheel is more important than two extra seats which would never be used! If VW think Touran 7-seater owners don't need a spare wheel, I wonder why they bother to provide one on 5-seaters!

Edited by Sofa Spud on 03/05/2010 at 13:48

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Mon 3 May 2010 13:49
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - veryoldbear

We go over to France quite a lot, and I feel that for travel on the Continent a "proper" spare tyre is essential. My SAAB estate came with one of those comedy "space saver" things, which is actually of little practical use when you're in foreign parts and may not have anything resembling the right size / type of tyre and so (certainly in France) will always try and sell you two tyres so you have the same on an axle. I did the usual and got me a spare "real" wheel for the SAAB with a matching tyre, decent jack and wheel brace. And is still goes in the wheel well ....

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Tue 4 May 2010 11:37
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - mustangman

One thought on the question of spacesaver spares.

I notice that on my Golf the spacesaver spare is a smaller diameter than the other wheels. This means that it will rotate faster than the standard wheels, therefore if used on the front this would mean that the differential carrier and idler gears in the transmission must rotate constantly in order to allow the car to move forwards.

If driven for a long period and / or at high speeds this could lead to premature wear or even failure of these components.

One more reason to fix the puncture promptly ?

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Tue 4 May 2010 11:59
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - idle_chatterer

One thought on the question of spacesaver spares.

I notice that on my Golf the spacesaver spare is a smaller diameter than the other wheels. This means that it will rotate faster than the standard wheels, therefore if used on the front this would mean that the differential carrier and idler gears in the transmission must rotate constantly in order to allow the car to move forwards.

If driven for a long period and / or at high speeds this could lead to premature wear or even failure of these components.

One more reason to fix the puncture promptly ?

Not sure this is actually the case, the tyre will have a higher aspect ratio (profile) making the rolling circumference the same won't it ?

I understood the speed limit to be due to the narrower width versus full size spares, at one time IIRC they were of (worse still) cross ply construction too which was illegal and dangerous although this is no longer the case.

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Tue 4 May 2010 14:53
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}

My Skoda has the optional, 17" wheels. However, the spare is a 16" steel wheel, tyre is of a different profile. A 50 mph sticker is attached to the spare so it may as well be a space saver.The well in the boot floor does not take the 17" tyre/wheel combination. Will be fun with a full boot.

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Sat 11 Dec 2010 14:47
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - tarfgi

I have a steel dog cage plus two dogs in the back of my Golf Estate. To get at the spare wheel I would have to put the dogs somewhere safe (at the side of a motorway?) lift the very heavy cage out to get at the full size tyre. As a weak little woman ( ! ), I'd be half dead before I'd even started on the tyre change. I' now leave the spare in the rear footwell of the car to make it accessible in case of a puncture, but even though I secure it, it is still not very safe and takes up two of the three seats at the back!!! This repair kit sounds heaven sent for me (I've only just heard about it) as I can now leave the spare tyre, jack etc. under the floor at the back for real emergencies, and will be able to cope with the sort of puncture I had the other day, caused by a small screw. These are the most common cause of puncture for me.

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Sun 12 Dec 2010 10:15
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Andy P

Difficult decision this.

1. Many years ago I had a puncture in the offside front wheel of my Cavalier, on the M56, in the dark, and I don't want to go through that experience again.

2. My friend has a Toyota, no spare, just a can of goo. Twice now she's suffered a split in the sidewall (probably down her driving over kerbs), neither of which could be repaired.

My 335 has RFTs (no space in the boot for a spare of any size unless it's just dumped in), and on the one occasion I've had a deflated front tyre, I just slowed down to 50 and carried on. Once I'd reached work I phoned a mobile fitter and had a new tyre fitted later the same day.

Now I'm not making out RFTs to be the answer, but in terms of safety, they're the best thing around, and once the new 3G ones are available, they'll address the "problem" of ride quaility.

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Mon 13 Dec 2010 13:20
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - ijws15

How do RFTs deal with delamination or sidewall blisters?

Nothing less than a spare will do.

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Mon 13 Dec 2010 21:39
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Andy P

Given the thicker sidewalls, I'd expect blisters to be less of a problem.

As for delamination, that's caused by loss of air pressure in the tyre to such a point that it can't cope with the loads and stresses put upon it. Since RFTs have pressure monitoring systems, you know instantly a tyre looses pressure so you can slow down to 50mph and carry on safely.

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Tue 22 Mar 2011 13:38
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - ronart

I was given a lecture by a very pretty Ford sales lady on the subject of spare wheels.

According to her , In a survey it was found that 80% of people could'nt change a wheel.

They either did'nt know how to, or they were physically incapable of removing a wheel

or lifting it. We are talking here of old ladies and glamorous young women, not to

mention male whimps, or disabled, and men in posh suits. etc.,

Apparently most people found it easier to use a repair kit than struggle with a

car jack and a massive wheel.

As I'm 75 years I'm inclined to agree with the pretty lady.

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Tue 22 Mar 2011 15:15
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Collos25

Won,t mend a shredded tyre and will make most puncures unrepairable.Try find a new tyre on the motorway on a Sunday morning at 6.00am.Even if you cannot change the tyre yourselve somebody will come along and do it for you.

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Tue 29 Mar 2011 14:16
Spare wheel or puncture repair kit? - Ossett Tyre House

Because we work in the tyre and automotive trade the amount of cars that we have in that have used TyreWeld or Tyre Foam is phenominal. The end product always results in a new tyre because they are chemical based solutions that prevent patches from sticking. Even when jet washed out this is still the case.

We always sugest that a spare is the best option.

The main thing to think about is What if you have a blowout?

this can not be repaired so a new tyre is in order.

In reply to ronart above most people do not know how to change a wheel but a lot of people do have coverage from the green flag and AA who will come out and do this job if you are really struggling.

Edited by Avant on 30/04/2011 at 23:27

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