Wheels/Tyres: - In praise of the spare wheel!

lillia · Jul 7th, 2014, 19:52

A word to the wise - keep hold of your spare wheel, you never know when you might need it! I know a lot of people are no longer driving around with a spare wheel in the boot and that many cars are now routinely delivered with a can of foam or similar due to various model upgrades, etc.

Last Monday, I stepped out of the house to find that my rear NS wheel was flat. Didn't need to look too hard to see why - there was a screw buried in it, right at the top. 45 mins before work, 20 miles away. Popped open the glove box and fished out a pair of pliers, intending to pull the screw out and fill up the tyre with a spare can of foam I had been sensible enough to buy after a puncture last autumn (more on Kent's roads later). The screw barely budged despite strenuous effort. Rushed into a nearby Mercedes garage to borrow a bigger screwdriver and a very helpful gentleman brought out a toolbox and offered to help. Only then did we realise that this was a very big/long screw. Still can't figure out when/how I could have driven over something that long. He looked at me with the foam can in my hand and said (1) he can't get the screw out as it is too deeply embedded and (2) in any event, the foam would be of no use as the sidewall had been damaged due to the angle - the tyre would have to be replaced. It was now 25 minutes before work. Popped open the boot and began to unscrew that thing that keeps the spare in place, thanking my lucky stars that I had one! A space-saver one, but a spare nonetheless. There was the usual trouble unscrewing the nuts, but the spare was eventually fitted. Plugged in compressor and topped up air in spare. Speed restrictions resulted in my being a mere 12 minutes late for work; to be honest, it felt as though I were crawling along at the 50 mph high mark and a couple of times I forgot that I was on the spare and panicked when the speedometer inched over 60.

No point replacing only one tyre, so the plan was to purchase two, put them on the front and move the ones on the front to the rear. Could not find any garages near work that stocked 225/50/17 XL tyres, and none near home either. In the end, we found this new Tyreleader website and nervously placed an order in the wee hours of Tuesday morning after reading many reviews of the company. Tyres arrived via DPD on Thursday(!) morning - despite having been shipped from overseas. Had them fitted that afternoon. By then I had managed to do around 80 miles on the spare. That spare wheel saved me a lot of time and money. The garage guy mentioned that these space-saver spare wheels are only meant to be used once and then discarded. Is this true? I haven't seen that written anywhere on it, so I have put it back in the boot. Just as well, because we spotted a smaller nail in the rear OS tyre (damn Kent roads!), so I suppose it's now only a matter of time... In the meantime, Tyreleader has put the price of the tyres I bought up by ~£12 each in the space of a week. Just my luck.

XC70Bob · Jul 7th, 2014, 20:10

"The garage guy mentioned that these space-saver spare wheels are only meant to be used once and then discarded."

That's a new one on me I know there is a speed restriction 50mph but as far as I know there is no distance or re-usage restrictions, never seen any thing like that in the owners manual , even the AA web site says you can travel as far as you like at 50mph.

mind you traveling at 50mph on the motorway is a pain , after I had to do this for about 80 miles one night I replaced my space saver spare with a full size alloy.

Brendan W · Jul 7th, 2014, 21:15

Last year we had a flat 100 miles from home and seeing the 50 on the spare the driver on the day assumed it was kph. They were a lot later than 12 minutes.
Perhaps the 'use once only' refers to the fact that some handbooks now put a cap on the spacesaver mileage of 3000 miles typically. That's a lot of screws.
Afaik one of the reasons for the speed limit is to reduce the work differentials have to do especially 4wd vehicles.

andybird · Jul 8th, 2014, 08:40

My s80 biofuel came without a spare as the LPG tank is in the space where it would normally be. After two punctures I invested in a space saver. Needless to say no punctures since!

Same for my motorbike, I had a spate of rear wheel punctures in a very short time. As I use the bike for commuting I sourced a spare pair of wheels and new tyres.... Guess what... No punctures since?

Not sure what the moral of this post is.......

Brendan W · Jul 8th, 2014, 10:11

......... for every slamming door there is a bolted horse?

tphilly · Jul 8th, 2014, 10:30

My brother in law has got a Toyoya IQ. It's too small for a spare wheel and he has a Toyota compressor and a can of foam. On the two occasions he has had a puncture, the AA were called as the damage was too bad for it.

I've also heard that the foam makes a real mess of the wheel and needs to be scraped off before a new tyre is put on.

lillia · Jul 8th, 2014, 19:03

Thanks for the comments. In all my years of driving, this was the first time I have had to use, or even driven on, a spare wheel. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. It did not feel unsafe, the car was surprisingly stable, but it was just too slow for my liking, not to mention for the people behind me! At the rate I may be going through tyres in Kent I'll hang on to this spare wheel and save my money for future replacements. A full-sized spare would not comfortably fit in the space in the boot. The Mercedes garage guy said to put 60 psi in the spare (my other tyres were at 36 front and 34 rear). That sounded a bit much and I had no time to check the handbook, so I compromised and put it at 55 psi, which felt fine. Still haven't got around to looking in the handbook, will do that some time this week.

The Volvo garage that fitted the tyres mentioned something called green slime and suggested I look into filling my tyres with it as I would then never ever get a puncture. Has anyone had any experience of this?

Thanatos · Jul 8th, 2014, 19:44

I have some blue goo in my tyres it's better then green slime as that's only good upto 30 mph and for 50 miles this stuff is good for 150 mph and the length of the tyre it's quite expensive but if your going through tyres like that I would look into it

The only downside is when it's cold the wheels for the fist mile think the balance is off until it Coats the tyres

RM955I · Jul 8th, 2014, 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by lillia

The garage guy mentioned that these space-saver spare wheels are only meant to be used once and then discarded. Is this true?

No, it's utter b*ll*cks. And to think some of these idiots are responsible for servicing customer's cars

stuartggray · Jul 9th, 2014, 00:18

I've always carried the old fashioned rubber string kit you poke into the nail hole in the tyre.
It has saved me a few times and I've never had to replace the tyre before it's worn down to the replacement limit.
And I have a spare tyre.

Jul 7th, 2014, 19:52	#1
lillia VOC Member Last Online: Aug 30th, 2019 23:34 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: London and Kent	In praise of the spare wheel! A word to the wise - keep hold of your spare wheel, you never know when you might need it! I know a lot of people are no longer driving around with a spare wheel in the boot and that many cars are now routinely delivered with a can of foam or similar due to various model upgrades, etc. Last Monday, I stepped out of the house to find that my rear NS wheel was flat. Didn't need to look too hard to see why - there was a screw buried in it, right at the top. 45 mins before work, 20 miles away. Popped open the glove box and fished out a pair of pliers, intending to pull the screw out and fill up the tyre with a spare can of foam I had been sensible enough to buy after a puncture last autumn (more on Kent's roads later). The screw barely budged despite strenuous effort. Rushed into a nearby Mercedes garage to borrow a bigger screwdriver and a very helpful gentleman brought out a toolbox and offered to help. Only then did we realise that this was a very big/long screw. Still can't figure out when/how I could have driven over something that long. He looked at me with the foam can in my hand and said (1) he can't get the screw out as it is too deeply embedded and (2) in any event, the foam would be of no use as the sidewall had been damaged due to the angle - the tyre would have to be replaced. It was now 25 minutes before work. Popped open the boot and began to unscrew that thing that keeps the spare in place, thanking my lucky stars that I had one! A space-saver one, but a spare nonetheless. There was the usual trouble unscrewing the nuts, but the spare was eventually fitted. Plugged in compressor and topped up air in spare. Speed restrictions resulted in my being a mere 12 minutes late for work; to be honest, it felt as though I were crawling along at the 50 mph high mark and a couple of times I forgot that I was on the spare and panicked when the speedometer inched over 60. No point replacing only one tyre, so the plan was to purchase two, put them on the front and move the ones on the front to the rear. Could not find any garages near work that stocked 225/50/17 XL tyres, and none near home either. In the end, we found this new Tyreleader website and nervously placed an order in the wee hours of Tuesday morning after reading many reviews of the company. Tyres arrived via DPD on Thursday(!) morning - despite having been shipped from overseas. Had them fitted that afternoon. By then I had managed to do around 80 miles on the spare. That spare wheel saved me a lot of time and money. The garage guy mentioned that these space-saver spare wheels are only meant to be used once and then discarded. Is this true? I haven't seen that written anywhere on it, so I have put it back in the boot. Just as well, because we spotted a smaller nail in the rear OS tyre (damn Kent roads!), so I suppose it's now only a matter of time... In the meantime, Tyreleader has put the price of the tyres I bought up by ~£12 each in the space of a week. Just my luck. __________________ __________________________________ S80 T6 SE Geartronic, 2922 cc of driving pleasure

Jul 8th, 2014, 19:03	#7
lillia VOC Member Last Online: Aug 30th, 2019 23:34 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: London and Kent	Thanks for the comments. In all my years of driving, this was the first time I have had to use, or even driven on, a spare wheel. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. It did not feel unsafe, the car was surprisingly stable, but it was just too slow for my liking, not to mention for the people behind me! At the rate I may be going through tyres in Kent I'll hang on to this spare wheel and save my money for future replacements. A full-sized spare would not comfortably fit in the space in the boot. The Mercedes garage guy said to put 60 psi in the spare (my other tyres were at 36 front and 34 rear). That sounded a bit much and I had no time to check the handbook, so I compromised and put it at 55 psi, which felt fine. Still haven't got around to looking in the handbook, will do that some time this week. The Volvo garage that fitted the tyres mentioned something called green slime and suggested I look into filling my tyres with it as I would then never ever get a puncture. Has anyone had any experience of this? __________________ __________________________________ S80 T6 SE Geartronic, 2922 cc of driving pleasure

Jul 8th, 2014, 19:44	#8
Thanatos VOC Member Last Online: Sep 11th, 2019 14:36 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Blackpool	I have some blue goo in my tyres it's better then green slime as that's only good upto 30 mph and for 50 miles this stuff is good for 150 mph and the length of the tyre it's quite expensive but if your going through tyres like that I would look into it The only downside is when it's cold the wheels for the fist mile think the balance is off until it Coats the tyres __________________ Classicswede quote " I knew I had not done the bolts up." http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=159255

Jul 9th, 2014, 00:18	#10
stuartggray StuartGray Last Online: Dec 14th, 2021 14:56 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Dunfermline	I've always carried the old fashioned rubber string kit you poke into the nail hole in the tyre. It has saved me a few times and I've never had to replace the tyre before it's worn down to the replacement limit. And I have a spare tyre. __________________ Present - 2001 V70 Torslanda, Vida/Dice owner Past - 1986 740 GL Estate 4 Speed O/D 2.3l Past - 1990 740 SE Saloon 5 Speed 2.0l Past - 1991 740 GL Estate Auto 2.0l Past - 1985 240 GL Estate 5 Speed 2.3l

Jul 7th, 2014, 20:10	#2
XC70Bob XC70 SE lux D5 Last Online: Feb 25th, 2024 14:34 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Mansfield, notts	"The garage guy mentioned that these space-saver spare wheels are only meant to be used once and then discarded." That's a new one on me I know there is a speed restriction 50mph but as far as I know there is no distance or re-usage restrictions, never seen any thing like that in the owners manual , even the AA web site says you can travel as far as you like at 50mph. mind you traveling at 50mph on the motorway is a pain , after I had to do this for about 80 miles one night I replaced my space saver spare with a full size alloy.

Jul 7th, 2014, 21:15	#3
Brendan W Premier Member Last Online: Apr 2nd, 2024 19:50 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Wexford	Last year we had a flat 100 miles from home and seeing the 50 on the spare the driver on the day assumed it was kph. They were a lot later than 12 minutes. Perhaps the 'use once only' refers to the fact that some handbooks now put a cap on the spacesaver mileage of 3000 miles typically. That's a lot of screws. Afaik one of the reasons for the speed limit is to reduce the work differentials have to do especially 4wd vehicles.

Jul 8th, 2014, 08:40	#4
andybird andybird Last Online: Jan 31st, 2017 22:04 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Hartley, Kent	My s80 biofuel came without a spare as the LPG tank is in the space where it would normally be. After two punctures I invested in a space saver. Needless to say no punctures since! Same for my motorbike, I had a spate of rear wheel punctures in a very short time. As I use the bike for commuting I sourced a spare pair of wheels and new tyres.... Guess what... No punctures since? Not sure what the moral of this post is.......

Jul 8th, 2014, 10:11	#5
Brendan W Premier Member Last Online: Apr 2nd, 2024 19:50 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Wexford	......... for every slamming door there is a bolted horse?

Jul 8th, 2014, 10:30	#6
tphilly Member Last Online: Aug 20th, 2016 11:41 Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Ewloe	My brother in law has got a Toyoya IQ. It's too small for a spare wheel and he has a Toyota compressor and a can of foam. On the two occasions he has had a puncture, the AA were called as the damage was too bad for it. I've also heard that the foam makes a real mess of the wheel and needs to be scraped off before a new tyre is put on.

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