Do you carry a jack?

[Margaritaman]

Used my scissor jack to raise my front wheel enough to put a board under it after the wheel sank into soft ground.

 

[Clickem]

My son broke had a flat in France on a Sunday.They recovered him to nearest hotel but would not change wheel..It was motorway breakdown not his own.Next day was Bastille Day so no cover from his breakdown until the day after..If he had his own jack and spare he would have been on his way in half an hour.BUSBY.

I would rather change my breakdown cover than a flat tyre

People on here are at different ages, with different abilities and different expectations

 

[pappajohn]

My son broke had a flat in France on a Sunday.

Strange name to call your son.

 

[bigwood]

The scissor jack with our Ford based Rienza seems quite substantial. I have a hefty board to put the jack on but it would only be a front wheel change if it was safe and as a last resort. No way would I even think about a rear wheel change.

 

[TheMachMan]

Anyone thought about just carrying a spare tyre?
then at least you‘ve got one for a fitter.

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[Odd-no-more]

I always want a spare wheel, even a space saver for the car, if you use the gunge it's a new tyre ASAP if you have a spare you can sort the problem in your own time. Punctures are rare these days when I was working I did a minimum of 20,000 miles a year sometimes 40,000 miles, in 30 plus years I had 3 punctures. I always put the spare on and carried on with my day.

 

[Bernie P]

Anyone thought about just carrying a spare tyre?
then at least you‘ve got one for a fitter.

Thats the line i'm thinking of taking.

 

[peterc10]

Isn’t it a legal requirement to have a spare wheel?

Nope. Many new cars just come with repair kit and no spare

 

[SomeoneElse]

When I had a puncture in France I managed to get enough air in it to get me 3 miles from the supermarket carpark to the nearest aire. Called the Nationwide breakdown service, they had a guy to me in around 30 minutes who changed the tyre for the spare. Next day I arranged for a new tyre in a nearby town but had to wait another night for it to be delivered. Stayed that second night at a campsite just one mile from the tyre place.

 

[XxAnthxX]

Seams some people always carry their jack....everywhere.

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[Simon Meadwell]

I dont carry a jack but quite often my wife Helen rides shotgun

 

[PeteH]

The last Puncture I had, Bloody big Bang!. Offside, Inner Rear, 9t R-V. M25 Friday afternoon. Even the RAC and the Tyre fitter refused to do it. They closed Lane 1 and I S L O W L Y drove to a layby on the Brighton Road. I even got a "mention" by "Sally Traffic" on Wrighty`s programme. Where they took the wheel off and replaced the tyre with one I had bought the previous day. The fronts where new. When I got to Dover I had 3 more fitted and the best of the rest was strapped under the front end, as "emergency". We crossed to Calais and went to Spain. No More problems.

 

[dipsie]

During the lockdown I’v had all four wheels off our V Line, cleaning everything underneath. Our V Line weighs just south of 3500kgs with us two on board with half tank of water and half tank of fuel. Well the vans not being used the fuel tank was nearly full so that compensates an empty water tank. The wife and I, I’ll guess her weight, approx 180kgs, so I recon the van being 3300kgs.

I used the Fiat jack with no problems what so ever, I then got a spare Fiat jack out and jacked up the other side ( fronts ) I did put axle stands under just in case something went wrong.

I don’t think your average coach build or A class will weigh much different to a PVC ( I may be corrected on my assumption ) so if any van up to 3500kgs I feel the jack is OK. There is no way I would contemplate using a motorhome with NO spare wheel I would sooner leave the wife at home !

BernieT

 

[teddybear]

I just carry a spare wheel,no way am I going under the van. Only ever had one puncture on the van that was on the M6 I was scared for the fitter with the traffic charging by.

 

[Minxy]

When we bought our MH it didn't have a spare as standard, just the junk kit, so we insisted as part of the deal. for us to have one so we carry it and a Fiat jack and wouldn't go anywhere without them as we don't want to end up stranded somewhere remove waiting for recovery, or having to buy 2 new matched tyres if one needs replacing (as I believe you have to in France), plus a jack is useful for other things than just when you need to change a wheel as has been mentioned by others.

Just a word of caution though - for those use use bottle jacks make sure you take them out and check they are working regularly as we found that ours had lost it's umph/pressure so didn't work and if we had tried to use it could have failed if it had managed to lift the MH at all. If you think you may ever need to go under your MH then it would also be good practice to carry an axle stand so you can use that in addition to a jack.

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[Minxy]

The wife and I, I’ll guess her weight, approx 180kgs ...

I don't think she'll appreciate you telling everyone she weighs 180kg!

 

[XxAnthxX]

I would sooner leave the wife at home !

Or leaving her at home....

 

[Busman]

Going away on trips always check the spare and the jack. So many scenarios were it helps having the knowledge to change a wheel. Half hour from a ferry and you get a puncture. Change it yourself and catch ferry or wait 2 hrs for AA man and miss it.
Maybe Jim could do a spread in the magazine on know your jacking points and safety ways of changing a wheel.

 

[The Coops]

I have an air bag jack folds down to next to nothing , inflated off the exhaust and lifts 5 tonnes , then shove an axle stand in for security . No sweat!

 

[Lenny HB]

Wouldn't dream of going anywhere without a jack and a spare. Punchers are quite common had one on the last van on a tyre that had only done 20 miles.
Nothing wrong with the Fiat jack if used correctly used them loads of times on the last 3 vans.

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[busbuddy]

I do and always have carried a Jack and spare but......
When I bought my karmann I did loads of research, got someone to interrogate the owner in german and set off cash in hand, flew to Munich then train to neu ulm, bought van and 2 day trip back home
Spent a month making sure everything inside was spot on then went away for first weekend and one of my friends asked which jack I had..........after 20 minutes of searching I realised I had done over a 1000 miles without one

 

[PeterE1947]

I Always carry the scissor jack. We had a big puncture on a bend in the mountains in France in our old Autotrail Dakota. We couldn't get any help until I had finished replacing the wheel!!There was a huge drop one side and a towering mountain the other. The puncture was in the N/S/R so I was out in the traffic which was queuing up behind. We were also ignored by the Gendarmerie who went past without offering to help. If I hadn't got a jack to replace the tyre would you have just sat there?

 

[Pontyboy]

Had a flat on D137 by Rochelle two years ago, no Spare On the Burster Nexxo , inflation thingy was laughed at by recovery guy who thought it was a joke.
Was low loaded to a garage, two new tyres as the French only fit pairs.
Cost us thick end of 600 euros.
On return fitted a Spare using the undamaged tyre removed when new tyres fitted in France.
Travelling without a spare is an expensive risk.

 

[Headrush]

We had an o/s rear blowout on our autotrail while travelling from Waterford back towards Dublin. Bits of van scattered all down the road including the water filler cap and truma vent cover.
Luckily we have a spare and I had taken a 3t trolley jack. Still need a couple of bits of wooden bearers to get enough height though.
It was also lucky we were travelling with friends as for some reason I had taken my 1/4 inch socket set, which was never going to get the wheel nuts undone!
Still carry the spare and trolley jack, but I have a 2 foot 1/2" drive breaker bar now too. Am thinking of investing in a cordless impact wrench too.

BTW, the rear damage to the van cost £3500 to repair. Water pipes, gas pipes, garage floor and side skirts plus various caps and covers. Good job I picked up the bits of fiberglass side skirt as they were needed to match the curve around the wheel arch.
It would have been a very miserable day if we had not got a spare or means of changing it. As it was we got to a site around 1/2 hour late. Jerry rigged the water pipes to allow washing and the toilet and continued back via Wales as planned.

 

[Paulypaul]

I carry a bottle jack (8 ton) capacity one I think? It's small and at least I know we can raise the van if needed. I also bought a rubber jack pad so if we did need it we wouldn't damage anything.

Fiat ones arent designed for the weight if a moho in reality?

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[Lenny HB]

Same in Spain they will only fit the same tyres on the same axle.
Can be a very expensive mistake to travel without a spare as you can guarantee they will never have the same tyre as on your van.

 

[Minxy]

Whether a Fiat provided jack is suitable or not really depends on the MH, at best they are meant to be used with a PVC weighing no more than 4250kg overall, so if your MH is close to this loaded up then I'd invest in something a bit 'stronger' to be safe.

 

[jockaneezer]

We had an o/s rear blowout on our autotrail while travelling from Waterford back towards Dublin. Bits of van scattered all down the road including the water filler cap and truma vent cover.
Luckily we have a spare and I had taken a 3t trolley jack. Still need a couple of bits of wooden bearers to get enough height though.
It was also lucky we were travelling with friends as for some reason I had taken my 1/4 inch socket set, which was never going to get the wheel nuts undone!
Still carry the spare and trolley jack, but I have a 2 foot 1/2" drive breaker bar now too. Am thinking of investing in a cordless impact wrench too.

BTW, the rear damage to the van cost £3500 to repair. Water pipes, gas pipes, garage floor and side skirts plus various caps and covers. Good job I picked up the bits of fiberglass side skirt as they were needed to match the curve around the wheel arch.
It would have been a very miserable day if we had not got a spare or means of changing it. As it was we got to a site around 1/2 hour late. Jerry rigged the water pipes to allow washing and the toilet and continued back via Wales as planned.

View attachment 398040View attachment 398041View attachment 398042

Been there, done that.

 

[frogijock]

Isn’t it a legal requirement to have a spare wheel?

No only stipulation is, that if you have spare it has to be legal for the MOT

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

We had a catastrophic rear blow-out in Morocco way out in Sahara about 50 miles either way from anywhere. Had a spare so changed in just 10 minutes. Amazingly just as I was packing up 2 trucks and a van come past. I bet there would have been nothing for 24 hours if I didn’t have a spare.
We got to a site and the manager called a mechanic who had tyres shipped across the country on a bus by the next day. Not cheap but no option. It is a lot of weight but I would never travel without spare and jack.
Steve

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