If you don’t carry a spare what do you do

[Larrynwin]

Lots of people bin the spare and swap it for a 55L gas tank purpose designed to occupy that space.

I think Charlie at Autogas 2000 fits them Basildog

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When I had my RV converted to LPG for propulsion the tanks took up the spare wheel space between chassis members so I stored the spare on the roof.

 

[wiljoy]

From past experience I would never be without a spare wheel. I was stranded in a layby in the Highlands of Scotland for 5 days waiting for a tyre. Thank goodness it was Scotland.

 

[Reallyretired]

I found the stuff you put in the tyre before you have a puncture is effective. The gunk supplied in place of a spare is unlikely to be of any use unless its a slow puncture and you notice it when stationary.
A spare is the best answer especially on the continent, where breakdown services don't carry tools and most garages don't seem to have stock of anything. Chance of finding an identical tyre is very low so you would have to pay for two.

 

[Carpmart]

This is very true in France. I know, I live here I needed a new tyre on my car and struggled to find a garage that would replace just the one, even though the other was almost new!! Not only that but we had to wait 4 days for them to get one in stock.....for an Opel Zafira Tourer (not exactly a rare vehicle!).

Not rare at all, but not Citroen, Peugeot or Renault so not a French vehicle, so they see you as disloyal to their socialist societal ethos, so takes them ages to fix it!

 

[stevewagner]

We carry a full-size alloy and matching rubber ring, complete with a decent telescopic wheel brace to be able to break the air-gunned nuts from the studs should we ever have to change it roadside. The weight penalty is worth it in my view. I once watched a guy attempting to inflate his motorhome tyre using the supplied compressor and can of gunk in a layby at the side of the Millau Bridge. Suffice to say, he wasn't going anywhere in a hurry that day.

When you say weight penalty do you mean being overweight on the motorhome? If so could be other implications such as insuranc, driving license etc.

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[The general]

Suffice to say, he wasn't going anywhere in a hurry that day.

Or night

 

[Northernraider]

Hi guys, the reason I asked is that I would like to fit a locker in place of the wheel and tyre, to store levellers hoses etc when travelling. I think I will have to drop that idea and keep my spare.

You could mount the spare on the back door

 

[Otter Spotter]

You could mount the spare on the back door

Cannot do that, it would take the length of the van over 6m and ferry price to Shetland go up dramatically.

 

[Northernraider]

Cannot do that, it would take the length of the van over 6m and ferry price to Shetland go up dramatically.

Not necessarily. Remove the wheel and put inside for the ferry . Put it back on at the other side. Ive done that with bike rack before. And nearly did it with the iveco last year as i put the wheel on the bike rack ... booked as a 7 metre no one checked

 

[Otter Spotter]

Not necessarily. Remove the wheel and put inside for the ferry . Put it back on at the other side. Ive done that with bike rack before. And nearly did it with the iveco last year as i put the wheel on the bike rack ... booked as a 7 metre no one checked

Not thought of that cheers Tam

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[Gromett]

I just call a mobile tyre fitter.

 

[georgio]

Three years ago I had a puncture , twenty minutes to half hour to change.

 

[Northernraider]

Not thought of that cheers Tam

Well it only takes 5 minutes to put on and off and how often are you on ferries.

To be honest ive only once had someone check the length and that was Portsmouth to santander with the frankia. No one else has cared.

Rear carrier not that expensive either

 

[Phill D]

We often have this spare wheel debate.
It is worth changing the wheel on your drive just to establish if you can do it.
It is ok in the dry in the safety of your drive.
Not quite the same when it’s pouring rain on the hard shoulder at night with trucks whizzing past shaking your van.
I may have a spare wheel and I know I can change it, but I will be calling recovery unless I have no alternative.

 

[Stealaway]

From past experience I would never be without a spare wheel. I was stranded in a layby in the Highlands of Scotland for 5 days waiting for a tyre. Thank goodness it was Scotland.

I do have a spare wheel in my garage so I could have had it couried up there in less than five days

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[POH]

ANY tyre fitting place should know this and if they don't use a torque wrench refuse to move van or pay until they do.!!!

I agree , but most don't /won't let you anywhere near the fitting bay so you can only ask , and as they are on a time limit I doubt that they would agree .

 

[wiljoy]

I do have a spare wheel in my garage so I could have had it couried up there in less than five days

Thanks for your offer but this was long before Motorhome Fun days. My neighbour carried a tyre but 3 weeks ago he had a blowout. The recovery company would only attend if he had a tyre fitted to a wheel suitable for the vehicle.
No win really.

 

[Stealaway]

Thanks for your offer but this was long before Motorhome Fun days. My neighbour carried a tyre but 3 weeks ago he had a blowout. The recovery company would only attend if he had a tyre fitted to a wheel suitable for the vehicle.
No win really.

I took this up with my insurance breakdown company - Comfort and they confirmed that they will attend to all and every breakdown, no matter what the cause. They would not be allowed to leave you stranded anywhere.
I have not had a puncture in any of my vehicles for over 20 years and never carried or needed a spare in my motorhomers for over 11 years. There seems to be more chance of a mechanical failure or accident.

 

[Larrynwin]

Using Tyrepal or similar sensors should warn you before a puncture develops into a disaster and a totally ruined tyre.

 

[tribalbrit]

I have used those rubber plugs, where you clean out the hole, insert some glue and insert a rubber plug, then inflate with can of air.
I have used these a few times on motor bikes and they can get you out of trouble if the tyre is still serviceable.
I carry these in my Ranger, as the tyres are over sized.
MH has a spare.

otter spotter, plenty of room on the roof.

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[Boldly]

Had two new tyres a fortnight ago for mot. Fitter airgunned on then used torque wrench which clicked. Would have probably clicked whatever he set it to. They don't tell you if it's too tight!

 

[busby]

Fiats come with a puncture repair kit of squeeze in gunk and a compressor.
If that fails I'll wait for the breakdown service I pay for.

Friend of mine had a rear blowout heading for Santander in June,, 6 hour wait for breakdown to arrive,,another 2 hours to sort it out.Good job his ferry was next day..BUSBY.

 

[PhilandMena]

Cannot do that, it would take the length of the van over 6m and ferry price to Shetland go up dramatically.

I've never had my motorhome measured yet when booking ferries.

 

[Otter Spotter]

I've never had my motorhome measured yet when booking ferries.

When booking on North Link ferries to Orkney and Shetland online and by phone you have to tell them your length and height, this is because they pack the vehicles in over at least 2 decks And there is a closing ramp between them. The kicker is that anything over 6m is treated as commercial and the charge goes up dramaticall.
So I will forget the locker idea and leave the spare in it’s cradle and my ramps in their bag on the van floor when we travel.
As you may have read in one of my other threads I am keen to keep weight down and if I could have ditched the spare and had a plastic locker in its place I could have stored my levellers in the locker, freeing up weight and space in the van.

 

[paddymcc]

Not necessarily. Remove the wheel and put inside for the ferry . Put it back on at the other side. Ive done that with bike rack before. And nearly did it with the iveco last year as i put the wheel on the bike rack ... booked as a 7 metre no one checked

We had a towbar mounted bike rack on our campervan and for the Hirtsals ferry to Norway we took it off and put it and the 3 bikes in the back for the last mile to the ferry.. Don't think the ferry operators bothered to check the length

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[Sunlovers]

When you say weight penalty do you mean being overweight on the motorhome? If so could be other implications such as insuranc, driving license etc.

Sorry, I was referring to the weight of the wheel/tyre coming off of my overall payload. We currently have just under 300Kg free capacity when fully laden for travelling so it's not too much of a burden for us to lug it around the countryside.

 

[Reallyretired]

I managed to go thirty odd years without a puncture then had two in one year. Past experience doesn't always help.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Think I would prefer to keep the spare.worst case you can keep levellers inside your van and put them out when you stop.If your level just put them under your van.
I have never needed to use a spare but always carried one

I wished now I'd never answered this thread as this morning on the M18 on the way to 3fs we had a TPM light come on ,low pressure right rear 4.3bar.

Pulled into the first lane and reduced speed and carried on to the services some 10 miles,Hartngton or similar, a new one off the M18.
Engine off and back on again ,1.3 bar. Tyre was almost flat.jacked up the van and found a wire embedded at the top of the inside tyre wall. Dropped down the spare( never been on) and fitted it ,5 bar. Put the punctured wheel back under on the spare hanger ,total time about an hour by the time we had sorted everything out.
I didnt know but the spare must have a TPM also as after a few miles the low pressure reading turned off..
SODs law

 

[MillieMoocher]

I have a spare wheel, a jack, and a Green Flag recovery card.

if I get a puncture, the only item I would realistically consider using is the recovery card..

neither of our two cars have a spare wheel, doesn’t worry me in the slightest.

 

[busby]

I managed to go thirty odd years without a puncture then had two in one year. Past experience doesn't always help.

61 years ago 4 of us travelled to Scotland in a Bedford Dormobile,,had 9 punctures in 10 days,, Think we had cords showing on a couple of tyres when we set off,,,Got good at wheel changing though.BUSBY.

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