Spare wheels - Do I really need to carry one? (1 Viewer)

[Stealaway]

After the debate about spare wheels or repair kits I thought we would have a poll.

 

[PhilG]

I am a great believer in 'Take Responsibility' .. so I carry one , and a jack man enough to do the job, and a big breaker bar to get the nuts off... I also have an onboard compressor and Generator, so at a push I could fit a tyre too, if I had to
Realistically, for anyone who doesn't carry a wheel because they cant change it themselves ,you are leaving yourself open to inconvenience I have lost count of how may I have changed for other people with the kit they carry but cant use... cars, caravans and MH's , even a horsebox one on Shap services in the pissing rain, because i had a reduction unit to get wheels off my 7.5 tonner, and a woman and her kids ( and ponies) had blown an outside rear tyre .

While I appreciate you cant carry everything , at least having a wheel with you means you have half a chance of sorting it.

 

[WillH]

We have breakdown cover. I cast my vote for the 'Have you ever had a puncture' box, luckily it was a slow puncture so after inflating the tyre a couple of times in a week I bought two new tyres. Only puncture in 70k miles, just don't worry about them.

 

[Scotch mist]

I got a puncture on the way home with my brand new MH from the dealership
Albeit it was a 400 mile trip home

 

[busby]

We have breakdown cover. I cast my vote for the 'Have you ever had a puncture' box, luckily it was a slow puncture so after inflating the tyre a couple of times in a week I bought two new tyres. Only puncture in 70k miles, just don't worry about them.

With that little bit of rubber being the only connection between your 3.5 tonne plus MH,,and your sole reliance on them for roadholding, steering braking and suspension don't worry about them but do look after them,,Check pressures weekly or fit tyre pal,,check regularly for cuts cracks etc..Dont take them for granted.BUSBY

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[romany]

I believe it is still a legal requirement in some countries and I personally wouldn't buy a vehicle or van without a spare the repair kits are useless for anything other than a slow puncture and the two punctures I have had have both been side wall damage from debris on the road and being able to replace the tyre has saved me waiting around for breakdown and in one case clearing the road quickly so not holding up others unnecessarily

 

[Gromett]

I don't carry a spare. I call a mobile tyre company when something happens.

Last time it cost me £80 fully inclusive. Which is roughly about the same as if I had gone to a tyre place to get it sorted. As I am a fulltimer, It is my house so I don't mind waiting around wherever I am for them to show up. Last time I choose to wait 2 days to avoid weekend charges.

 

[cruiser]

I believe that having a spare wheel.is the right way to go. I have had to change wheels twice. Once when I lost about 6 inches of tread.right across the tyre . a puncture outfit would not have done it. The second time a 6 inch nail . Not sure it would have been ok. But having a spare wheel got me out of trouble.

 

[WillH]

I do check them, that's how I discovered the slow puncture. The tyre had lost less than 10psi and didn't look flat. Topped it up but four days later it was low again. Bit miffed as it only had a 16k miles on it and it was less than four years old.

 

[PeteH]

The last and most recent time I had a Puncture, was on the R-V. Now if anyone fancies changing 23" O/S Rear Dual inner on the M25 Friday Afternoon. They are Most welcome. Prior to that we had one burst spectacularly on a Campsite (stationary), SWMBO was on the Loo at the time!. Which is Just about on top of it!. Not a happy Bunny, even less so when she saw us all laughing!. I have a spare, it`s in my garage (at home) the date on it is 2008, and it looks brand new!. "Found" it under the bed when we got the `van home 27kg of extra weight right where we don`t want it!, and as far as I can seen no alternative location either!. I will, should I ever go back "foreign", Buy a tyre and let the RAC fit it to the wheel. I have a Tyrepal Solar fitted and monitor them that way.

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[Minxy]

How happy you are without a spare is down to your view on life, luck and where you travel to.

We'd never be without one as we go to out of the way places and don't want to have to hang around for someone to find us in the middle of nowhere, nor wait for a suitable tyre to be found if our punctured/damaged one is not repairable. Also in some countries (France?) you may have to buy 2 matching ones as they won't apparently fit different ones on the same axle.

As for changing it, if we had to we could, and would, but if it was somewhere where we could get it done for us without a long delay, or was safer to do so, then we'd have the breakdown service do it.

 

[Rapido925M]

Presumably your poll is designed to be ticked if the answer is "yes"? Certainly that is how I've responded, but the questions are ambiguous.

I've had my MH over 10y without any problems EXCEPT:

One Saturday a chap knocked on my window in Holyhead, Anglesey,, and said "your tyre looks flat". Sure enough, I had a puncture and was able to blow it up with my 12V compressor (slowly). A few minutes later it had lost 2psi but was good enough to drive out of town to an industrial estate where my 5T jack (3.5T MH) allowed me to replace the wheel, but being late Sat afternoon, a replacement wasn't available.

The following Sunday I detected a wheel wobble whilst travelling at a moderately high speed down a Welsh mountain road and discovered that a different wheel had ovaloid holes, so the bolts were coming loose (2 out of 5 bolts only had half a thread still engaged!). On went the "punctured" wheel and we made it to a tyre centre.

How would I have managed without a spare?

Gordon

Many years ago I was driving through Brandon (Suffolk/Norfolk border) one Friday when I spotted someone running down the road behind me, waving his arms vigorously. The tread on my caravan OS wheel [cross-ply] was unravelling and I pulled into the edge of the road at 5pm. Unhitching, I whipped the wheel off, drove like a maniac to a tyre centre and persuaded them to fit a new tyre [radial-ply] AND stay open whilst I returned to the caravan, drove to them and fitted another radial-ply tyre to the other wheel. We had to be in Southampton by 9pm. Keeping on top of your tyres is vital.

 

[Odd job]

Never had a puncture in any camper over many years. I have had a few in my work van and car. The car came without a spare, only a repair kit. Because it was a new model a spare wheel kit was not available until about a year later, we got a kit when the car had it's first service. The main difference is with a repair kit as soon as the vehicle is back on the road you have to go and buy a tyre. But with a spare you can continue with your life and get it fixed in your own time.

 

[PhilG]

Everyone has different needs, the assumption of some people, that they will just wake up one morning and see a flat tyre, and put the kettle on and sit and watch the world go buy till a nice bloke turns up, with just what you need is a little optimistic... another thread posted yesterday outlines the joys of having to rely on poorly equipped frenchmen, when they arrive to find you dont have a jack for your own MH.

My 'stance' comes from years of bike racing, where having the right spares is the difference between going home, and getting to race.. last year we went all the way to Berlin, to have a bike that didnt run for the sake of a £4 O ring that my team had 5 of back in the workshop.

While you cant carry everything, in a MH , carry the things you need. And where you can get at them.

Bikers have a code, a helmet placed on the road behind the bike, says rider needs help,

I feel an alternative thread coming on..

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Personally, I have one under the PVC for my peace of mind. I factory ordered it and mentally added it to my weight- calcs at the beginning
I suppose its a personal gamble thing

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[Barclaybasher]

I've posted before that my 2001 van still has its original spare wheel and tyre - still unused

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

I wish I had the choice to carry one, no where to put one.

 

[PeteH]

I no doubt will get "caught" one day. But that will be the first time since 2005?. When we closed a lane on the M25 Friday afternoon. Even the tyre fitter refused to "do it", and we ended up SLOWLY driving off the M-way to a layby on the A217!. Fortunately for Dual Tyres. . I don`t see me changing Motorhome wheels any time soon, and as I get older it will become even more unlikely, which is why I have a recovery package.

 

[Pausim]

Had my first puncture last week. Visited motorhome in storage and found flat tyre. Pumped it up, next day half flat. Pumped it up again, drove to nearest tyre dealer, fixed within 10 minutes and only cost me £10.

 

[Stealaway]

Well that was interesting.
The weird one is that 509 viewed the poll but only 77 bothered to fill it in.

More people (72%) carry a spare than I would have guessed but only 27% have ever needed it.
Only 34 % of MoHo owners have ever had a pumpture.
Two thirds would be happy to change it themselves but the other third would have to call the breakdown service

I could change one at a push but it would have be safely in a car park or campsite - never on the road.
With only a 34% chance of having a pumpture, I will continue to take my chances on never having one. I will be happy to wait for the breakdown service and then wait for them to fetch a new tyre.

As I suspected no one has tried using the repair kit, it simply enables the manufacturers to avoid the cost of supplying a spare wheel and carrier.

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[PhilG]

Well that was interesting.
The weird one is that 509 viewed the poll but only 77 bothered to fill it in.

More people (72%) carry a spare than I would have guessed but only 27% have ever needed it.
Only 34 % of MoHo owners have ever had a pumpture.
Two thirds would be happy to change it themselves but the other third would have to call the breakdown service

I could change one at a push but it would have be safely in a car park or campsite - never on the road.
With only a 34% chance of having a pumpture, I will continue to take my chances on never having one. I will be happy to wait for the breakdown service and then wait for them to fetch a new tyre.

As I suspected no one has tried using the repair kit, it simply enables the manufacturers to avoid the cost of supplying a spare wheel and carrier.

You could say the same thing about life insurance.. or house insurance... i have had both for 30 years, and have never died , or had a house fire..

 

[Stealaway]

You could say the same thing about life insurance.. or house insurance... i have had both for 30 years, and have never died , or had a house fire..

And guess what - I've never had either --- and also never died or had a house fire. Must be lucky I guess or careful?

 

[pappajohn]

I've posted before that my 2001 van still has its original spare wheel and tyre - still unused

18 year old tyre.....hope you never have to rely on it.
I have 20 year old mini wheels and tyres on my (none road) garden trailer, the sidewalls have more cracks than a roman mosaic floor and the treads separating from the sidewalls.

 

[Abacist]

My N + B Arto 88F 5 tonne Tag Axle had no spare but a compressor with built in repair gunk kit to inject into a punctured tyre. I have just replaced all 6 tyres and decided to buy a 7th tyre to be a spare tyre carcass but I have no spare wheel. I have chosen to do this because if I get caught out with an irreparable puncture I can get the spare tyre fitted for just a fitting charge which my RAC recovery service will either arrange or do.

I reckon that this is a better safeguard than relying on the puncture repair kit when abroad and camper tyres are likely to be more scarce or we would be delayed.

If I had a spare wheel I'd be happy to change it myself and carry suitably strong axle stands and hydraulic jack to supplement the standard Fiat supplied jack. Not sure I could remove a camper tyre from a rim and replace with the spare but would give it a go if push came to shove!

Never yet had a puncture in the motorhome but have had plenty in cars over the years so its just a matter of time!

 

[Barclaybasher]

18 year old tyre.....hope you never have to rely on it.
I have 20 year old mini wheels and tyres on my (none road) garden trailer, the sidewalls have more cracks than a roman mosaic floor and the treads separating from the sidewalls.

The spare tyre looks brand new, never seen the light of day, still has the 'bobbles' on it and is fully inflated. I would use it to get me out of immediate trouble then return it to being just a spare at the first opportunity - and I carry a can of gunk, but that's probably out of date as well..................

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[TinaLes]

Good point!....The Tyre Gunk stuff has a shelf life/use by date as well. Only found out when we traded our Audi in when it was 5 years old.

Les

 

[Pops 1]

My N + B Arto 88F 5 tonne Tag Axle had no spare but a compressor with built in repair gunk kit to inject into a punctured tyre. I have just replaced all 6 tyres and decided to buy a 7th tyre to be a spare tyre carcass but I have no spare wheel. I have chosen to do this because if I get caught out with an irreparable puncture I can get the spare tyre fitted for just a fitting charge which my RAC recovery service will either arrange or do.

I reckon that this is a better safeguard than relying on the puncture repair kit when abroad and camper tyres are likely to be more scarce or we would be delayed.

If I had a spare wheel I'd be happy to change it myself and carry suitably strong axle stands and hydraulic jack to supplement the standard Fiat supplied jack. Not sure I could remove a camper tyre from a rim and replace with the spare but would give it a go if push came to shove!

Never yet had a puncture in the motorhome but have had plenty in cars over the years so its just a matter of time!

Now that is a great idea as the wheel is the greater part of the weight so a considerable weight saving, and you never have the trouble of availability of the tyre of your choice at the tyre depot. I like it!!

 

[ceejayt]

Never had a puncture in 15 years (must be due one). Never carried a spare wheel. Two motorhomes never had the space for one. Current Motorhome definitely has the space but dint want to use it to carry something it would seem I am highly unlikely to need.

Have ADAC and also Iveco roadside assistance. I guess the on.y thing I would worry about is being able to park safely pending repair and getting my warning triangle out.

 

[Lenny HB]

With only a 34% chance of having a pumpture, I will continue to take my chances on never having one.

That's a 1 in 3 chance, "are you feeling lucky punk" if it was 3.4% might be worth the risk but with a 1 in 3 chance now way. Having had a puncturer in two out of three Motorhomes we have had & nearly every car & in 2 caravans no way would I risk travelling without a spare. Money is not wasted as I rotate the spare with the other tyres.

 

[marshwader]

After the debate about spare wheels or repair kits I thought we would have a poll.

Did you ever get the result of your poll, or was that humour?

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