Spare wheel (1 Viewer)

RogeTeri

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Apr 8, 2012
367
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Abrantes, Portugal
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February 2013.
Having recently bought my van and being a complete novice I did not check to see if there were things such as a spare wheel, jack and brace. Just discovered there are none of the above. Is this normal? Should I now go out and buy? Looking for advice please from the experts
 

Peter JohnsCross MH

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Jan 5, 2008
9,617
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East Sussex
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1,134
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Autotrail
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1995
According to Trigano's spec sheet, they are supplied with a 'fix and go pump' only. Spare wheel is not supplied. Fix and Go (tyre repairkit/compressor)

Punture you squirt some goo into the tyre and then pump it up, no good for splits or major damage and the normal punture cannot be repaired as the tyr is full of goo.

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Peter
 
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gozomike

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Mar 16, 2010
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Hi Many vehicles are now supplied without a spare. Personaly I would not have a vehicle without one. Having spent many years looking after breakdown contracts for some 50,000 vehicles I think the idea of not having one is stupid. Sods law says if you have a flat a spray can will be useless and the breakdown firms will not be able to get you one easily.

Mike

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maz

Jan 26, 2011
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Some manufacturers do this to save on weight (and money). Bl**dy ridiculous! You can get underslung spare wheel carriers but check on your payload first. :Smile:
 

Mel

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Oct 6, 2012
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I wont run without a spare wheel.

It may be to save a few kg on a motorhome{i dont think so}

But so many cars now without a spare inc Mercedes .
My Daughter went to buy a Ford fiesta.
Not only no spare but on the eco model no room to put spare if you wanted to pay extra.

But its the customers that let them get away with it.

Do what i have done with the last few vehicles i bought do the deal then just before you sighn tell them no spare no deal.
 
May 12, 2011
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Being a bit of a pessimist, trading in my van for a new one that didn't have a spare wheel, I bought one in advance and took it with me, first thing I did was transfer the spare into the new van.

If payload comes into it, I prefer to run with 30kgs of spare wheel than carry 30 litres of water.

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maz

Jan 26, 2011
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It may be to save a few kg on a motorhome{i dont think so}

Around 35kg for a spare wheel and carrier can make quite a lot of difference to a van's payload if it's already on the low side. Another reason for no spare wheel slung underneath is that the manufacturer has used the space it would occupy to install water/waste tanks. One thing we can be pretty sure of: it's not because a can of goo is the superior option. :RollEyes:
 

yokeljohn

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Jan 30, 2013
37
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weston super mare.
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since 1985
spare wheel.

I totaly agree with mike,I would never,never,fork out thousands of pounds,for a van without a spare wheel, no spare wheel,no van. Having had punctures in the past in out the way places, the thought of messing about with a hit and miss alternative to a spare wheel is, to me quite alarming, as said before, if the van buyers are stupid enough to let the manufacturers get away with it, then it is simply our fault. My own daughter had enough problems with with a "get you going wheel" on her little Micra, let alone a 3 . 5 tonne motor home. yokeljohn. P.S. there has always been two definite "no,s" for me when considering a new van 1. no spare. 2. (sorry) eye level grill.
 

DesRes

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Apr 21, 2012
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Since 1990 ish...
Hi Roger, I bought a spare wheel and brace for mine and put it in the garage. Your garage will take 150kg as per the spec so I reckon that it is the only way to go. I bought the standard tranny brace and there's a cupboard for it under the driver's seat, just inboard of the footwell.
Concerning payload, I made an exercise with ours where I filled the garage, including spare wheel, to 150kg (weighed everything as I put it in), loaded up for a holiday inc. water, fuel and folk, then put it on the weighbridge. Total was 3200kg, comfortable enough, the only things missing were food and bedding. The axle weights were very nicely balanced as well.
I reckon that there is sufficient spare payload to put a few extras on so long as we don't go crazy. My plans for A/C could be a good 25-30kg...

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Gunner29

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May 24, 2012
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I dare say the best place to "attack" the makers, are at the big shows. As there are lots of us and others at the Newbury show perhaps we should do a petition and see how they react.
There are literally thousands of M/H here in Spain at the moment and I for one wouldn't be without a spare esp if I was out touring in the mountains etc.
 

yokeljohn

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Jan 30, 2013
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Just a quick add on, Roger & Teri, your being being very sensible to sort this issue out now, i know of motorhoming pals who dont even Know how to get at the spare, or where it is, I keep my spare wheel carrier well greased, and have practiced mock punctures, all from past bad experiences, of course you have the breakdown sevices to fall back on,but it might not be the quickest and easiest option. Roger & Teri, get a spare wheel. Yokeljohn.
 
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RogeTeri

RogeTeri

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Apr 8, 2012
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Abrantes, Portugal
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February 2013.
Decision Made

Thanks guys, My gut feeling was to sort this and I will price up a spare and changing kit asap

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DesRes

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Apr 21, 2012
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Since 1990 ish...
Forgot to mention that I bought a jack as well...::bigsmile:

I never did find the repair kit that was meant to come with the van. But from all reports they're probably best not having anyhow...:ROFLMAO:
 

golly

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I don't have a spare on my van, I had this . put in but I still would like a spare if I can work out how to carry it, the water tanks take the space where a carrier would go.
 

Rayb182

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Whats size of rims have you got on the van, I have a steel rim 16" £20.

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Stephen & Jeannie

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Aug 27, 2008
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De Luxe spare !!

My Autotrail Scout has a spare wheel fixed on the back with a cover! There is even a facility for checking the pressure on the outside of the van !:thumb:

However !! It is a heavy vehicle and I would certainly not trust the scissors jack that came with the van :Doh:

Touch wood, I have only ever had one puncture (on the M5 near Bristol !):Doh: and the insurance on my truck got a fitter to fix it !!:thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
Jun 17, 2012
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My son has a Tyre Centre. People roll in with their "Run Flat" tyres.
What they don't realise is that is to get them to a safer place by having harder side walls and low profile, but it still ruins the tyre and when quoted for a new tyre, HOW MUCH??

Ford's don't do a spare as standard on the Fiesta BUT they will if asked but don't make it public knowledge. They then don't supply the pump and goo.
I had a puncture and called the AA, tyre was split, from calling them to locating a KWIK FIT with that tyre and the AA driving me there and back cost me 4 hours in company time.
Hardly cost effective.
A spare wheel was quickly sourced, even if I called the AA to fit it, still quicker!

Have you all checked your spare recently on your car as well??
The amount that are flat is incredible.....................
 

golly

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Whats size of rims have you got on the van, I have a steel rim 16" £20.


My van is based on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis it has 16 " wheels, but I think there are different stud patterns, so need to look further into what is required.

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yokeljohn

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-One thing to consider by having a spare wheel and being able to,if possible to change it yourself, is, if you dont use your breakdown assistance company,you could possibly negotiate a discount when the renewal arrives, I have had two punctures in the last four years that i was able to manage myself, I was able to get £40 knocked off my premium by having
no call out claims to my name. yokeljohn.
P.S Some breakdown companies might even do betterif you have a clean sheet.
 

duane0001

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I have a spare on a cable carrier on my 2008 Tribute 550 and a full factory fitted tool kit under the seat, I wind the spare down now and again to make sure the mechanism still works
:thumb:

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Jun 22, 2012
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Would never have a vehicle without a spare, had a blowout on the Autoroute in France last year, very scarey, we had a spare so were lucky as the next daywas a bank holiday and would not have been able to get a new tyre and would have missed the ferry. It was our first trip other than a weekend. Obviously after being a funster and reading loads of your blogs I know to avoid them as much as possible. We had to pay the emergency services up front but claimed it back through AA and Safeguard. I know the AA are not allowed onto the Autoroutes but I do think it would be good if they could take the details and then give them to the emergency services ,more efficient all round and safer. It's un pneu crevee by the way!
 
May 23, 2008
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This no spare wheel con is now dangerous.
If we in a 3.5 tonne van have a sidewall problem or a blowout then we are stuffed. Which goon thought of this has probably been given an award by the manufacturers. I am of the same opinion as many, no spare wheel no van thankyou.
Does any member fancy naming and shaming these manufacturers?? It would be nice to trawl a list of motorhomes that miss out the spare wheels.
I have two friends with Rapido's and they have had massive problems after punctures. One was stuck outside Andora for over 13 days waiting for a new tyre. The other in Scotland where he left the van and waited over a week for a tyre to match. The recoverey company charged him to change the wheel as they have stopped including wheel changes because of the high number of customers requesting this service. I'm certain that a scissor jack is not my idea of holding up 4 ton of motorhome. A trolley jack is ideal but where do we stop on what we carry. We are talking large money for these boxes we buy so why the h... can we not have a simple spare wheel?? This country appears to be going backwards much quicker than it is heading forward. l Because of our beautiful health and safety trolls a lot of Police forces do not allow officers to change wheels at the roadside, classed as to dangerous.
 

hdvrod

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We had occasion last year to take the front wheel of our Our Sprinter in France,the tool kit comes with a bottle jack,unfortunately the bottle jack was too tall to fit under any suitable point to lift the vehicle fortunately I found a block of wood to drive up onto,this even more important if you have a flat as the vehicle sits even lower(I now carry some flat bits of wood in the roofbox)The moral of this story is make sure you are able to get the wheel of before setting off on your hols,wheel nuts too tight etc.Lastly not wishing to teach anybody to suck eggs,but I have seen people struggle to remove wheels on their cars etc.the best solution I've found is to put the wheelbrace at 90 degrees to the ground and CAREFULLY use your body weight by by putting your foot on the end of the wheelbrace and pushing down this gives lots more leverage than trying to do it with just your arms.If a wheel is been put on using and air tool they can be a swine to loosen.:Smile:

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golly

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I have just ordered a steel wheel to use as a spare on my Mercedes based Surrey, it has alloy wheels fitted, does anyone know if alloy wheels use standard length studs or will I need to get some just to use with the spare. Still haven't worked out where to store it yet, may have to be on the bike rack, I will see better when I get a tyre fitted and see how heavy it is.
 
Aug 18, 2011
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we had occasion last year to take the front wheel of our our sprinter in france,the tool kit comes with a bottle jack,unfortunately the bottle jack was too tall to fit under any suitable point to lift the vehicle fortunately i found a block of wood to drive up onto,this even more important if you have a flat as the vehicle sits even lower(i now carry some flat bits of wood in the roofbox)the moral of this story is make sure you are able to get the wheel of before setting off on your hols,wheel nuts too tight etc.lastly not wishing to teach anybody to suck eggs,but i have seen people struggle to remove wheels on their cars etc.the best solution i've found is to put the wheelbrace at 90 degrees to the ground and carefully use your body weight by by putting your foot on the end of the wheelbrace and pushing down this gives lots more leverage than trying to do it with just your arms.if a wheel is been put on using and air tool they can be a swine to loosen.:smile:

do you not have levelling ramps, ideal for raising van.
 

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