Punctures

[Teuchter]

OK in Tech/Mech we've had the debate on spare wheel versus "Goo kit" and spare wheel won hands down!

Some questions arising:-

1. Has anyone ever had a puncture on their motorhome?
2 If so in your opinion would that puncture been repairable by aforesaid Goo Kit?
3. Has anyone ever actually used the Goo Kit themselves to repair a puncture? (successfully or not)
4. Has anyone without a spare wheel ever called out a breakdown service for a puncture?
5. Anyone carrying a spare tyre (no spare wheel) called out a breakdown service for a puncture?

The reason for asking all this is that I have just purchased a new motorhome with an end bathroom so no garage - plenty of general stowage space inside but not for a spare wheel!! Bike rack on back so cannot mount spare there and dealer thinks that there is no provision for a carrier on chassis - I am trying to contact manufacturer ( Knaus) to ascertain if this is true.

I would much prefer to carry a spare wheel if at all possible - your thoughts please

Thank you

 

[Dave K]

I've not had a puncture on the MH but I've had a few on vans before, some of the canned repair kits are just to get you home and someone told me that the tyre then has to be replaced as it cannot be repaired, I don't know how I woukd feel without the reassurance of a spare, we all hope we don't get one but....., I'm surprised any manufacturer gets away without making provision for a spare.
I used to have a joinery workshop near Wellington in Somerset and there was a company next door called Airseal Products, they fill your tyres with a product that guarantees you'll never get a puncture, they provide the kit to the forces etc so it's decent gear, might be worth going down that route for peace of mind

 

[JeanLuc]

Last August/September we had two punctures during a six-week trip. First was in Italy (front off-side) second (rear near-side) four weeks later, was in southern France. In both cases we changed the wheel at the roadside. Not sure what caused the first puncture - it could have been a result of kerbing the wheel a week before. The second puncture was caused by a bolt lodging in the tread. The first one could not have been repaired using 'goo' as there was a split in the side wall. The second one probably could.
We carry a spare and fortunately, had purchased a used tyre as replacement spare in Italy.
The spare wheel was a standard accessory on our van and the standard jack (Sprinter) is a good quality pillar-type that is more than capable of lifting the loaded rear-end on the motorhome. It also has an extending central pillar so that sufficient height can be achieved to get the tyre clear of the ground and the wheel arch.
I have also had to change a wheel once before when we first got the van (8 years ago). That was caused by a faulty valve extender I think - no longer use them.

 

[makems]

Yes I've had a puncture on a Spanish motorway and below is the result. A can of goo wasn't going to get this tyre back on the road!
The thing is, if you do get a puncture at speed, by the time you have managed to stop safely the tyre is destroyed.

 

[vwalan]

well i was a tyre fitter for a well known large company years ago. so removing tyres repairing punctures with patches or mushroom patches was common .
i have fitted tubes in my own tyres as well . but prefer tubeless .
i have used oko in tyres on fitting new tyre or as a puncture repair.
there are limits of course .
also have used rubber tubeless tyre repair kits that you insert from outside .
all have worked .
once had 11 very small pin prick leaks in a tyre after driving through the desert in maroc .
the tyre was almost worn out . i was in spain at the time and daily blowing up was necessary . a litre of oko fixed it . never required blowing up again . on return to uk new tyres were fitted .
i also have a chewing gum stick repair that has been ok for 5 years . its one of my spares .
i certainly wouldnt go away with out tubes ,gaiters ,patches ,oko or the tubeless chewing gum repair kit in my truck.
i also carry two spares on wheels for the truck and two for the trailer.
tyres abroad are alot more expensive than here in uk.
to do your own repairs does involve carrying the levers etc .
i use the trailer leg as a bead breaker and the air for the trailer brakes to blow up tyres
sometimes being camp tyre fitter is hard work .
i have had tyres repaired after using oko. i couldnt clean it enough to get the glue to stick ,but a visit to a maroc tyre shop and a good old fashioned heat vulcanizer worked a treat. i remember them being with drawn from most tyre shops in in the 70,s . if you know of one for sale give me a shout . wish i had one .

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[rosalan]

Yes, I caught the sidewall of my tyre making a hole which I discovered in Spain on a Sunday morning. If I had not had a spare, I doubt whether my breakdown service would have worked for where could they have got my exact tyre at that time. It took me a very long time to replace my spare afterwards, which I had previously bought for £70 at a Motorhome Show.
Watling Engineering said they could fit a spare wheel carrier to most vans just behind the back axle, not cheap but what's the choice?

Alan

 

[musson]

Hi not had a puncture but I decided better to have a spare to save the hassle, if I did get a puncture. I made a bracket to fit it to my towbar. I put advert on MCC facebook site and got a wheel and good tyre for £30 plus post (£15)

 

[icantremember]

The last puncture we had was changed for our spare by the RAC .... however if we had not had a spare he was going to take me and the wheel to the nearest tyre depot, which in fact was closed as it was a Saturday afternoon, so don't know what would have been the next step.

Fortunately I have the TyrePal system fitted and so was alerted to the puncture immediately the pressure reduced by 2 or 3 psi and before any danger caused by flat.

As it turned out there was a large steel bolt almost in the sidewall making the tyre irreparable and the gunk type fluid would not have retained pressure.

Now I would not be without a spare wheel, the TyrePal TPMS or the RAC!

 

[Jaws]

While it all works I am very larey of the goo..
I have known it fix a puncture that really should not have been fixed, and a while down the road explosive deflation ( blow out ) due to the weakness around the puncture.. As I said, it was in a position a tyre fitted would have refused to fix

 

[Reallyretired]

Our Rapido has no spare. There is tyreseal in the tyres and tyrepal pressure/temperature monitors.
I haven't had a puncture but have had two tyres deflate due to split valve stems which I think must have been faulty, all replaced with steel one s now. I called the breakdown service, this was in France and they dealt with it. The second one was also in France and the site owner took the wheel off and took it in his van to the local tyre place who replaced it.
A spare would be useful if there was anywhere to put it, I suspect Rapido leave it off to save weight as incredibly they sell the MH with a GVW of 3500kg which theoretically give a miserable payload of around 200kg, though in reality it is less. We have had it reclassified by SVtech to 4000kg.

I would always get the breakdown service even if I had a spare as with arthritic knees and a history of back problems it isn't worth the risk of doing it myself. Just make sure you have good breakdown cover. Our Smart toad didn't have a spare either, though our present Suzuki toad has one of those 'get you home' skinny wheels.

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[mike mcglynn]

We took our van out of storage today and went for a run to Spinney motorhomes in Cranage went over a pothole a big deep one , our rear tyre had a blxxdy grate egg in the sidewall a write off and its done less than 200 miles as I renewed them all last year not a happy bunny our roads are rubbish compared to France or Spain even the motorways are full of potholes .Tyre manufacturers must be well pleased with the current state of play! as I travelled back up the M6 I counted 5 people on the hard shoulder with tyre trouble .Disgraceful

 

[Larrynwin]

Mine is on the roof and inside the wheel cover is a rope and blanket for raising and lowering.

 

[Cal54]

I had tyre seal in my last van and have got TyrePal on my current one. On reading the literature from Tyrepal it did say not to be used with tyreseal. Luckily I do have a spare now as I have a PVC but would always recommend a spare tyre if space/weight did not permit a wheel.

 

[Funnymunny]

I have had 3 blow outs in the past 12 years and on each one there was very little left of the sidewall and 100 cans of goo would not have helped one bit.
Carry a spare, it is silly not to

 

[Reallyretired]

I had tyre seal in my last van and have got TyrePal on my current one. On reading the literature from Tyrepal it did say not to be used with tyreseal. Luckily I do have a spare now as I have a PVC but would always recommend a spare tyre if space/weight did not permit a wheel.

It does say that tyrepal shouldn't be used with tyreseal. Under certain circumstances a bit of the sealant can bloch the tyrepal sensor. This happened to me with one tyre reporting zero pressure. On checking it was inflated correctly but I had to remove a bit of gunk from inside the sensor to get it to work again.

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[keith]

OK in Tech/Mech we've had the debate on spare wheel versus "Goo kit" and spare wheel won hands down!

Bike rack on back so cannot mount spare there and dealer thinks that there is no provision for a carrier on chassis - I am trying to contact manufacturer ( Knaus) to ascertain if this is true.

I would much prefer to carry a spare wheel if at all possible - your thoughts please

Thank you

I would have thought the base vehicle manufacturer would be the best bet to know if one can be fitted.

 

[old-mo]

I got alloy wheels and could not find a matching one for a spare...

(Rapido do not come with a spare, well mine did not.. )

So rather than rely on the Goo which was supplied with the MoHome...

I just bought a "carcass". which is stood strapped in the garage..

.

 

[gus-lopez]

I haven't had a puncture but have had two tyres deflate due to split valve stems which I think must have been faulty, all replaced with steel one s now. .

The rubber ones go for a past time on cars here. I have had 4 go on 3 different vehicles.
The last 2 on rear of car looked like someone had been slashing them with a knife !

e went over a pothole a big deep one , our rear tyre had a blxxdy grate egg in the sidewall a write off and its done less than 200 miles as I renewed them all last year not a happy bunny our roads are rubbish compared to France or Spain even the motorways are full of potholes .Tyre manufacturers must be well pleased with the current state of play! as I travelled back up the M6 I counted 5 people on the hard shoulder with tyre trouble .Disgraceful

I always used to photograph them, then claim from council & they never failed to pay.

 

[knokinonabit]

A couple of years ago I had a tyre deflate as I entered the M55 from the slip road.
As there was loads of traffic hurtling past I decided to call the AA to change the wheel even though I am perfectly capable of doing it myself.
I reasoned that a big yellow van with flashing lights would stand out on the hard shoulder a bit better than the motorhome.
There is a spare wheel fitted as standard by AutoTrail, so it was a straightforward job.
The tyre had a large slit in the side wall, so I must have run over something on the slip road.
No amount of goo would have sealed it.

Spare wheel every time for me.

In fact, my brother-in-law wants to change his car for a new one of the same make, but won't, because the manufacturer now doesn't supply or offer a spare wheel.
After he suffered a puncture at midnight on his way home he saw the merits of having a spare wheel.
His tyre had been destroyed, so a goo kit would have been useless.
The car is a Volvo, by the way.

 

[Roryboys Dad]

OP - WHAT MODEL OF KNAUS DO YOU HAVE?

Perhaps someone with a similar model could advise.

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[Teuchter]

Knaus Sky Ti 700 MEB 2014 model

 

[Spidey]

We have a chausson 510 with the goo kit. Does anyone know if the model could carry one? Or should we just carry a tyre?

 

[Roryboys Dad]

On my Knaus Sport three years ago I fixed a couple of metal 'eyes' to the frame inside the garage and strapped the spare wheel in the back of the garage with ratchet straps.


There was plenty of room to fix it and I believe you have a reasonably large garage on the Sky.


Maybe not the best way to do it - but very effective.

 

[Teuchter]

Unfortunately with the end washroom layout in the Sky Ti 700 MEB there is no garage as such - loads of internal stowage space so no worries there - just the spare wheel stowage - or lack of it however having just got hold of an optional extras list for the van it does show a spare wheel as an option so I figure there must be a way of stowing it!!

I pick the van up tomorrow so hopefully I will find out then

 

[Sandancers]

We have a chausson 510 with the goo kit. Does anyone know if the model could carry one? Or should we just carry a tyre?

I've crawled under the Flash 10 with a tape measure and can't see anywhere a spare wheel would fit. None of the internal storage is big enough either. I think that a bracket could be manufactured and fitted from the rear chassis box sections which would come up the back of the MH very close to the back wall on which a spare could be hung, so the spare would be under the bike rack hangers, just to the side of the toilet cassette door. BUT I don't know if such an item would come under any form of regulation ?

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[funkyfunky]

It is all deep joy xxxxxxxxx

 

[Spidey]

I've crawled under the Flash 10 with a tape measure and can't see anywhere a spare wheel would fit. None of the internal storage is big enough either. I think that a bracket could be manufactured and fitted from the rear chassis box sections which would come up the back of the MH very close to the back wall on which a spare could be hung, so the spare would be under the bike rack hangers, just to the side of the toilet cassette door. BUT I don't know if such an item would come under any form of regulation ?

Thank you for your reply. There is not a lot of storage in this design, love it though. We have tyre pal, goo kit and break down cover. So 3 out of 4 isn't too bad

 

[Teuchter]

Spare wheel for my van no longer an issue - all fixed!

Southdown Motorhomes (where I purchased the van) in conjunction with local Fiat workshops supplied, modified and fitted a Ducato spare wheel carrier complete with new wheel and tyre - not cheap but what price having a shredded tyre and no spare in the Outer Hebrides on a Sunday or in far flung Spain on a fiesta day (both these destinations are on this years plan)

Sorted!!