Spare wheel, could you get it out ?

[Spanner]

Very soon after purchasing our motorhome I wanted to make sure that I could remove the spare wheel.
Good job I was at home at the time and not on the roadside as the wheel support cradle retaining nut was rusted solid.
Due to poor design water collects inside the tubular plastic/steel wing nut and after less than 3 years and only 6000 miles the nut was rusted and seized solid, the only way to get get the nut off involved a hammer and chisel.
A new nut packed full of grease is probably all you need but it's best to find this out before the spare is needed.
I sorted the rust and repainted the wheel before refitting.

This is an item that's very unlikely to be checked on any service but certainly important general maintenance, the hard shoulder is not a nice place to be stranded !

 

[EX51SSS]

Strangely enough I had that thought last week and I've arranged to go to my local tyre fitters and they're happy to deal with it and ensure that its easily accessible and obtainable.

 

[Bart]

strange enough last month i wanted to make sure i could get our spare wheel out of our 2007 Fiat Ducato and the problem i found was that the bar that you use to lower / raise the spare wheel was rubbish and stripped in no time at all , so i ended up using mole grips to re raise the wheel , however i never checked this bolt to see if it was rusted, looks like next dry day i have myself a little job
Thanks

 

[Zains Pops]

Also check if your wheels actually come off. On purchase my rear twin wheels were well rusted together and needed major sledge hammer croon to free off.

 

[Spanner]

strange enough last month i wanted to make sure i could get our spare wheel out of our 2007 Fiat Ducato and the problem i found was that the bar that you use to lower / raise the spare wheel was rubbish and stripped in no time at all , so i ended up using mole grips to re raise the wheel , however i never checked this bolt to see if it was rusted, looks like next dry day i have myself a little job
Thanks

It sounds likely that the plastic bodied gearbox or lift cable may be part seized, usually available new via eBay

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[bigtree]

Also check if your wheels actually come off. On purchase my rear twin wheels were well rusted together and needed major sledge hammer croon to free off.

Very true,remove all wheels clean and copper slip all faces.This was a job I asked VW Glasgow to do before we set off on a long tour,did they do it,no they didn't. We had major vibration through the steering due to corrosion between the flange and wheel that I had to deal with 4 months after major abdominal surgery,on going back to the dealership they assured me they had cleaned and copperslipped the faces.

 

[Brian and Jo]

We have got ours bolted on the rear wall inside the garage
Brian & Jo

 

[mustaphapint]

We have got ours bolted on the rear wall inside the garage
Brian & Jo

So is ours. I have to half empty the garage to get to it. Not a job I fancy on the hard shoulder of a motorway, especially in the UK.

 

[Tootles]

Easy peasy Ours lives under the bonnet.

 

[bigtree]

Easy peasy Ours lives under the bonnet.

View attachment 150955

Not that you need to worry as there is no lead on the negative terminal of your battery.

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[old-mo]

Not that you need to worry as there is no lead on the negative terminal of your battery.

@Tootles new Immobiliser...

He is waiting for the patent to come through...

 

[Bart]

Also check if your wheels actually come off. On purchase my rear twin wheels were well rusted together and needed major sledge hammer croon to free off.

So true , done that already due to previous similar problems.

 

[rangi]

Took mine out from under and installed it in the underbed locker. As it was it would have been a nightmare to even check the tyre pressure, let alone drag the dammed thing out from under.

 

[SuperMike]

Ours lives in its own locker under the bed, but accessed through an outside drop down door.

I got it out easily, by just pulling, but needed help to lift it up and put it back in.

 

[Bart]

took the spare wheel on our 2007 Bessacarr E560 down again today to check this Nut and mine was fine the spare wheel is rusted a bit but the nut that is on the cradle mechanism was fine , I'd guess it is MH dependant as to where the dirt from the road gathers on the underneath of the MH.

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[mitzimad]

strange enough last month i wanted to make sure i could get our spare wheel out of our 2007 Fiat Ducato and the problem i found was that the bar that you use to lower / raise the spare wheel was rubbish and stripped in no time at all , so i ended up using mole grips to re raise the wheel , however i never checked this bolt to see if it was rusted, looks like next dry day i have myself a little job
Thanks

@Bart if your ducato is a pvc and the winding point is still at the rear there was a recal by fiats to fit new carrier where the winding point is moved to under the offside wheel arch i would assume you can still get this done as it was a safety recal some of the spares had dropped off whilst travelling had mine done a few years ago

 

[Tootles]

Not that you need to worry as there is no lead on the negative terminal of your battery.

No, I'm not worried. This isn't our truck.

 

[Enword]

Something to be said for mounting of the spare wheel on our Mohican

 

[Tootles]

Something to be said for mounting of the spare wheel on our Mohican

 

[Speve]

Something to be said for mounting of the spare wheel on our Mohican

Yes Autotrail have got that right we had a Tracker with the same mounting very easy to access

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[maison]

I had just said to Mrs Maison that I would have to check the spare this weekend, before heading back to France for the summer.

A timely reminder. Thanks!

 

[Bart]

@Bart if your ducato is a pvc and the winding point is still at the rear there was a recal by fiats to fit new carrier where the winding point is moved to under the offside wheel arch i would assume you can still get this done as it was a safety recal some of the spares had dropped off whilst travelling had mine done a few years ago

Thanks for the info , ours is a Bessacarr E560