Not even a space saver any more?

[Morrisman]

My Mondeo has a space saver wheel, but for the sake of an extra 2” of thickness I could have a full size wheel in the back. I guess it saved the manufacturer a few quid though.

So you can get it into the tyre!

Flat tyre.
Remove valve.
Use fill tube and squeeze in the smoo. Replace valve.
Inflate tyre.

The valve tool is built into the slime cap BTW.

Optional step: Go to tyre repair place and deny all around you. "Slime, oh who put that in there?" As it dribbles on their machine and shoes

My first big Jap motorcycle, Kawasaki 1000. The time came for new tyres, I took the wheels off, the garage guy started pulling tyres off, and found a tube type tyre on the rear wheel, on a tubeless rim, with no inner tube….

Some retard had put it on then sealed it using tyre goo.

 

[Morrisman]

Yes I understand the fail but why would manufacturers put a different size wheel/ tyre on the spare when it's full sized.

A guy in a flash big Porsche got a puncture just outside my little village one dark night. I was walking my dog, but when I got home I grabbed a torch and walked back down to help the guy.

He had managed to get the ginormous rear wheel off the car but the skinny little space saver refused to fit. It turned out there were special spaced out wheel studs fitted, so they had to be unscrewed and then the space saver put on.

Then he had to find somewhere to put the giant flat wheel. The only place in the car it could possibly go was in the front seat. And even then it only just fitted.

So, word of advice, never get a flat tyre if you have a passenger.

 

[Robotstar5]

Some spares only fit the rear wheels they wont go over the discs and calipers on the front without fouling. If you get a front wheel puncture you have to jack the rear up, remove the wheel, fit the space saver to the rear then swap the good rear wheel for the flat front one.

My MG ZS was like that.

 

[JOEPRO]

OK so for my W205 it has 17" AMG alloys staggered size front and rear.



So if I buy a spare full sized wheel it should be a front. Very few decent single wheels around.

I have located a 17 inch genuine MB space saver wheel which is supposed to be correct fitment for this car. Meaning it should clear the front brake calipers. So on Saturday I will go to that yard and test fit it onto the front of my car and ensure it does fit. I have a set of rhe proper MB steel spare wheel bolts too already.

If it fits, then the space saver with a fitted cover would be a better solution for storage and I may leave it in the boot full time then.



(I couldn't realistically keep a full sized uncovered alloy wheel in the boot full time)

 

[jmp49]

My mrs's Seat MII ev has no spare, its space has been nicked by the granny charger holder, charging lead stockage and other bits n bobs, but it comes with a air pump and slime. "who needs a spare anyway, I'll just call the breakdown" she says at my concerns...
First puncture, big tear in the sidewall, fancy alloy's a odd size as she had the demo car and it had every option fitted. Came home on a breakdown truck after a 3 hour wait, and nobody in the region can supply the tyre size within 48 hours because its a bank holiday weekend. Buy new tyre online, comes next day, fit it with tyre levers myself in the shed.
I keep saying we should get a spare wheel, because even if its not in the car, I'm usually within easy driving distance, and I dont take 2 hours to turn up like the breakdown.
When I used to do international runs in my sprinter, I carried two spares, because I could.

 

[prepman]

I was checking for emergency equipment in my new to me 2017 W205 Merc daily driver and noted this:

View attachment 472918

Cars used to come with a full sized spare wheel or alloy in boot. Then they moved to space saver wheels which still work of course but limit your speed, can live with that. But now manufacturers are providing only a jar of liquid and inflater(?) Seems like the industry is going backwards.

Most likely in the name of cost savings for manufacturers, curb weight reduction = better emissions on paper and clueless consumers.

Speaking of which, the previous owner of my car must have used the one time liquid puncture repair and been driving around with nothing for who knows how long. (There should be an MB tyre inflater and puncture bottle in there but it's missing)

I will sort this today with provisions to not get caught out! I will also go to a local MB parts yard soon and see if I can get a spare full size alloy wheel or at least a space saver that I can throw in the boot for long journeys such as Cork which is a 550 mile round trip we do a couple times a year. A damaged sidewall or cracked alloy would leave you stranded even with a bottle of smoo it won't fix that!

My wife my route my's daughter wedding in Snowdonia....breakdown rescue ...not show, not spare. Woman alone!
Very angery

 

[MikeBs]

35 years of driving and I think I have only ever had one puncture.

For me it’s almost 50 years. I’ve had a couple of slow punctures.
Wife’s old car, had gunk and pump and she insisted on a spare. The wheel along with a jack and nut spinner cost about £80 and was never used for the 11years she had the car. She wasn’t bothered with her new car.
My car has wider tyres on the back than the front. I’ve toured the UK and had months in Europe with a string repair kit and compressor in the boot. Never used either of them.
I’ve always felt that I am only a phone call away from being recovered if needed. It would be inconvenient, but I’ve never worried about it.

 

[voipio]

One of these telescoping wrenches is useful to carry in the boot. Far better than the factory-supplied wrench.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spurtar-Extendable-Remover-Sockets-Storage/dp/B07DVHDZMJ

 

[Mark 5]

Full size steel wheels would be available for these.

Do you have a link?

 

[Mark 5]

One of these telescoping wrenches is useful to carry in the boot. Far better than the factory-supplied wrench.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spurtar-Extendable-Remover-Sockets-Storage/dp/B07DVHDZMJ

They are but does depend on quality, I've bent a couple of these in the past.

 

[Morrisman]

35 years of driving and I think I have only ever had one puncture. Of course I 'll get one soon now.

I had one in my car, about 5 years ago, that turned out to be a cracked steel wheel…..

But I’ve had punctures in 4 of the last 5 rear tyres on my bike.

One needed a new tyre, with less than 1k miles on it.

The others I fixed with wiggly worms, or screw in repair.

Current tyre has no hole, yet… there’s still a few thousand miles left on it…

 

[keithski122]

I had one in my car, about 5 years ago, that turned out to be a cracked steel wheel…..

But I’ve had punctures in 4 of the last 5 rear tyres on my bike.

One needed a new tyre, with less than 1k miles on it.

The others I fixed with wiggly worms, or screw in repair.

Current tyre has no hole, yet… there’s still a few thousand miles left on it…

You need an old vespa, comes with a spare wheel under the side panel.Again I've never had a puncture on a scooter though.

 

[keithski122]

What size spare do you carry when your wheels are this size and you have this space to fit it into?

 

[Morrisman]

You need an old vespa, comes with a spare wheel under the side panel.Again I've never had a puncture on a scooter though.
View attachment 473076

On my bike I carry an electric compressor, and both wiggly worms and screw in repair kits.

 

[Pete.]

On my bike I carry an electric compressor, and both wiggly worms and screw in repair kits.

I do too and it's never failed to get me home.

 

[bricol]

One of these telescoping wrenches is useful to carry in the boot. Far better than the factory-supplied wrench.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spurtar-Extendable-Remover-Sockets-Storage/dp/B07DVHDZMJ

That exact thing snapped on me - left in the car by the previous owner - sheared the drive off the end.

 

[voipio]

That exact thing snapped on me - left in the car by the previous owner - sheared the drive off the end.

Hmmm. Seems the quality varies somewhat!! The product label on mine has all but worn away, so I can't be sure, but I think it was bought in Halfrauds, and has put up with a certain degree of abuse on car wheels only. I've never tried putting all my weight on it, though. Usually the lug nuts give well before that point.

 

[Mark 5]

Hmmm. Seems the quality varies somewhat!! The product label on mine has all but worn away, so I can't be sure, but I think it was bought in Halfrauds, and has put up with a certain degree of abuse on car wheels only. I've never tried putting all my weight on it, though. Usually the lug nuts give well before that point.

Good advise tho' as long as the quality is there, last thing anyone needs is the thing to bend or snap in an emergency, however untested Chinese dross/imports can have a habit of doing this,
Halfords should be good enough, shame on them the same can't be said for their own brand headlight lamps.

 

[Farside]

Got a decent quality spider in the boot/ hatch and I've just bought a breaker bar and 17mm impact socket for stowage there, too. The piece of pipe will live in there in case it's needed.
I'd hate to bust my old Britool breaker on those blasted wheel bolts - it's been through a lot and dates back to my first tool kit.

 

[Robotstar5]

I'm glad I had a spare when this happened, no amount of gunk and a compressor would fix it!