candapack Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Are these kits, that usually come with new cars instead of a spare, any use at all for MH tyres? Or, can you get special "heavy duty" ones? Or, do you just have to put on a spare? Thanking you in anticipation, as we used to say. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 candapack - 2014-01-31 9:07 PM Are these kits, that usually come with new cars instead of a spare, any use at all for MH tyres? Or, can you get special "heavy duty" ones? Or, do you just have to put on a spare? Thanking you in anticipation, as we used to say. :-D A bit further down the " Motorhome Matters " page take a look at the photo in the thread called " New Tyre Blowout ". What would you prefer to have if it happened to you - a sealant kit - or a spare wheel ? ( Think I would go for a spare wheel ). ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candapack Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Fair point Malc D, but the same could happen with a car. I'm just thinking about a nail or similar, where you find you're driving on a deflating tyre, and you want a quick fix so you can get to your destination, or at least somewhere safe to change the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Some vans only come with those type of kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 candapack - 2014-01-31 9:54 PM Fair point Malc D, but the same could happen with a car. l. Dead right candapack. But it might not be a nail or similar. That's why I would never buy a car or van without a spare wheel. Depends how optimistic you are I suppose. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 OK they will work on a slow puncture, but if anything big enough to deflate the tyre punctures it usually ends up with the tyre being wrecked on a Motorhome. By the time you have noticed the flat and stopped the sidewall has been wrecked. If you have used the repair sealant the tyre can not be repaired unless all traces of the compound are removed most tyre fitters will refuse to do a repair as they can not guarantee the repair. There is no substitute for a spare wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Most new 'coachbuilt' motorhomes are marketed nowadays without a spare wheel, having instead a 'Fix and Go' kit comprising an electric pump and tyre sealant. The advantages to the motorhome manufacturer of this policy include vehicle weight and space saving (no space beneath or within the motorhome needs to be assigned to house a spare wheel) and cost (a Fix and Go kit will be a good deal cheaper than a spare wheel + tyre + carrying-mechanism). It could be argued that those advantages will also benefit the motorhome's owner, but the potential disadvantages of the policy for the owner should be obvious. This earlier thread refers http://tinyurl.com/pgy6vp4 For an increasing number of new motorhomes and cars marketed with a tyre repair-kit, it will be impracticable to carry a spare wheel beneath or within the vehicle in the traditional manner as the manufacturer will have made no allowance for this. This previous thread http://tinyurl.com/oc8yscn explores carrying a spare wheel on Ford Transit-based Hobby Van coachbuilt motorhomes that were sold with no provision to house the spare wheel beneath the vehicle. It will be appreciated from the comments how hard it may be to provide an 'under-floor' mounting if it has not been allowed for originally. (I don't know if "Uncle Bulgaria" succeeded in fitting a spare wheel beneath his Hobby Van, but I suspect not.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candapack Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Once again, thanks for the info. I do have a spare wheel underslung, but thought a repair kit as well might be useful in the event of a puncture say at night, on a busy road. Cheers all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 candapack - 2014-02-01 9:28 AM Once again, thanks for the info. I do have a spare wheel underslung, but thought a repair kit as well might be useful in the event of a puncture say at night, on a busy road. Cheers all. Might well be worth carrying. I have always handled punctures / wheel changing on cars on a " DIY " basis - but, at night, on a busy road, I don't think I would fancy changing a wheel, or fixing a puncture on the van, myself. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 If you have breakdown insurance then check that there is not a clause which states that """ you must have a spare wheel in the case of a tyre deflation """" Caravanguard have this clause so have a puncture in UK or Europe and your on your own. I have a spare wheel but concerned for my fellow motorhome owners. Some companies will allow a repair kit instead of a spare wheel, but you have to contact them and get their ok. This subject has been covered before but I do not have the thread link -- Sorry Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildi Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 On our long trip last year I had puncturesafe put in all the tyres on our motor home and trailer and also fitted a tyre pressure monitor for all wheels. No spare on ours but did come across a Dutch couple who had the identical motor home to ours and they had one fitted against the rear wall of the garage held with about 20 screws. Not sure how safe that was on the rear wall or weather it was fitted by Adria as they didn't own it from new. I don't think I will try the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjmike Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 My motorhome did not have a spare wheel when we purchased it new in 2007 so not having too much faith in the gunk and pump I had Puncturesafe installed in all four tyres. I have found that the tyre pressures don't alter and the tyres do seem to run cooler. When the time came to replace my tyres I was intrigued to see when the tyres were removed that the Puncturesafe was doing what it was designed to do and adhering to the inner surface of the tyres and was washed out easily with water when the fitter took them to be "recycled". The guy who came to install the Puncturesafe on the new tyres persuaded me to become an installer. We use our motorhome as much as possible and clock up quite a few thousand miles each year on the continent. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainKool Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Last week on the M25 I had a puncture. As soon as I noticed an increase in tyre noise I started slowing down and headed for the hard shoulder. The van didn't sway or anything, there was no noticeable lean, just a smell of burning rubber. By the time I had stopped, the tyre was flat, but luckily was still intact on the rim. The RAC helped to fit the spare wheel which I have always carried. When we examined the tyre, we could see a puncture hole in the tread, and also a split on the inside wall of the tyre. The side wall had only split because of running the tyre flat for the time taken to recognise the tyre failure and stop, probably half a mile at the very most. No sealant would ever work in that situation. I was on my way again in less than an hour. Without the spare wheel, what would I have done? It took 2 days to get a replacement tyre as no local dealer had them in stock. A previous tyre problem also could not have been solved by sealant. Get a spare wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjmike Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 CaptainKool - 2014-02-01 4:01 PM . Get a spare wheel. Easier said than done. There is nowhere to mount a spare wheel, not much room in any of the lockers and would probably push me over my weight limits. I appreciate that Puncture safe will not cover all instances but is far better than relying on an after puncture sealer syatem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildi Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 mildi - 2014-02-01 9:57 AM On our long trip last year I had puncturesafe put in all the tyres on our motor home and trailer and also fitted a tyre pressure monitor for all wheels. No spare on ours but did come across a Dutch couple who had the identical motor home to ours and they had one fitted against the rear wall of the garage held with about 20 screws. Not sure how safe that was on the rear wall or weather it was fitted by Adria as they didn't own it from new. I don't think I will try the same thing. Just to add I did take a spare tyre (not the wheel due to weight) as I new this could be an issue in the event of tyre damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 colin - 2014-01-31 10:06 PM Some vans only come with those type of kits. If they Do, then do not buy them, UNLESS they also supply a 'Free' spare wheel. If everyone did it, they would soon drop this stupid 'can of Goo' idea. I don't mind a 'Space saver' but NO cans of Goo. We deserve everything we get(or do not get) if we don't complain and refuse to go through with the deal, without a spare. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 It's not just the goo that's the problem. In the unlikely event of it being possible to repair the puncture with it the next problem is that the cheap pumps supplied as part of the kit are not capable of reaching the required tyre pressures. UNBELEVIABLE! Fortunately more and more car and motorhome manufacturers have cottoned on to the fact that this stupid practice is costing them sales and are going back to providing spare wheels or at least a space saver. My present AutoTrail has a full size spare mounted where it can be easily accessed and our Honda car has a space saver. Just one final point the wheel braces supplied may well not be up to the job of removing the wheel nuts. I carry and extending wheel brace in both vehicles. I need to purchase an extra socket to fit the wheel nuts on the motorhome. I've come to the aid of quite a few drivers who can't undo their wheel nuts one only last week. As some one else has said I would simply never buy a vehicle where it was impossible to fit some sort of spare wheel. I can live with this being a user choice cost extra on a motor home where the weight of the spare has to be taken from the load weight available. We do have inner tubes containing goo fitted to the bike tyres which seems to work well given that in a bike tyre a simple puncture is all that normally happens. One rather thick car salesman some time ago countered by asking me when I last had a puncture. I politely pointed out to him that it was not the last puncture that worried me but the next one which unfortunately I was unable to predict. O.K. I may not have actually been polite come to think of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I shelled out the 300 odd Euro for a spare on the new does at least come with a proper bracket to hold it in place in the garage. Car came without a spare picked up a S/H wheel on eBay lucky a full size wheel fits in the well under the boot floor. Personally I would never use a space saver don't mind the 50mph speed limit it's the 50 miles distance that makes them pretty useless, if you are lucky you might get 100 miles before they are down to the canvas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildi Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 interesting point about the Ducato van ( not motorhome) range is that they are all fitted with a spare wheel now. The first one I had was a 57 plate and didn't have a spare wheel only the fix and go kit, I only found this out when the van arrived, lots of calls to Fiat customer service to complain about the fact that none of there information said there was no spare wheel. They said I should have ordered it when I chose the van but as the salesman didn't know and fiat didn't provide any info how could I know. In the end it cost me £420 for the wheel, tyre and cradle plus fitting as I could see me loosing a days work if I had more than a simple puncture. Next van was an 09 maxi Ducato, all maxis come with a spare, next was a 2012 and now Fiat have gone back to putting a spare on all Ducato models. Stupid idea not to have a spare on a commercial vehicle let alone a motor home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 mike 202 - 2014-02-01 9:42 AM If you have breakdown insurance then check that there is not a clause which states that """ you must have a spare wheel in the case of a tyre deflation """" Caravanguard have this clause so have a puncture in UK or Europe and your on your own. I have a spare wheel but concerned for my fellow motorhome owners. Some companies will allow a repair kit instead of a spare wheel, but you have to contact them and get their ok. This subject has been covered before but I do not have the thread link -- Sorry Mike The Caravanguard downloadable Motorhome Insurance policy document includes the statement "There must be a usable spare wheel in the Motorhome at all times (including a wheel for any Trailer)." As you rightly say, this issue has been discussed here before http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Insurance-requirement-to-have-spare-wheel/21879/ More recently, it was mentioned on the MotorHomeFacts forum http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-146305-days0-orderasc-10.html and elicited the following posting (Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:24 pm) from Caravanguard: "...We are currently updating our breakdown policy wording to clarify the position regarding spare wheels in a vehicles not designed to carry them. The new wording will say “If designed to carry one, there must be a usable spare wheel in the Motorhome at all times (including a wheel for any Trailer) and a key that will let us remove a wheel secured by wheel nuts for the Motorhome or Trailer.”. This new logic will be applied to existing customers needing breakdown assistance in the meantime, i.e. it is not a requirement to carry a spare wheel unless your motorhome is designed to carry one. It is also worth clarifying that this requirement only relates to the breakdown policy, and would not affect the cover in place on the main insurance policy..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea Cup Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Of course it's always possible to have 2 punctures, especially if helped by a screwdriver through the tyre wall. I hear that this is a favourite method a motorway services on the continent (though not necessarily 2 punctures). Either way, I have a spare wheel and also carry a goo kit. Better be safe than sorry, and should the screwdriver trick be played on me I have the choice, and could readily wave away any "help" from the robbers. Mind you, I have no idea how good or bad the goo kit is, and hope to never need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Hopefully Dealers are passing on complaints from unhappy customers ? When the time came to replace my Very (very) reliable 1997 Toyota Rav4 (spare wheel mounted on Back Door, and used in 'anger' several times) I asked my local Dealer to get hold of a New Model for me to test drive, and if it was ok I would order a new one the same day. Went to Dealers with cheque book, looked at Rav4 , NO SPARE WHEEL on rear door ? i asked where it was ? under the Back (as the landcruiser has ?) No, said the salesman, 'It doesn't NEED one', I said, are they unburstable Tyres ? he said no, it has a can of this Goo, and a small compressor. (which didn't work, when he tried to demonstrate it !). I said 'this IS a 4x4' it could get a puncture miles from any road or garage' what then ? He shrugged his shoulders..... I ended up buying a Yaris (£10,000) WITH a space saver wheel, NOT a RAV4 (£21,000) he wasn't happy, I said get back in touch with me when Toyota start putting spare wheels back onto Rav4's. I wouldn't buy ANY vehicle without a spare wheel of some type. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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