IN the event of a puncture - using the spare

[Viktorgeorge]

In the middle of Scandinavia it can take a little while for a Breakdown service to arrive.
My wheels are removed annually and copper greased. I carry a spare, tyre threads and tyre gunk.

What are ‘tyre threads’ please?

 

[Steve1]

One thing that puzzles me is that if the vehicle is relatively new isn't just easier to call out the breakdown to sort punctures out? that's what I tend to do even if at home and as the AA man told me it's one of the main call outs they attend. Or is it just that owners just prefer to be back on the road ASAP rather than wait for the breakdown service, which I suppose also makes sense?

Exactly that, hours of waiting for a breakdown truck or 15mins to change to spare.

 

[WelshGas]

What are ‘tyre threads’ please?

 

[sidepod]

My spare was only used for the first time on that second puncture so it was 6 years old never been removed from under the van.

At the risk of being wise after the fact, that’s user error. Surely before a trip, whip the spare out and check it over? Remove the wheels a couple of times a year etc etc.

 

[sbmcd]

At the risk of being wise after the fact, that’s user error. Surely before a trip, whip the spare out and check it over? Remove the wheels a couple of times a year etc etc.

Agreed, I had mine out to check it before our trip but had omitted to have a close look at the centre which had sufficient corrosion to prevent me being able to fit it.

Since I've come home I've had the spare off to remedy that and repaint the affected area. The flat faces that meet the hub were also pretty poor so power brushed those, all re painted now. After 9 years under the van it's probably time to replace it

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Thanks @WelshGas. Do you or do others suggest a particular product/kit for the ‘tyre threads’ (or tyre plugs)? Seems a useful thing to carry for exactly the reason that video describes.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks @WelshGas. Do you or do others suggest a particular product/kit for the ‘tyre threads’ (or tyre plugs)? Seems a useful thing to carry for exactly the reason that video describes.

Any of the kits will do. I have no information as to which is best.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

At the risk of being wise after the fact, that’s user error. Surely before a trip, whip the spare out and check it over? Remove the wheels a couple of times a year etc etc.

Almost agreed I'd rather call these things a rude awakening.
All my other vehicles have had a spare in the boot not under the car. Given that there are many steel wheels in use on cars on a daily basis why would I suspect that sitting under the vehicle unused would corrode the bolt holes? Yes hindsight does tell me that salt from gritted roads has festered there and wouldn't when bolted to a hub but I'm not in the habit of being that analytical. I'd never go anywhere or do anything if I ran through a big list of what if's.

Anyway the corroded bolt holes was a minor thing in the grand scheme and didn't stop the wheel being used. The tech was obliged to point it out with Health and Safety being what it is these days.

Oh and before a trip?
I was only on my way to town 5 miles away, again that sort of thing doesn't figure on my pre flight check list.
When travelling many miles? maybe now that I know, along with all fluid levels, tyre condition and pressures.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Any of the kits will do. I have no information as to which is best.

Agreed. I've got a cheapo kit I got off Fleabay or somewhere, have used it twice with no problems. Of course they're only useful if the puncture is somewhere 'suitable' ie not in the side wall.

BUT... the tool in the vid has a collar that keeps the string from being dragged back out of the hole as you withdraw the tool. Mine doesn't, it's all in the wrist action. If I was buying another kit I'd deffo go for one with that collar thingy.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Agreed. I've got a cheapo kit I got off Fleabay or somewhere, have used it twice with no problems. Of course they're only useful if the puncture is somewhere 'suitable' ie not in the side wall.

BUT... the tool in the vid has a collar that keeps the string from being dragged back out of the hole as you withdraw the tool. Mine doesn't, it's all in the wrist action. If I was buying another kit I'd deffo go for one with that collar thingy.

I noted that collar - and the grease - from the video @WelshGas posted and bought a kit with both just now:

 

[andyinluton]

Agreed. I've got a cheapo kit I got off Fleabay or somewhere, have used it twice with no problems. Of course they're only useful if the puncture is somewhere 'suitable' ie not in the side wall.

Ive used a bunch of strings to fill a hole in the sidewall the size of a 5p piece. It was either do that & drive carefully & slowly about 2 miles to somewhere we could get a new tyre or drive it on the totally flat tyre & risk the tyre disintegrating.

I carry one of those kits as well as a spare wheel. Just need to use some common sense when to use it & whether it's regarded as a permanent fix or just a get you to a tyre place bodge.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Ive used a bunch of strings to fill a hole in the sidewall the size of a 5p piece. It was either do that & drive carefully & slowly about 2 miles to somewhere we could get a new tyre or drive it on the totally flat tyre & risk the tyre disintegrating.

Maybe I should try a couple of strings on this one then? (Went on the M42 last Sunday night, on the bit where the hard shoulder is barriered off. Trailer tyre, not the Cali obvs.)

 

[andyinluton]

Maybe I should try a couple of strings on this one then? (Went on the M42 last Sunday night, on the bit where the hard shoulder is barriered off. Trailer tyre, not the Cali obvs.)

Do you carry a spare pair of underpants for those sort of occasions?
Was that a pothole or object in the road - the chip in the wheel rim looks like its hit the edge of something.






Ours was the Up! daughter hit a pothole. No intention of driving this any further than necessary.
Have since bought a space saver spare for £25.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Do you carry a spare pair of underpants for those sort of occasions?
Was that a pothole or object in the road - the chip in the wheel rim looks like its hit the edge of something.






Ours was the Up! daughter hit a pothole. No intention of driving this any further than necessary.
Have since bought a space saver spare for £25.

View attachment 115368

Not sure how recent that is but you could try claiming back of the council for a new tyre if the pothole has been there for a while.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Not sure how recent that is but you could try claiming back of the council for a new tyre if the pothole has been there for a while.

No it was on the M42, no potholes to speak of. I suspect a tyre defect rather than a puncture. The final one of a duff set of trailer tyres, all correctly inflated but just shows how cheapo, not-in-full-flush-of-youth tyres can go out with a bang even on a straight road.

Fortunately a twin-axle trailer and only a half mile or so from an exit so was able to limp off and change the wheel in a calm spot, then on our way.

 

[sidepod]

Maybe I should try a couple of strings on this one then? (Went on the M42 last Sunday night, on the bit where the hard shoulder is barriered off. Trailer tyre, not the Cali obvs.)

View attachment 115367

Looks like you went into turn #1 a bit hot?

 

[Barry Chuckle]

No it was on the M42, no potholes to speak of. I suspect a tyre defect rather than a puncture. The final one of a duff set of trailer tyres, all correctly inflated but just shows how cheapo, not-in-full-flush-of-youth tyres can go out with a bang even on a straight road.

Fortunately a twin-axle trailer and only a half mile or so from an exit so was able to limp off and change the wheel in a calm spot, then on our way.

I remember when I had my first car a 1L Austin Metro (for those old enough to remember them!) I bought remould tyres for £12 each and my dad hit the roof! He told me that I could scrimp in on other areas of the car but never the tyres as they're the only part of the car in contact with the road. Always stuck with me and I've always bought decent branded tyres ever since.

Incidently can you even get remoulds in the UK anymore????

 

[Velma's Dad]

I remember when I had my first car a 1L Austin Metro (for those old enough to remember them!) I bought remould tyres for £12 each and my dad hit the roof! He told me that I could scrimp in on other areas of the car but never the tyres as they're the only part of the car in contact with the road. Always stuck with me and I've always bought decent branded tyres ever since.

Incidently can you even get remoulds in the UK anymore????

I'm no tyre expert but I don't believe remoulds (/retreads) are necessarily dangerous per se. AFAIK a lot of truck tyres are remoulds, and I know that some quite respectable gravel rally tyres are too (the tread blocks wear down extremely quickly in that type of use so it makes sense to retread the worn out tyres because the carcase has probably only done a few hundred miles).

For road use the clue would I suppose be if the remoulds are E marked (it's not an offence to use non- E marked tyres on a public road, whether remoulds or not, although it is illegal to sell them for road use).

Can't imagine any of us putting remoulds on a Cali of course... the Shame.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Also I heard that most plane tyres are also remoulds, but they're doing a different kind of job I suppose.

 

[sidepod]

The frustrating part about punctures is it almost always results in a knacked tyre. Even the short amount of time it takes to stop the van, the rim has damaged the inside of the side wall. It’s happened to me three times.

 

[Velma's Dad]

The frustrating part about punctures is it almost always results in a knacked tyre. Even the short amount of time it takes to stop the van, the rim has damaged the inside of the side wall. It’s happened to me three times.

Yep tell me about it.

This didn't seem to happen way back "in my day", back then a puncture usually just required a puncture repair.

So... is that (a) modern low profile tyres are more liable to sidewall damage when they deflate (maybe because they have more rigid sidewalls)? Or (b) they deflate quicker when punctured (obviously, they have less air in them)? Or (c) we (and tyre shops) are more likely these days to inspect a punctured tyre carefully before re-fitting it?

 

[WelshGas]

Yep tell me about it.

This didn't seem to happen way back "in my day", back then a puncture usually just required a puncture repair.

So... is that (a) modern low profile tyres are more liable to sidewall damage when they deflate (maybe because they have more rigid sidewalls)? Or (b) they deflate quicker when punctured (obviously, they have less air in them)? Or (c) we (and tyre shops) are more likely these days to inspect a punctured tyre carefully before re-fitting it?

Or fit an inner tube once the nail/screw etc removed.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Or fit an inner tube once the nail/screw etc removed.

Trouble is, if sidewall is damaged (or tyre shop say it is) they won't fit an inner tube.

 

[ArunAlec]

Thanks @WelshGas. Do you or do others suggest a particular product/kit for the ‘tyre threads’ (or tyre plugs)? Seems a useful thing to carry for exactly the reason that video describes.

I bought a couple of thread kits (cheap) from eBay. From what I can see they’re all basically the same Chinese made but in different packaging.
I also carry a hefty pair of pliers to help remove the offending nail, screw etc

 

[WelshGas]

Trouble is, if sidewall is damaged (or tyre shop say it is) they won't fit an inner tube.

I don't think they fit them now anyway. But in the past on my Series 2 & 3 I think most of the " tubeless" tyres ended up with inner tubes.