Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18" alloys

[Andrew Southall]

Hello,

I am the proud new owner of a 2010 facelift California fitted with 18" Canberra wheels with 255 tyres (and bought from an advert on this forum). The van is in excellent condition and the ride is very good, so I am happy to keep them but I am unnerved by the lack of a spare. I read posts on the forum here that suggest some people carry a steel 17" spare for use with their 18" alloys. Is this possible / legal / safe?

Thanks for any thoughts on this

Andrew

 

[drmanhattan]

There are posts on this forum listing the parts apparently needed, but whether anyone has gone ahead and had the fitted I don't know. I too would be keen to hear from anyone who's done this.

 

[Andrew Southall]

update - Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18" alloys

After some research I have found the reason for the conflicting advice I was given about spares:

1. To pass an MOT all the wheels need to be the same pattern / diameter
however
2. There is an exception made in the case of spare wheels (for short term use) as long as the final diameter of all wheels are the same.
3. On 140 BHP California's you can use 16" or 17" steel wheels as spares
4. On 180 BHP vans (beacuse of extra brake bulk) you have to use 17" steels

My quote for the additional bits needed for stowing the wheel is £72.58 inc VAT from two main dealers. (spec as listed on this forum). The tyre and wheel from them was expensive so I checked a third party price for this:

Automotive Wheels (automotivewheels.co.uk) quoted:

New wheel: £62 inc VAT
New tyre (fitted to new van but never used): £70.00inc VAT
Delivery: £ 6.95 inc VAT
Total: £132.00 inc VAT

Now all I have to do is buy and fit...

 

[Andrew Southall]

Update on: Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18" alloys

update on 18” wheel / tyre and spare wheel issue

1. The wheels Rolling Circumference (R.C.) must be close to those of the existing tyres. How close is an issue that I spent a lot of time researching but getting no clear answers on. Space saver wheels for short term use are allowed on vehicles under English Law (See DVLA website), and these wheels are thiner and usually have a smaller R.C. than the original spec’. (a 2% difference in R.C. - what you might need to accommodate for in a California - for would be acceptable by most reckonings). Such wheels are only allowable for “emergency use” and not longer. I read about a case where someone got a fine for leaving the space saver wheel on for a weekend and not going straight to the garage(!)

2.The driving characteristics of the spare will differ, so care should be taken when using it, however if you treat it as a space saver and don’t exceed 50mph, you should be fine (according to three separate independent specialist / professionals)

3. For a 140 California, you can use a 16 wheel with a 215 / 65 tyre. This has a rolling circumference of 2154.82 within about 4mm of the 255 / 45 18” The 205 / 65 16” tyre is within 2% of this figure at 2113.98mm You can also use a 17’ wheel / tyre.



For 180 California you will need to use a 17” wheel, finding a tyre to bring it to within 2% of the R.C. of your 18” tyre. The 17” wheel allows for the extra bulk of the back brakes on the 180.

5. If you don’t have one, you will need to buy a spare wheel bracket kit for the van As outlined elsewhere on this forum. Depending on the tyre you have specified, you will need to buy the correct metal spacers and rubber sleeves. For the 205 tyre, you don’t need spacers or sleeves. Larger sizes will need both but make sure you specify the right length spacers, as the VW franchise will order them in specially for you but won’t take them back into stock if you want to swap (...yes hard earned experience) I have fitted the kit and wheel . It is easy and takes about 10 mins

 

[choplee]

Re: Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18" alloys

So you still have the wheel carrier under the Cali ... ??

 

[drmanhattan]

That's excellent research and advice Andrew. I feel confident enough to go ahead and get this done now. Thanks.

 

[choplee]

Re: Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18" alloys

A few of us have got 17" under the Cali now to replace the tyre weld ...

 

[Andrew Southall]

Re: Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18

So you still have the wheel carrier under the Cali ... ??

Yes, I now have the spare wheel + carrier installed under the California. (The only reason VW does not supply a spare with 18" wheels is because the 255 tyres are too wide to fit (and possibly because it is cheeper to supply an air kit). They are not too big (R.C.) to fit, the space available is exactly the same as any T5 van.

 

[choplee]

Re: Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18" alloys

There is a thread on this as all berghaus cali's & all sport line t5's do not come from factory with a spare when wearing 18" And no carrier.. If fitted at dealership then u will have a carrier and a 17" spare and they will give you your 17" wheels back of course
We brought brand new steels and split the cost on a set ;-)
Being correct RC and correct load rating and its classed as an Emergancy spare anyway then all is good

 

[timhutch]

Legality - if in doubt, leave the spare at home come MOT time.

 

[choplee]

Re: Legal Spare Wheels for use with 18" alloys

Legality - if in doubt, leave the spare at home come MOT time.

Naa ... Leave it under the Cali Tim .. They wouldn't even entertain it being an issue unless the tyre was under the limit .

 

[BlueMoonCali59]

thanks for all this very helpful...

one development id like to share - my VW dealer - bless them - now say a 17 inch steel spare doesn't have same offset as my 18 inch and so they can't sell it me!! - as it may foul the brake calliper - they have offered to try one at cost of £150 to see if it works - any of you guys actually used your spare 17inch wheel - and what would you do with the 18 inch wheel you take off - it won't fit in the rack presumably?

 

[daz60]

thanks for all this very helpful...

one development id like to share - my VW dealer - bless them - now say a 17 inch steel spare doesn't have same offset as my 18 inch and so they can't sell it me!! - as it may foul the brake calliper - they have offered to try one at cost of £150 to see if it works - any of you guys actually used your spare 17inch wheel - and what would you do with the 18 inch wheel you take off - it won't fit in the rack presumably?

Hi P travis I have had a 19" wheel with 255 40 19 tyre fit the rack, I went for a BMW X6 19" space saver. weight rated and clears my 180 callipers

 

[WelshGas]

thanks for all this very helpful...

one development id like to share - my VW dealer - bless them - now say a 17 inch steel spare doesn't have same offset as my 18 inch and so they can't sell it me!! - as it may foul the brake calliper - they have offered to try one at cost of £150 to see if it works - any of you guys actually used your spare 17inch wheel - and what would you do with the 18 inch wheel you take off - it won't fit in the rack presumably?

Well my 17" steel spare doesn't foul the brakes on my 180 4Motion.
You would have to carry the 18" flat inside until repaired.

 

[Loz]

I am running 17" steels on our 204 with the bigger brakes... you can buy them new on tyreleader for £57

 

[BlueMoonCali59]

thanks for this very helpful, one last question what tyre size are you running on the steel 17's that allow it ti fit in the spare wheel carrier?

 

[Loz]

thanks for this very helpful, one last question what tyre size are you running on the steel 17's that allow it ti fit in the spare wheel carrier?

235/55/17 103H

 

[BlueMoonCali59]

thanks for all your help everyone - one last question - why exactly will the 16inch steel spare not fit a 180SE? my second hand tyre dealer tried sell me a 16 inch spare and tyre - for £60 - he says is same RC as my 255/45/18's - thoughts please?

 

[WelshGas]

thanks for all your help everyone - one last question - why exactly will the 16inch steel spare not fit a 180SE? my second hand tyre dealer tried sell me a 16 inch spare and tyre - for £60 - he says is same RC as my 255/45/18's - thoughts please?

The 180 SE has larger Brake Calipers, I think just at the front, and minimum wheel size is 17".
16" would foul the brakes.

 

[BlueMoonCali59]

thanks for that, are you sure its just front has bigger calipers?

my quick thinking second hand tyre dealer said well you just swap another 18 inch for puncture and put 16 spare on back!

 

[WelshGas]

thanks for that, are you sure its just front has bigger calipers?

my quick thinking second hand tyre dealer said well you just swap another 18 inch for puncture and put 16 spare on back!

Yes, just the front.
If you want to change 2 wheels when you have a front puncture then that is a possibility. Hard work though.

 

[BlueMoonCali59]

does anybody know the offset for the 180 SE (with 255/45/18's)

 

[WelshGas]

does anybody know the offset for the 180 SE (with 255/45/18's)

http://www.oemepc.com/vw/part_singl...601/subcategory/601065/part_id/3688046/lang/e

And for Steel Wheels.
http://www.oemepc.com/vw/part_singl...601/subcategory/601012/part_id/3688032/lang/e