Puncture!

[Borris]

Because it can take over a hundred miles somewhere among Lapland forest roads

Really!

 

[Kevthegas]

I love this forum, only here could an argument arrupt about getting a puncture.

I wonder if there are any heated debates like this at the Dorset meet with everyone face to face

Maybe the Dorset meet should have a " Who is the bravest/best wheel changer challenge?"

 

[Velma's Dad]

Maybe the Dorset meet should have a " Who is the bravest/best wheel changer challenge?"

Good idea. Here's some inspiration for contestants:


(Extracted from Redneck Big Book of Safe Working Practices).

 

[Erbster]

I’m 6’4” and consider myself s strong/fit(ish) bloke. My wife rang me one day and said she had a puncture (cR not Cali). No problem dear, I’ll come to you and you can drive the van home. I’ll only be half an hour behind you.

Jacked up car. No problem.
Removed all wheel nuts. No problem.
Alloy wheel fused to hub. Car wobbling precariously on jack as I’m trying to remove it. When recovery service turned up, the chap lay down and walloped the wheel with a large wooden mallet for about 5 mins until it eventually yielded.

Keep meaning to see if the Cali wheels will shift and/or put copper grease on the mating surface, but if I had a puncture it wouldn’t take much for me to call the pros


https://caliventures364847572.wordpress.com/

 

[DavidofHook]

I once, decided to change my tyres round. Bad idea, getting the spare out is very difficult, it has two bolts giving a problem straight away. Even worse I cross threaded one of them putting it back. And the weight of a wheel and tyre. For a young lad like me far too heavy.
Eventually I went to Merityre to sort out the wheel change and the local dealer for the bolt. If At all possible it is RAC for me every time.
And, I have, in the past, changed a caravan wheel on a fast road in Spain so I can do it, but no longer and certainly not on the Cali (much as I love it)

 

[Velma's Dad]

Keep meaning to see if the Cali wheels will shift and/or put copper grease on the mating surface, but if I had a puncture it wouldn’t take much for me to call the pros

VAG don't advise this. But I certainly do put a smidge of copper grease on the mating surfaces (not the studs!).

Otherwise a stuck alloy can be a huge pain and all the usual tricks (rubber mallet, rocking the van or even driving it a yard or two with wheel nuts off, etc etc) can indeed be in vain. Ask me how I know.

 

[westfalia]

Ask me how I know.

What happened

 

[Velma's Dad]

What happened

Stuck-on alloy, like Ersbter. Ended up needing a lot of Shock and Awe with a WMD sledgehammer and block of wood.

 

[Erbster]

Shock and Awe with a WMD sledgehammer

Lol


https://caliventures364847572.wordpress.com/

 

[sidepod]

If you take the wheels off regularly to clean them this doesn’t become a problem!

What, you don’t take them off to clean them????

 

[Velma's Dad]

Wait... Clean them??? I just drive through puddles for that.

 

[larrylamb]

If you take the wheels off regularly to clean them this doesn’t become a problem!

What, you don’t take them off to clean them????

Don't forget your spare

 

[andyinluton]

If you take the wheels off regularly to clean them this doesn’t become a problem!

What, you don’t take them off to clean them????

Ive got the Dakar 18" wheels on at the moment & they fit over the projecting lip of the hub very tightly.

The standard 16" alloys & the steel winters I have come off easily.

Whilst I'm quite happy to change the wheels at home myself I've needed to hit the rear (Dakar) wheels with a sledge hammer every time I've taken them off.

To do this you really need to be under the van, even if I carried a hammer big enough, there is no way I'm getting underneath whilst its only supported on the supplied jack & theres even less chance that I'm going to start hitting things hard in that situation.

 

[sidepod]

To do this you really need to be under the van

Why? Short piece of 2x3 placed on the floor against the outside face of the tyre/rim, sharp blow with a lump hammer inwards. Done.

 

[Borris]

Why? Short piece of 2x3 placed on the floor against the outside face of the tyre/rim, sharp blow with a lump hammer inwards. Done.

Sounds good.

I've had this issue before on various vehicles. All I did was losen the wheel nuts slightly then jack the vehicle up so the wheel is off the ground, place the spare wheel under the sill for safety or preferably use axle stand if you have one to hand. Then loosen the wheel nuts so the wheel will move but not fall off when it comes free. Then wack the tyre (not the wheel) on the shoulder at it lowest point alternating between the inside and the outside faces. After each pair or wacks rotate the wheel 90 degrees repeat until it gives up and comes lose. In the past I've used a bit of 4" by 2", a fence post on one occasion or anything else that is available and is long enough to provide a good tonking quality. It needs to be long enough to enable you to perform this action without going under the vehicle. Always chock the unaffected axle especially when dealing with rear wheel punctures as the handbrake will need to be released to rotate the wheels.

The rubber tyre will obviously absorb some of the shock required to free the wheel but my experience is that it will eventually come free. At least the wheel won't become damaged.

I can full understand that you need a degree of strength to do this and you may well get mucky mitts so calling the VW Assist bods may be the best option for some. However, I've always been a have a go type and so far this method has always worked.

Next time I'll give your method a go although I'm a Copper Slip man these days so there's unlikely to be a next time!

 

[andyinluton]

Why? Short piece of 2x3 placed on the floor against the outside face of the tyre/rim, sharp blow with a lump hammer inwards. Done.

No wouldn't shift it,I've had MGs with rusted on wire wheels on splined hubs that have been easier to shift. Of all the cars Ive ever owned these are the only wheels I've had difficulty with.
I've done the drive off with loose wheel studs, hit it from the front, hit it from the rear, i've got a very useful 1kg lump hammer with leather faces that normally does the trick, tried that etc.

A full swing with a sledge hammer is the only way I could get the wheel to budge a mm. Its as if the hole in the wheels hub is a fraction to small for the projection on the axle hub.

 

[Amarillo]

76,000 miles in our Cali, including 25,000 miles around Europe on a year long tour - and just one puncture.

And now three punctures on three different wheels in three weeks!

 

[andyinluton]

76,000 miles in our Cali, including 25,000 miles around Europe on a year long tour - and just one puncture.

And now three punctures on three different wheels in three weeks!

Deliberate? Ie same size of screw or nail in each?

 

[Polomint]

Hi all,

Had a puncture in front passenger side wheel last week. The culprit was a 2 cms diameter bolt!!
Neither Hubby or I were happy to drive it to our local tyre place over 10 miles away. BTW the tyre deflated when sat on bolt, rolled van forward a bit and reinflated tyre which then stayed up!!. Local VW car garage just up the road so gave them a call. Next day took it in thinking oh goody £25 puncture repair, oh no it wasn't, it was £155 for a new tyre. Why I hear you ask, this was because the tyre had been punctured and repaired before, and the puncture was within 16 inches of the previous one. This means by law it is not safe to repair it. So be prepared if you have had a repair, next time it might prove more expensive than you think!

 

[Amarillo]

Deliberate? Ie same size of screw or nail in each?

The first puncture was caused by Clare ripping through the sidewall of a front tyre reversing into a driveway with a sharp cornered brick protruding six inches from the ground at one side.

Puncture 2 was caused by a nail causing about 1psi pressure loss per day. £10 to fix.

The third also had a nail, but the tyre was in an awful state suggesting I had driven on it under inflated for some time. I’ve no idea why the sensors didn’t pick up a loss of pressure. I usually check pressures regularly, but my gauge is broken and last time I checked was using the bicycle pump 2 weeks ago and its accuracy is about +/- 2psi.

My last fuel consumption which was done just after getting a new tyre (brim to brim measurement not MFD) was 28mpg when I usually get closer to 38mpg.

So, I’m fairly confident that the three punctures are unrelated.

 

[Amarillo]

Hi all,

Had a puncture in front passenger side wheel last week. The culprit was a 2 cms diameter bolt!!
Neither Hubby or I were happy to drive it to our local tyre place over 10 miles away. BTW the tyre deflated when sat on bolt, rolled van forward a bit and reinflated tyre which then stayed up!!. Local VW car garage just up the road so gave them a call. Next day took it in thinking oh goody £25 puncture repair, oh no it wasn't, it was £155 for a new tyre. Why I hear you ask, this was because the tyre had been punctured and repaired before, and the puncture was within 16 inches of the previous one. This means by law it is not safe to repair it. So be prepared if you have had a repair, next time it might prove more expensive than you think!

I paid £155 for a new tyre today- then went to refuel: another £155.

Shocking!

 

[R_Sargeant_CH]

You can fit a suitably rated 17" spare on in place of an 18", as far as I'm aware, being careful of speed, etc. The circumference has to be the same for the speedo to work correctly with the different wheel sizes.
The danger of not having a spare would be if you are in a situation like @T6 CFO where your tyre is ruined and you can't use the liquid sealant. You would have to wait at the roadside till a replacement tyre can be found and fitted.

Our Cali had 18" wheels when purchased and we had a spare wheel carrier fitted and got a 17" wheel for it. As I'm pretty sure the 18" wheel doesn't fit the carrier.

You are correct. 18” wheels do not fit in the carrier. We also have a 17” in the carrier. Better than nothing!

 

[This Eva]

I’ve removed the stops in bench seat so that I can have more space in the load area when required and access the tools by sliding bench seat all the way to the front.


Mike

Me too. It gives max access to the rear as needed

 

[R_Sargeant_CH]

You can fit a suitably rated 17" spare on in place of an 18", as far as I'm aware, being careful of speed, etc. The circumference has to be the same for the speedo to work correctly with the different wheel sizes.
The danger of not having a spare would be if you are in a situation like @T6 CFO where your tyre is ruined and you can't use the liquid sealant. You would have to wait at the roadside till a replacement tyre can be found and fitted.

Our Cali had 18" wheels when purchased and we had a spare wheel carrier fitted and got a 17" wheel for it. As I'm pretty sure the 18" wheel doesn't fit the carrier.

We did exactly the same, spare wheel carrier and 17” (Winter) spare. We have 18” Summer alloys and 17” Winter. The book says a mix is ok in emergencies.