4.4 Space Saver Bought

[Heidfirst]

this is eerily familiar ;)

recently I have had communications with Toyota UK over winter wheel sizes for my car (apparently the 16" steels listed as Avensis accessories don't fit on my car because the 2.2s have larger front brake discs). My car came on 18" wheels & basically after several emails back & forth I came to the conclusion that they won't recommend anything other than it has been homologated with - even the 17" wheels that the mechanically identical (admitted by Toyota) lower trims have been homologated with.

Also sourced a space-saver from a car being broken - it seems as if there is a little confusion as to whether my car should originally (I'm the 2nd owner) have come with a spare or not but it does have the carrier bolt retaining bracket. Can't believe how much the expanded foam tray that sits above the ss wheel to hold jack etc. lists at new - £180! & only 1 out of 4 Toyota dealers asked could even find that out ... Luckily that came with the s/h ss too.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Some insurance companies, including Toyota Insurance, won't cover anything aside from the original spec wheels.

[rav4 person]

I have ordered an invincible for 1st march told sales man could I get it with space saver wheel said would be no problem

also in brochure it goes on about stop start feature but do not recall it on icon demo car

[Devon Aygo]

I have ordered an invincible for 1st march told sales man could I get it with space saver wheel said would be no problem

also in brochure it goes on about stop start feature but do not recall it on icon demo car

Both are new for the 2014 Model Year Rav4, Space saver spare tyre is now standard and a new 2.0 D4d engine with stop start is available with 4x4, previously 2.0 D4d was 2x4 only.

[grasshopper]

Personally think it's ridiculous Toyota removed the spare, my rav4.3 even has a spare alloy let alone a space saver. My older IS200 also had a spare alloy in the boot as well! You guys myst be paying upwards £24k for a new RAV4, what's next - only 1 key! Cost saving in the extreme if you ask me.

[Devon Aygo]

I hope the attachment works, its a list of the parts required to fit a Space saver wheel to Rav 4.4, It was built through trial and error as Toyota do not list an official kit.

[wrxmania]

About to pick up a 2013 2.2D4D Invincible on Monday and I suspect it will have no spare!

Anyone bought an alloy to use as a spare & fitted a tyre to it?

I know it won't fit in the boot well but was planning to mainly keep it in the garage to keep me mobile if I need it for a few days...

Brian :)

[Devon Aygo]

Having trial fitted a full sized wheel, it won' t fit in the wheel well. The space just allows a space saver without affecting the standard boot floor set up.

Toyota have just released a spare kit consisting of a full sized steel wheel, a carry bag and straps to fit it to the floor using the Lashing points but it takes up a lot of boot space and isn't patuculatly cheap.

[Mike169]

This subject i will ALL the motor manufacturers would listen to, WE WANT FULL SIZE SPARE WHEELS! My Rav4 now about 2 years old, i'm told it's a 4.3.5 with just a can of gunge in the boot. These things are useless as if you do successful use one which is very questionable you then have to buy a new tyre anyway as the gunge makes the tyre un-useable afterwards so you will get whatever make of tyre is available at the time and matched tyres on the same axle are important for safety and ideally all 4 should match. If you buy or have/spacesaver you still need to get your main tyre sorted out so in a way a spacesaver is false economy. I ended up buying a full size wheel and tyre and leave it in the boot as there is no facility to attach it to the rear door in any way nor no adapter plate available to bolt it to the door as in earlier models. The wheel in the boot in inconvenient as it takes up 25% of the 'shopping space' but it's a shame Toyota don't supply some sort of bolt down kit.....incidently the wheel/tyre fits in with less than an inch to spare. I have had the need to use the spare so i am pleased i bought it as i bought the tyre i wanted at the time to keep them all the same on the car and of course it was an easy swop over when i got a puncture. I wish motor manufacturers would go back to the old days and supply and correctly fit 5 identical wheels to every car they sell.

[wrxmania]

Agreed with the above! We are not that fussed about the "weight saving"!

[Mike169]

So i was in the Toyota main dealer recently and looked at the brand new RAV4, lovely car, pretty, shiny and yea sure i am guessing an improvement on mine since it is coming up to 2 years old. Comfy seats, nice looking dash, had that nice car smell. I was told Toyota now have added a spare wheel pan, even better it was accessed from inside the rear hatch as opposed to underneath and the wheel pan/plate hooked up in some way which is a bad idea, the wheels fall off, the screw threads seize up that clamp the wheel to the car, Ford's were guilty of this.....so i looked at the spare wheel pan in the new RAV4, great but it was only deep enough for a space saver and not only that, the actual wheel and tyre was an optional extra so you had to pay more to have a spare wheel. What was wrong with making the spare wheel compartment deeper to accept a full size spare wheel and stop all this messing about just to save a bit of weight to give a tiny amount of extra fuel economy.

[Tony Barnsley]

It's not a weight/economy/emissions issue, it's just something the marketing guys at Toyota UK can up with as not wanted in the UK. The 4.3 Rav (not sure about the face lifted 4.3.5) IS available with a door mounted full size spare wheel . . . in Europe and Ireland . . .As these countries also have EuroCap 5/6 emissions test, it can't be argued that we can't have it in the UK to reduce the emissions either.

There have been plenty of other people who used to frequent this forum who have tilted at that particular windmill for some time, with no result (well apart from the space saver in the 4.4 which we weren't going to get originally).

Personally I'm looking out for a head on impact Astral Black Rav for breaking in Ireland . . . I'll have the Rear Door/ Bumper assembly like a shot. . . . JollyFriar (another lost soul . . . this forum used to have so many helpful members, it's a ghost town now) did just that, and has documented the process . . . but it isn't cheap

[avensisnut]

Hi Brian

Iv`e got 2013 rav4.4 and like most others only got the puncture repair kit .

i was originaly going to sort A SPACE SAVER, but as we bought it for towing a caravan decided that it would not do the job, after all even Toyota say in the hand book that you should NOT TOW with a temporary tyre ( such as a space saver ) fitted.

So I went ahead and ordered a full size matching 18" alloy wheel fitted with a General Grabber tyre, with the intention of probably only carrying it in the boot when we took the caravan away.

However when I took the `hatch `part of the boot floor out I found that it would fit where the space saver fits YES IN THE WELL.

OK I admit that its not perfect and of course it`s not fastened down, but you will find that the tyre is only roughly 2" too deep, so I honestly can`t see it coming adrifft or loose in any way because it`s actually a good tight fit, The only way that would come out is if you turned the car over.

To finish the job I have timbers around the well APPROX 2.5"" HIGH and a peice of good quality plywood cut to the shape of the boot, using the load liner ,(which we bought when we first had the car) as a template.

Now with the weight of anything we carry in the boot the wheel is quite secure. I will try to put a pic on here but am not very good at that sort of thing.

With the boot liner in place on top of the `NEW` floor it looks quite good, and means we`ve not lost hardly any boot space , just a couple of inches in height and I can live with that.

I may ask mr T at some stage about welding in the bracket to screw it down properly

regards

Terry

[wrxmania]

Thanks Terry.

What was the cost of the full size spare wheel?

Brian.

[robo1]

Terry

The raised boot floor is available as an option to fit the full size spare in Australian RAVs as picture shows.

ToyotaUK say they have no plans to make this option available in the UK.

keith

[avensisnut]

Hi Brian,

The alloy wheel cost £267.07 and the tyre a 235/55/18 General grabber £97.30 including balance & v.a.t from MR T.

I could possibly have scourced a cheaper tyre but then most places want an arm and a leg for fitting and balance & valve etc.

Terry

[robo1]

Brian

Although my RAV has the space saver keep thinking of buying a full size spare for long journeys .

In the past have been quoted £331 for alloy wheel and approx £140 for the tyre.

Spoke to parts department earier in week when heard about the steel wheel option and the full size steel wheel costs £79.06 . its 17 inch so the tyre size is different

225/65R17/102H prize quoted for this tyre £130. also need set wheel nuts £25.40.

A lot cheaper than alloy option.

keith

update

parts department just phoned saying that as steel wheel not identical to alloy should not drive too fast ( what ever that means). Decided to get alloy option as can rotate tyres

[wrxmania]

eBay or scrap yard (or dealer return, upgrade or scraped replacement) I think I'll be trying source.

Question: the wheel type size for a new 4.4 Rav4 - is it the same as any car from 2006 onwards (17" plus)?

[Mike169]

Hi guys

For my 12 plate Rav4, 4.3.5 i am told, when i bought a new complete spare wheel and tyre, the prices were £264.39 for the wheel, £115.00 for the tyre totalling £379.39, then the VAT of £75.88 totalling £455.27, free fitting and balance, all OE equipment and the same tyre as was already on the vehicle, a Yoko Geolander 225/65 17 but i am sure it would of been cheaper if it was part of the car when it was built.

[robo1]

eBay or scrap yard (or dealer return, upgrade or scraped replacement) I think I'll be trying source.

Question: the wheel type size for a new 4.4 Rav4 - is it the same as any car from 2006 onwards (17" plus)?

No Invincible are 18 inch wheels previous RAV 17 inch

[wrxmania]

Thanks Robo

Aware they are 18" - my question is will all wheels 2006 model onwards fit with the same offset over the same Calipers etc - I assumed a 17" wheel plus.

[wrxmania]

Any further thoughts?

Tried to get the dealer to have a "look" for a scruffy wheel lying around ready for a return/scrap I could fit a tyre to but no luck

Would any Toyota alloy 17"+ in size fit from 2012 onwards???

I am scouring for a spare on eBay or elsewhere - does not need to be the same as the 18's on mine - purely as a spare wheel...

NO intention of spending £300 on a wheel to lie in my garage all it's life!!

[Heidfirst]

if you are just going to use it as a temporary spare then something like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheel-Mania-1x-alloy-17-5x114-with-tyre-235-45-17-/301087572101?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Rims_Car_Wheels_ET&hash=item461a37c085

or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOX-FX1-17-SILVER-ALLOY-WHEEL-5X110-AND-5X114-3-FITMENT-/221372431440?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item338ad33c50

or if you want an 18" http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18-CADES-ARES-SINGLE-black-Alloy-Wheel-5-114-/300436856743?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Trims_Car_Rims_ET&hash=item45f36e9fa7

will do fine as long as you fit a tyre that gives you similar rolling radius. You may need a spigot ring to give you the correct bore.

RAV4 PCD is 5x114.3, Bore 60.1 & offset is 45 (you can usually vary this by upto ~5)

[Mike169]

Hi Heidfirst, i think it is so sad that Toyota don't do normal full size spare wheels as standard, as you have no doubt seen in my case i paid £455.25 (Sterling) for mine and in the latest Rav4's they provide space for a spacesaver but you have to buy the wheel as an optional extra. I don't know if you have seen in other markets Mr T provides a raised rear floor area to accept the full size spare wheel but apparently is not available in the UK. I and many others wish ALL motor many manufacturers would go back to the old days and provide full size wheels, stop doing the intermediate bit with a half size wheel and an aerosol with gunge in which makes the repaired tyre un-useable afterwards anyway. I and many others are not bothered about the extra weight we are carrying, we want peace of mind rather than an extra say 0.1 extra mpg.

[Heidfirst]

I thought that in 2014 UK RAVs the space saver was now fitted as standard? The build standards for cars are all set by their local company/importer which is why these things vary by country.

If the raised rear floor was available in the UK you would probably be shocked at the price - same as I can buy a decent set of after-market 18" alloys for my car at under 1/2 the cost of Toyota OEM (& Toyota are by no way alone in this).

When I picked up a space-saver spare for my car (it came with a repair aerosol) from a scrappy I was also lucky that I got the foam holder for jack/tools etc. that fits above it. I'm told that bit of expanded foam has a list price of £180! :o