Spare wheel

[ernieb]

It’s not just being able to physically change a wheel but would you want to change the wheel.  When I was a much younger man my then girl friend’s sisters fiancée, who was a motor mechanic, was run down changing the wheel of a lady he’d stopped to help. I’m also struck by the guys who work on motorways and the like who get run down by vehicles who’s attention has drifted even though there are cones, lights and machines.

I will carry a spare, just had one delivered, but only make a change myself if the circumstances are all loaded in my favour. BUT each to there own.

[Yugguy1970]

Those can sprays never work that well and are useless if you have had a puncture at high speed.  There is some danger yes but I would much rather just put the spare on.

The one thing I do is carry an extendable wheel brace because from factory the nuts are usually set really tight and it's a struggle with the little one that comes with the jack.

[PeteB]

39 minutes ago, ernieb said:

It’s not just being able to physically change a wheel but would you want to change the wheel.  When I was a much younger man my then girl friend’s sisters fiancée, who was a motor mechanic, was run down changing the wheel of a lady he’d stopped to help...

When I had company cars one employer forbade staff to change a well on a motorway or duel carriageway - we had to call the company's breakdown service.

[ernieb]

@PeteB, I can understand that, it’s covers the company from liability but also protects the company from the potential loss of a valued employee. 

[Saxacat]

No spare in mine, I must admit I don’t fancy using the gunk, but I'm not sure I'm up to changing a wheel these days.

Reckon I've been fairly fortunate, in 45yrs of driving I've only had two occasions when I've had fully deflating punctures (obviously had quite a few slow punctures) both were in my old Volvo S60, which had a spare. One was last year due to a large pothole; however, was on an incline and the car slipped off the jack when I attempted to change the wheel; local tyre guy came out, tyre was a write off . The other occasion, I was going around a sharp left hand bend on a country road, met a truck coming the other way, partly on my side of the road. I caught the raised bank at the edge of the road which ripped holes in both off-side tyres (the bank was constructed of layers of slate); both tyres a write off.

[Heidfirst]

Last time that I had a puncture even though I had spare, tools & knowledge I ended up calling out Toyota Roadside Assistance/AA as the alloy was frozen on the hub & I was unhappy with the movement of the car on the scissor jack as I tried to free it. It was also offside which is rarely ideal.

[ernieb]

I got my and have installed it into the car today, obviously no insert but I worked around that.

couple of photos of the kit and a before and after.

[FROSTYBALLS]

29 minutes ago, ernieb said:

I got my and have installed it into the car today

Split to correct topic.

[ColinB]

I had a puncture on my C-HR that resulted in a split in the tyre sidewall. AA man turned up after an hour and a half and fitted a universal spare wheel that they carry and followed me to a tyre depot. I didn't have a chance to shop around as it was just before 6 when we arrived and a new tyre was £200. A spare would have saved me an hour and probably £30 on the cost of a tyre. Still deciding what to do when I get my RAV4 Excel that only has the gunge that won't fix most punctures. 

[ernieb]

As you can see from the fitted image there is still plenty of room to carry a few extras and I’ve decided to carry the pump and gunk on a just in case basis. I’d nit want to use it but apron the basis of “you never know” it might as well reside in the car boot.

The most punctures I’ve had was after visiting a tidy tip a few times, I got two punctures in as many weeks, both repairable and as I was near home I managed to get to a garage that would do a puncture repair, the first two refused. (Not worth the trouble)

 

[philip42h]

8 minutes ago, ernieb said:

As you can see from the fitted image there is still plenty of room to carry a few extras and I’ve decided to carry the pump and gunk on a just in case basis. I’d nit want to use it but apron the basis of “you never know” it might as well reside in the car boot.

The most punctures I’ve had was after visiting a tidy tip a few times, I got two punctures in as many weeks, both repairable and as I was near home I managed to get to a garage that would do a puncture repair, the first two refused. (Not worth the trouble)

 

You/we need to carry a pump anyway - you never know when the TPMS warning light will come on and a tyre needs pumping up again even if it doesn't have a 'real' puncture. And you never know when you'll get two punctures at the same time! (No, don't tempt fate too much - but if someone's been shedding nails on the floor at the tip ...) 🙂

Have you managed to fix the spare to the boot floor or is it just sitting in the well? And/or why did you remove it from it tidy bag?

[ernieb]

@philip42h, I bought a wing nut screw with the large washer to use the tapped bush in the boot.  I had some high density floor tiles for use on a garage floor and a cut three strips which I’ve positioned on the floor where the tyre touches the top of the wheel.  To level the wheel I’ve used some high density polystyrene foam sections with the floor tiles again cut to fit under the wheel and the floor.  They are currently not “glued” as I wanted to try before committing to the current set up. The boot floor has moulded sections which allow for the spare tyre and the floor fits as it did before, flat.

I’ve taken the tools out of the bag, the jack fits the hole that’s already in the car along with the racket and are secured via an elasticated hock which is again already there. The wheel nut and bar I’ve managed to get into the space provided, not perfect but acceptable. Ive added a foam layer to the bottom of the boot well under the tyre and all the other bits a sitting there. I’ve also used the space in the rear of the spare to add a few extras. (High intensity magnetic flashing light (RAC) extra gloves, microfibre cloths etc.) I will probably look to contain these in a bag of some description so it’s easy to remove if the tyre is needed.

The supplied accessories look to be good quality and included a head light with batteries, five wheel nuts, kneeling mat, a fluorescent jacket and wet top, gloves and warning triangle.

I've used the car since the spare fit and so far nothing looks to have moved and we’ve no extra noises, bumps or bangs. Obviously we’re are now carrying the extra weight but it’s a price worth paying in my mind. 

[powerman]

I had some spare time on my hands today so I decided to see if the 17 inch steel space saver wheel from my 2014 RAV4 would fit my new 2021 RAV4  excel which has 19” wheels and supplied with no spare. I removed one of the rear wheels and put the 17” wheel on. Fitted ok. Checked to see that it did not foul with anything. Spun the wheel, no undue knocks or grinding noise. So am contemplating sourcing a spare wheel for a RAV4.4 either from a dealer or maybe  a well known internet    Auction site.

[ernieb]

My understanding is that the 17” saver tyre is OK and approved by Toyota for 18” standard fit but needs an 18” saver for the 19” standard tyre. I just bought a 18” saver and that fits OK in the 2021 car.

[spicyhotone]

@ernieb I've just purchased the same kit for my car. Can you tell me the size of the wing nut screw required please?

 

[Terry10]

Hi

5000 miles in an had a big screw in one tyre! I fortunately heard it clicking so drove straight to the garage and was able to get it repaired.

I have a full size spare and have gone through the motions of changing a wheel at the front and back.Please be aware that these wheels are very very heavy and I have to admit I struggled with them ( 19 inch wheels with 18 inch spare ) Got to say that if I had a flat when I was out withe decent clothes on then I would have called the breakdown service

regards Terry

 

[philip42h]

 

1 hour ago, ernieb said:

My understanding is that the 17” saver tyre is OK and approved by Toyota for 18” standard fit but needs an 18” saver for the 19” standard tyre. I just bought a 18” saver and that fits OK in the 2021 car.

Not quite Ernie - the 165/80 17" space saver is fine on the HEV irrespective of whether it was supplied on 17", 18" or 19" tyres.

The PHEV needs a different space saver as per:

On 8/17/2021 at 10:10 AM, philip42h said:

So, the RAV 4.3 and 4.4 ran on 235/55R18s (amongst other sizes). The OEM spare was the same 165/80R17 which is 2.9% smaller in diameter that the road wheel and therefore a reasonable 'fit' for a low speed, short range get you home spare.

The RAV4.5 HEV went down to 225 width tyres - I'm guessing that was to reduce rolling resistance etc. and thereby marginally improve fuel economy. The same OEM spare (165/80R17) is now between 4.0% and 4.7% smaller in diameter that the road wheel - so not such a good 'fit' but, presumably, legal and within acceptable tolerances.

The RAV4.5 PHEV went back to 235 width tyres - whether to better spread the vast bulk of the overweight battery or better handle the torque that the PHEV can put down I really don't know, but that's what Toyota has done. A 165/80R17 space saver would now be 6.6% smaller than the road wheel and I strongly suspect that that is NOT within acceptable tolerances even for a low speed, short range get you home spare. Instead, Toyota have specified a 165/90/R18 which is actually 1.6% larger than the road wheel.

Aftermarket suppliers such as KOM and Road Hero offer a 155/85R18 as a space saver spare (as Ernie noted in the second post of this thread!). That is in practice between 0.4% and 1.1% smaller than the diameters of the road wheels on a RAV4.5 HEV and, thus, a rather better fit than the OEM offering from Toyota. It is also only 2.9% smaller in diameter that the roadwheel fitted to the PHEV and therefore, I believe, a perfectly acceptable alternative to Toyota's 165/90/R18 offering.

But that is just my opinion ... 😉

 

 

[Yugguy1970]

I'm quite pleased that the tyres on my 2021 Design are only 225/60/18s.   I can get the same Dunlop Grandtreks £140 a corner which isn't too bad at all.

IMO all modern cars are massively over-tyred, especially on tread width.

[PeteB]

8 minutes ago, Yugguy1970 said:

I'm quite pleased that the tyres on my 2021 Design are only 225/60/18s...

Even they've grown.  When the current generation of RAV4 was launched in 2019, the Design had 17" wheels.  If I bought an Excel now I'd get 19" wheels and no spare instead of the 18" and space saver that came with my 2019 model.

When I bought my last Prius Excel in 2016 the standard spec was 17" wheels (and no spare), but I was pleased to be able to choose the 15" wheels (and got a £400 rebate to boot) and a no cost space saver option.  I'd wished there was a similar option when I bought my RAV to choose the 17" wheels.

[Rigsby]

22 minutes ago, Yugguy1970 said:

I'm quite pleased that the tyres on my 2021 Design are only 225/60/18s.   I can get the same Dunlop Grandtreks £140 a corner which isn't too bad at all.

IMO all modern cars are massively over-tyred, especially on tread width.

Your quite right, wheels and tyres have increased massively over the years.

My first car in 1972 had 165/70 x 13” tyres, even my V12  E-Type only had 15” wheels with 205/70 tyres.

My last car, prior to my RAV4 had 255/35 x 19” rubber and current ride 2021 RAV4 Dynamic has  225/55 x 19”

[ernieb]

@spicyhotone, this is what I bought fitted OK.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/183446329599

[Tintaglia]

Had the same thing with our Yaris when we got it 2019.   

I ended up getting an second hand but unused space saver for £40 from eBay.  Never used it since and if I do it will only be for the short trip to the nearest tyre shop!   

[powerman]

I notice in earlier photos of road hero space saver kit that they provide 5 wheel nuts. Curious as to why they are supplied. Can't the cars original wheel nuts  be used?

[ernieb]

@powerman, just spares as far as I know, I hope not to find out but if they are needed they’ve been provided. The kit is not cheap but does have a few extras, kneeling pad, reflective vest, plastic cape, head torch and batteries.

[Stivino]

The wheel nuts are to be used with the space saver.  Because the space saver is steel it’s thinner than the standard alloy, so the nuts that go with the alloy wheel are no good for the space saver.