Spare wheels for motorhomes

The van that came out was fitted out to change all manner of tyres, even those of trucks.

 I reakon that in a way the leaky valve was self inflicted. I had my tyres changed 3 months ago and I recall the garage said he could not get the extenders off the existing valve and he did not have any long enough to replace them so I agreed he left the same valves and extenders on. The problem was a leaky extender at the joint with the valve. If I had had the whole lot replaced I believe it would not have cost me £90 to call out a tyre fitter. He didn't have any long extenders either but recommended I buy and fit some plastic ones which would not corrode to the valve stem. This I have done to retrofit IDC

peedee

Ours was an optional extra, which we paid for. Having a rear garage there is no problem with storage. There is no way I would want to rely on the gunge pump that it also came with. That was included in the price.😂 The pump although a lot lighter than the spare was reasonably heavy and looked up to the job it was intended for. However, you could right off a perfectly good tyre, that could have been repaired by using it and still not have a repair I would trust.

Even if I had another puncture tomorrow, I still wouldn't carry a spare wheel simply because I would always have to call out a tyre repair agent.

The only justification for having one is that most breakdown insurances companies won't cover you unless you do which is why I never bothered calling mine.

peedee

I like the reassurance of a spare. I would no more travel without one than I would sail on passage without an inflatable/liferaft. Probably never need it but a real bummer if you don't have one and do.

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It's a tricky one. Only ever had the need for a spare in 40 years of driving. On this occasion it was my wife's car being used. The pot hole 'entered' took out both the front and rear tyres so had to park up, phone a friend, then take one wheel to local garage.  Had to return again later having fitted spare to have the other one fixed. I will add that the local authority paid up having taken photographic evidence of offending pot hole, damaged wheels and the kind guy who witnessed the event testifing in our favour. 

Our latest van has a spare. Weight is no problem so it stays slung beneath where I hope it stays.

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Full size spec spare wheel and carrier in garage fitted on our new Burstner. All part of the "negotiations...👍

In the UK if you just carry a spare tyre  most breakdown services will take your damaged tyre and spare away get the tyre fitted then fit the wheel back on to your wagon. So it is a viable option just keeping a tyre.

However what if a wheel is damaged due to debris, a blow out etc, then you are stuck and need professional recovery.

For a simple nail in tyre puncture, I have had great success with tyre plugs that you glue into the hole left by the nail, the kits are small and take up little room, this works enough to get you to a tyre repair or replacement,  I did 400 miles with a plug in the tyre before getting it replaced. But of course you need some method of re-inflating the tyre, the co2 canisters supplied with these kits may not be enough

The other issue is if you are going to change the wheel yourself, consider the weight of the rig, 3,500kg or more, the jack supplied might not be the best and wheels themselves (dependant on size) can be pretty heavy to manipulate. I suppose that's what breakdown services are for though 

My Eclipse has a spare wheel and tyre on rear mounted strengthening support and bar from manufacture.

 

I wonder just how many owners can actually change a wheel? My chassis is just that of white van man's yet it requires 330Kgm of torque to undo the retaining nuts. Even if you could undo these a wheel is no lightweight to remove and replace and then you need a capable torque wrench to retighten the wheel nuts.

peedee