Spare wheel

droopsnoot

AdrianC wrote: »

Sorry, but I don't want to spend a couple of hours sat at the side of the road for something that's easily resolvable in ten minutes.

I agree, but when I recently (from a link on here) took the "Theory Test" just to see how much I'd forgotten, the one question I remember getting wrong was about how to deal with a puncture on the motorway. I selected "pull over the hard shoulder, change the wheel, be on your way" when the correct answer was "Phone the recovery company".


Maybe it's different on motorways, and maybe I'm dating the post by referring to a hard shoulder. And I'd be a bit wary if it was an offside wheel that had the puncture.

greenbee

mobileron wrote: »

Break down insurance,let someone else change it for you.
Cost from £24 a year,lots of other features.

This is my preferred option as I know I wouldn't trust myself to get the new wheel on safely. A friend was killed as a result of a poor wheel change - even the recovery people recommend having any roadside wheel change checked at a garage ASAP.

I had a space saver with my second-hand car, but replaced it with a full size alloy when my dad was dying and I had to spent a lot of time rushing back and forth across the country. At the time I also seemed to be getting a lot of punctures (not sure whether to blame the builders or the tip - I avoid both now) and didn't want to find I was stuck using a space-save on a 200 mile journey, or having to find the nearest tyre place at 2am on a rainy night.

Incidentally, when I was looking for a car, one just came with a tube of gunk. I queried it and the young salesman told me he'd never needed a spare, the gunk was fine to get him to somewhere he could get the tyre changed. So obviously he'd never needed to drive long distances late at night. Or even just driven in the countryside late a night. Flints on the roads during sugar beet harvest are a menace...

50Twuncle

droopsnoot wrote: »

I agree, but when I recently (from a link on here) took the "Theory Test" just to see how much I'd forgotten, the one question I remember getting wrong was about how to deal with a puncture on the motorway. I selected "pull over the hard shoulder, change the wheel, be on your way" when the correct answer was "Phone the recovery company".


Maybe it's different on motorways, and maybe I'm dating the post by referring to a hard shoulder. And I'd be a bit wary if it was an offside wheel that had the puncture.

That is apparently still the current advice on Mways - but I have nevet had a flat on a Mway (luckily) - I had a flat on the A702 north of Biggar in Scotland at 11pm at night - in a 3 litre Capri - I simply changed wheels, took me 15 minutes and drove the rest of the 400 mile journey to my destination.
My only other flat was in Tesco car park - when I struggled to get the original wheel off (it appeared to be welded on) and fitted the space saver and drove home EXTREMELY slowly

These are the only flats that I have had in 38 years of driving in about 15 different cars !

AdrianC

droopsnoot wrote: »

I agree, but when I recently (from a link on here) took the "Theory Test" just to see how much I'd forgotten, the one question I remember getting wrong was about how to deal with a puncture on the motorway. I selected "pull over the hard shoulder, change the wheel, be on your way" when the correct answer was "Phone the recovery company".

Maybe it's different on motorways, and maybe I'm dating the post by referring to a hard shoulder. And I'd be a bit wary if it was an offside wheel that had the puncture.

It's a really difficult one.

On the one hand, there's absolutely no way I fancy changing a wheel - on either side - on a shoulder. And the correct response is "get out of the car and get behind the barrier".

But...

I'd rather add a bit of risk for a few minutes than sit there like a lemon waiting to be splattered for a couple of hours.

But then I know how to change a wheel, I know my spare is legal and inflated, and I know to get the car as far over as possible. Joe Average, otoh...