What did you do today (2015)

My current van, latest model Fiat Ducatto, the one with the landing lights and flaps, neither has no spare or even room to put one.

Previous models had a cradle under the rear for the wheel. It does have a compressor under the drivers seat [ or so the book says, never looked ]

Fortunately it's a van so not really lacking space and it has the same size wheels and tyres as the last van, older model, so it now has three spare wheels.

I suppose it stems from getting someone out to do a change, trucks very rarely have spare wheels nowadays because the weight of a spare wheel x the mileage / load carried actually costs more than getting a tyre company out and most modern driver would not have a clue how to change one anyway.

I must admit I was a bit wary about using tyre plugs as a DIY on my car.. the thought of a highspeed failure whether my fault or not, compared to a tyre place doing it....

My land is pretty thorny so stuff I drive/ tow on the fields has had lots punctures.. tractor front tyres in particular with some 10 patches this year.

Am i the only one that actually has a trolly jack in the back of the car 'cos bending down to use cr@ppy scissor jacks hurts old bones...But then my car is 20yrs old 'cos it's comfy and still goes like a rocket.

Tim - that reminds me of the fantastic Specialised Armadillo (TM) "guaranteed puncture proof" tyres I bought some years back. Full of fancy Kevlar and lots of Mercan buzz words. After fitting them, I headed down the pub (about 1 mile away) and managed to get a puncture shortly after setting off back home - I ran over a bramble on the road. Total mileage before puncture about 1 mile, then. I was cock-a-hoop obviously. When I emailed their "technician" to discuss their product experience, he told me that the guarantee entitled me to a replacement tyre. So, if I suffered a puncture, I was "guaranteed" a free replacement (of the outer tube, not the damaged inner tube). Whoopee-doo. Obviously a curious American definition of the word. Some sucker at work bought them from me later, despite my warnings.

The best bike tyres in my many thousands of miles of commuter cycling are the Schwalbe Marathons - they have a layer of soft rubber on the inside of the tyre that's probably almost 10mm thick and requires a long, sharp and tough spike to cause a puncture eg longer than a drawing pin. Almost (but not completely) puncture proof.

Murray

I think it is part of the CPC training that lorry drivers now have to do - along with how to blow their nose and other essential training that somehow drivers managed without for a hundred years.

I had a hard platic strip in my bicycle tyres for a while. It was very effective at blocking thorns but instead the hard edge fretted on the inner tube and caused punctures instead.

I thinks solid tyres are the future for bicycles anyway . I remember having three wheel bike as kid but don't remember ever asking mi dad to fix punctures.

Solid tyres used to be available for push-bikes. I got two fitted to my daughter's bike, must have been about 30 years ago. These had to be fitted using a jig/tool to stretch the tyre. Tyre made from some sort of soft plastic and worked very well, experienced bikers could not tell that they were not standard tyres. Don't know what happened to the company making them.

I think they went bust. There have been a few attempts over the years, none of which have stuck. However, there seems to be a Korean company having a go at it now. Usual problem seems to be getting them onto the rim without fancy equipment. Time will tell if they stay in business although the Koreans make a lot of good stuff so you'd think the omens would be good.

I changed my car last August from a 2001Mitsubishi Pinin to a 2010 Hyundai Tucson, both of which had / have a full size alloy spare, scissor jack, locking wheel nuts. I enquired a local Nissan dealer just before Christmas on the missing spare wheel scenario,the answer I got was the compressor & sealant provided on new cars was enough to get you home / to the nearest tyre repairers. I asked the hypothetical question 'if I bought this car, today, would you include full size matching alloy wheel with jack & tools? ... answer.. 'well that's a £200 option' I also asked 'what if the side wall was damaged which was beyond the capabilities of the sealant to repair, how would I get home...? I got a flippant reply ..' well have you had a damaged side wall'? to which I said 'actually yes! fortunately I had a spare wheel to change to'... & then walked out of the dealership... profiteering at any cost!!

George.

Car spare wheels:

Interesting article on Which

**LINK**

Gary

Quick update on the tyre scenario.

Took it down to National Tyres this morning, these are the people that work with Holts with regard to the repairability factor.

After removing the wheel the fitter dunked it in a tank to find the leak and then removed the tyre.

The puncture was caused by what looked like a 2" round nail which had fully penetrated the casing.

The tyre sealing 'goop' looked just like that latex skin used in theatre makeup and wiped easily from the casing.

The fitter then washed out the casing with hot water and ensured it was thoroughly dry before carrying out a normal repair and balance, total cost £19.

He did advise that had I used the manufacturers (Peugeot) supplied sealant kit, the tyre would not have been repairable.

As for Mechmans £200 spare and jack option, I would have jumped at it, most alloy wheels with a tyre are well over a grand to buy let alone the jack and bits.

My Tiguan has a space-saver which will do me but my OH is considering a Mini which doesn't. I think this is another example of when manufacturers change things things that annoy some of us but not enough to lose many sales. We've just paid for a headlamp bulb change on her Yaris, would you believe, because you can't easily get your hand behind it and have to remove the front panel and headlight unit. If it was summer I would have done it, but last weekend was bloody cold. They only charged £20 including the bulb which I thought wasn't bad, but I would have preferred to do it myself. I've changed a camshaft in a car in the past so I'm not completely clueless.

Gary

> Solid tyres used to be available for push-bikes. I got two fitted to my daughter's bike, must have been about 30 years ago.

One of my steplads still talks about the 'green wellies' we bought for his bike about fifteen years ago. The advice was lubricate with washing up liquid and use two big zip ties (provided) to help ease the tyre over the rim.

We spent a whole day trying to get them on and eventually had to give up.

I suspect that if a significant percentage of users had the same problem, that's why they were dropped.

Neil

That's the figure mentioned as IR; Have looked on 't internet' & a set ( 4x ) of alloys the same as I have, genuine Hyundai, can be had for £399... £100 ea.... so 1 wheel + tyre + toolkit.. £200... so within the realms of his stated figure... doesn't detract from the point of what was once provided as standard is now 'an optional extra'... still boils down to 'profiteering' not weight saving fuel efficiency, environmental issues etc. Had a look on 'Which' report on spare wheels issue, see link above... they claim all the manufacturers claims are spurious to say the least... I would call them ( manuf' claims ) something else....

George

You will also find when car is out warranty and you take it for service they will add new tin off the sealant saying its it of date. How does one know they have actually put new one in. In Fact most people will have to find the owners hand book to locate where its kept. Had similar thing when Mrs car went in for 2nd service. they tried to say needs brake fluid changing at £90. my reply car has 7000 mile and is driven by retired woman so the brakes aren't getting affected by extreme braking heat like it would on race track.

.

Unfortunately, Ian, the fluid is also hygroscopic ... which is why it's often a 'time-based' service item.

MichaelG.

I've had the brake fluid replaced twice so far in the five years of ownership, recommended is every two years, and the cost by the genuine dealer was £17.

As for the tyre sealant date, there is a window (in mine anyway) that lets you see the date on the can without removing the compressor kit from the boot.

Mine was changed on the last service £9.

I liked the bit about headlights by Gary M, I think I would have to get at mine from the boot !! ther again, my son owns a Mustang and you have to remove the entire front of the car to do a bulb change, but being American it takes about 15 minutes to get the front off with no special tools.

Sorry to take this away from cars, I was in the workshop, not making anything except swarf, after setting up my lathe started to turn metal could. Not get any finish on the material spend the day grinding tools, now have toolls for very good finish on brass, and a relative good finish on steel, which is smooth if you run a nail over the work very faint lines, before it was like a record, but can not get the steel to be like a mirror, am I asking too much.

Try putting a very small radius on the corner of the tool with an oilstone or diamond slip.

I spent the day at Ally Pally

J

On my last M.O.T I stayed to watch the mechanic's pratt around. They kept leaving the job and doing other things and generally taking or wasting time. However I wasn't about to leave the car with them as it was a long walk home and nothing worth looking at in the vecinity. The car breezed al the checks. Finally he came to check the headlamp beams. I stood and watched him screw the bolts about and then back again. When I enquired he said the head lights were out of alignment. I said, " But you haven't even checked that the manual tilt device inside is set to low, before messing with the lamps." He grunted and went in the office to get my M.O.T. I was stung for an extra thirty quid for resetting the lamps. I kid you not I'm running out of garages which I trust.

Jesse

Hi Jesse, thats worth making a complaint **LINK**