Spare tyres and maximum speed limits

Changing a wheel is a skill that doesn't seem to be taught to drivers nowadays. When I was learning to drive in the early 80s, my dad taught me a method that has stood me in good stead ever since:

- don't jack up the flat tyre to begin with, especially if it's on the unbraked front wheel of a rear-wheel drive car; put the car in first gear with the handbrake on to maximise the braking force on all the wheels

- stand in front of the wheel, facing backwards

- hold the wheelbrace in the hand that is further from the wheel (assume it's the right hand for this explanation) and offer it up to the nut so its offset is at about 9 o'clock (as if looking towards the wheel)

- use the left leg to push down on the crank, pulling up with the right hand to counteract the tendency for the wheelbrace to pull off the nut; if necessary give it a little kick from a height of a couple of inches if brute force alone isn't enough to shift the nut

- once the nut has turned half a turn, raise the wheel and undo it the rest of the way by hand; at this stage, check again beforehand to make absolutely certain that the handbrake is on and the car is in gear - it's embarrassing if the car rolls off the jack.

- crouch down facing the wheel with the knees apart, with each roughly knee level with the outside of the tyre; use the inside of the knees as a fulcrum to rest the outside of the wrists, so you can place your hands at about 4 and 8 o'clock and ease the wheel off the bolts without having to take the whole weight on the arms and shoulders

- use the same technique to fit the new wheel

- having tightened the nuts in the order 1 3 2 4 (or some other non-consecutive sequence) by hand, lower the wheel and tighten it the last half turn by standing on the cranked edge of the wheelbrace, as you did for the very first step, except stand at the back facing forwards and start with the crank at 3 o'clock; the nuts should "creak" as you do this final tightening

- check nuts after a few miles

All this is a *lot* easier with an old-fashioned starting-handle type wheelbrace or a 6-way "spider" type, rather than a little L-shaped one that is usually provided. Also, it's a lot quicker if the wheelbrace engages into a nut on the jack, rather than using a handle that is attached (as is usual with scissor jacks) when the handle usually gets in the way for the bottom half of each turn.

Even using an L-shaped brace and a scissor jack with an attached get-in-the-way handle, I managed to swap the front and rear tyres of my car, using the spare as an intermediary, so a total of six wheelchanges, in about half an hour. Mind you, my knuckles were scraped raw from hitting the ground as I was raising/lowering the jack. I did that when I first got my "new" car (which had about 18,000 miles when I bought it) because the tread on the front, driving wheels was a lot lower than the rear ones.

The exact size of the wheel (ie the inside diameter of the tyre) isn't too critical, but are you saying that the *outside* diameter of your spare-saver tyre is smaller that the OD of the normal tyres? If so, why doesn't the car go round in circles or tilt over at one corner?

I've always wondered how the famous Citroen with three wheels stunt was done: I'd have thought the there was a very real risk that the hub with no wheel/tyre would tend to touch the road (which is not good for it!) and the car would be almost impossible to drive in a straight line - especially as the opposite wheel would have less load on it if the car was leaning at the corner with no wheel. I suppose the fact that it is possible on a Citroen (with the implication that it's not on any other car) is down to its unique suspension.

Surely when the tyre is originally fitted in the factory, or if it is ever replaced because the spare becomes punctured, the wheel will be balanced afterwards as an integral part of the tyre-fitting process.

An Octavia owner in this thread had precisely that, apparently. And even an older control Octavia that didn't. It is beginning to look like a new convention, to be done even when inappropriate.

I've never encountered wheelnut that I can't remove with a normal wheelbrace that is supplied with the car. If my arms aren't strong enough I stand on the end of the cranked part (maybe even give it a little kick to shift it the first 1/2 turn).

The only time I ever had to call out the RAC for a puncture was when I couldn't release the spare wheel from the wire cage below the boot, and that was down to a crap design by Peugeot on the 306: the bolt that you need to turn to wind down the cage doesn't have a proper hexagonal head the same size as the wheelnuts. Instead it has a broad half-cylindrical notch into which you put a flattened end of the wheelbrace as a very crude screwdriver. If the bolt has seized up, because the thread is subject to all the water that is thrown up off the road, it is impossible to exert enough downward force on the "screwdriver" to prevent it jumping out of the head of the bolt.

It took the RAC man about half an hour to free the bolt, using heat, grease and a lot of swearing and imprecations about the parentage of the person who designed it. I think he eventually freed it by filing flats on opposite sides of the *round* head, so he could get a Mole grip to turn the head enough to free it.

I then changed the wheel myself. I remember the RAC man bet me a fiver that I couldn't do it as quickly as he would have been able (without using his power wheelnut spanner), and I won ;-)

After that I kept the thread and nut lubricated with oil every month or so, and slackened and tightened it a few turns to prevent it sticking.

Most FWD cars will run without one rear wheel

It's a matter of roll stiffness on the front suspension and ride height.

Enough of both and it can be done.

Speed rating costs more money. Is the letter which says the speed rating the same?

Oh - and the load rating, being presumably a van?

One possibility is that the tyre has a spin handedness and the replacement will only be correct when fitted on one side of the car. The manual is erring on the side of caution.

I have had the usual thin spare solution but my present car has run flats which are also only good for 50mph and limited range. Had one go a couple of months back on a motorway - it was surprisingly uneventful beyond lighting up a lamp on the dashboard to say tyre fail pull over. Nothing like a blowout of old. My last such was in 2001.

How often? 7 fast and slow punctures on the last car in 6.5 years and

I'd only had the current car 4 days when I got a nail in the edge of the tread/sidewall. Not repairable. New tyre needed at £192 but as all had only done less 3k miles, only 1 tyre needed.

When I had cars where 4 premium tyres cost under £200 the set, I never had punctures. Buy a car with low profile Y rated tyres and I can only assume the tyres are magnetic and attract nails and screws! :-(

I had this on my Fabia vRS. Four alloys, one steel spare, five identical Conti Sport Contact 2 tyres, and a 50 mph sticker. I just presumed that maybe some cars came with a spacesaver and they stuck the sticker on all.

I've had it twice.

That follows my experience. The Fabia I had was 14 months old when I got it, and the spare was unused, and as I said elsewhere, identical to the other 4 tyres, just on a steel wheel.

^^^^^ This, I reckon.

The spare runs in either direction, the regular tyres will only run in one direction?

That would do, too.

And to keep Rod happy ...

New tyres should always be 'run in' and limited to about

I guess the manufacturer is just covering their legal ass if a crash happens.