Spare Wheels

[XTR]

If you have 17" wheels on a car.... and get a flat tyre..... you put your spare on.... which happens to be a 15" tyre. a proper steel wheel (not a space saver).

Its illegal.



so I either need another 17" wheel/tyre for my spare.... or a space saver.




but i've been speaking to my m8 who has just bought his wife a clio extreme.... its got 15" alloys on.... as standard. but the spare is a 14" steel rim....

so thats illegal isn't it? and Renault provided that!



I just dont get it....

[unrealrocks]

Well surely if there different sized wheels then the smaller one isn't going to be touching the ground

[XTR]

Well surely if there different sized wheels then the smaller one isn't going to be touching the ground

i guess you haven't heard of suspension before?

[CocoPops]

There's no law afaik.
You could have 22" rims and a 14" steelie.

Just be aware that it obviously affects handling, and they recommend no more than 30mph on the "space saver" etc.

[CocoPops]

Also, if you have low profile 17's then the higher profile 15 would have a very similar rolling radius.

[gobbo]

My Micra has 15" stealies as standard, and a 14" space saver. But, you can only put it on the rear, so if you get a front puncture, you have to take a wheel off the back and put it on the front, and put the spare on the back.

Never thought it was illegal, otherwise all the manufacturers wouldn't do it?

[Shad]

Or, you could just do away with the spare and save yourself 12kg

[Jiff Lemon]

Its not illegal.

Although the rim size is a different size, the rolling radius of the tyres stays the same.(on manufacturers wheel/tyre combinations - not stuff you fitted yourself)

What a lot of manufacturers also recomend with Space saver spare tyres, is the 50/50 rule which is that the tyres should be used for no more than 50 miles, and go no faster than 50 mph.

Personally, I used to lose the spare, gain some extra boot space and just make sure I carried the RAC card. Don't mention the "fix-a-flat" products. My mate used one on his elise (they came with one as standard) and when you go to have the puncture repaired, they charge you extra as they have to spend ages removing all the expanding foam crap out of the tyre - 1 puncture repair - £40.

[Skeps]

should'nt be a problem tbh, at the end iof the day its only gonna be used to get you to the nearest garage or home

[dkmech]

My Micra has 15" stealies as standard, and a 14" space saver. But, you can only put it on the rear, so if you get a front puncture, you have to take a wheel off the back and put it on the front, and put the spare on the back.

Never thought it was illegal, otherwise all the manufacturers wouldn't do it?

How come you can only put it on rear? Is that what the manufacturer says or it doesn't fit at the front at all?

[Jonny M]

Because it would affect the steering a lot I assume

[gobbo]

Caged is correct, its due to it being a small space saver wheel, with it being front wheel drive too, it affects the hanedling very badly.

[Richie]

If the smaller one is on the front then all that MIGHT happen is it will pull slightly to that side if the rolling radius is different but thats not a hassle.... Ran a week like that on an old car of mine with no probs.

Just dont run too long on it as it increases tyre wear - similar to tracking being out.

[dkmech]

Just remembered how our wheel fell off during an offroading weekend. Was a front left. The diameters of Landy's tyre and of Landy's brake drum are slightly different So we ended up making a pretty wave pattern with the brake drum on the tarmac. However what someone told us was that if it fell off the back it might've been harder to control. So i am not sure which is better.

[Tumble]

just a quick question.... if you have a spare, and it's got little enough tread on it to wrrant replacing if it was on the car.. apart from being silly having it in the first place, is that illegal, but still able to get through an MOT???

[jon bda]

just a quick question.... if you have a spare, and it's got little enough tread on it to wrrant replacing if it was on the car.. apart from being silly having it in the first place, is that illegal, but still able to get through an MOT???

If the spare is fitted and illegal it will fail the MOT because of it, but if you just take it out for the test it will pass...buy a decent part worn for it you tightwad...