Spare wheel
What do people generally do in the event of tyre punctures? Our caravan doesn't have a spare wheel so I'm not sure what we would do if a tyre got damaged and deflated.
Do people generally buy a spare wheel and carry it on board? I don't even have any means to jack up the van to replace the wheel.
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my caravan came with a spare mounted in an underslung carrier .... which are not the easiest of things to use. It also came with a scissor jack that is next to useless so in the event the spare needs fitting I'll use Green Flag to assist.
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Contact your breakdown service First and ask them ,I am sure in this day and age with the amount of vehicles without spare wheels they can advise
We have a spare wheel but our breakdown service would be my call if we needed to change a wheel
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Our current AS has a spare wheel which was a key determinant in our purchase of it.Our previous RM based PVC did not have a spare.It was a pain in the proverbial, as we had to carry a spare mounted on the bike rack or in a bag inside.When I checked the fine print on our Mayday cover and the RP fine print both stated that a charge would be made for recovery if the vehicle lacked a serviceable spare wheel.
As it happens we never had a puncture with the RM but I recently had a nail in the front nearside tyre on the AS-the spare got us out of jail.Life is full of irony!
Luckily the puncture was easily repairable but if it had been a sidewalls damage job even a goo kit would have been no good.
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Some breakdown services will charge a fee if you do not have a spare of some type.
We have one in the AlKo carrier, not easy to use as already said, but at least it is there for an expert to use. We also carry a 2 tonne trolley jack, about £20 from Lidl.
If you have a fixed bed, a spare could live under there, or if weight is an issue, put it in the car.
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To keep weight down many vans come without a spare wheel ours came with one but no jack so we purchased a Kojack which came with bolt on jacking points that fit on the caravan chassis which is a bit flimsy and with a mover in the way its a struggle to get the jack under the axle and you have just remined me my unused spare tyre needs to be changed
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I think you'll find that the Mayday policy is worded along the lines of "if you cannot provide a serviceable spare wheel, Mayday will provide one at the policy holder's expense". My main concern is where does anyone get a spare wheel and tyre at 2pm on a Bank Holiday Sunday afternoon! As a consequence, since my car didn't have a spare, I now carry one on a roof rack - so I'm bullet-proof in that respect. The van does have a spare - carried in an Alko rack, plus the van came with a 2 tonne trolley jack - but that's pretty useless since with AWD motor movers fitted, you can't get at the jacking points. Since I have now E&P levelling, I might attempt to change a wheel if it were safe to do so, but the slightest hint of problems and I would have no hesitation in using Mayday
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You may be lucky and find your car spare [if you have one] will fit the van. If not then buy one for the peace of mind it will bring. If you need to carry it is the car or store it under the bed then IKEA do a vary good clear zip cover bag called the Dimpa for less than £4. I've previously used these to store winter tyres and a spare in a previous car.
As regards a jack, we have previously carried a Halfords trolley jack which was fairly cheap but easily up to the job. Weight be an issue for you so next best is a bottle jack. I use a Coram which is/was supplied with some Land Rovers. This is short and squat with a decent footprint, better still when you sit it on an offcut of thick plywood. This jack has the advantage of having a multiple ram so it is not very tall and will fit under the axle, along with having a slight U shaped cradle top.
Colin
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Thanks folks, my van doesn't have a spare, which I think is common on European built models. It didn't even have a standard fit alarm, which I've had installed myself.
I think the tendency these days is not to include spare wheels, same thing with cars, as my previous one, a Renault Scenic didn't come with a spare. Annoying, as this would have been an optional extra at purchase, whereas after sale fit will cost you ££££ from the dealer. I mean why would you not buy that as an option on a new car? Aside from the fact that it should be standard anyway!
Oh well, time to purchase a spare wheel I think, then there's the hassle of where to stash it. Annoyingly this wasn't even a pre-purchase question I asked the dealer, and of course they're not going to volunteer such information
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Wheels are heavy things, so unless you have gone for the very good weight upgrade when you purchased, you will be using a fair chunk of your payload if you carry the spare in/on the van.
Dimpa bag is a good call!
Plenty of vans come without alarms, so that is not unusual.
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The car is the best method of carrying it in my opinion. The Alko racks are pigs.
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The trouble with some caravan tyre failures is that they can be catastrophic in the sense that the tyre disintegrates which leaves with a big problem, not just a flat tyre, if you don't have a spare. For peace of mind I would get spare. I know the AlKo carrier is much maligned but it does allow you to carry the spare out of the way without taking up valuable space in the van or the car. Just make sure you keep it greased!
David
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That it seems is where Bailey have the High ground on ours the spare wheel is mounted underneath between the chassis frame with the same mount as used in the automotive industry on a wire strop released from inside the caravan by the use of a dedicated handle,
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Have you tried removing the spare? I ask because I gave a neighbour a lift to remove his spare that was mounted the same. The wire wasn't quite long enough to allow the spare wheel meet the ground and give enough slack in the wire to unhook from the middle of the spare. And that was while we had the luxury of a quiet drive & not the hard shoulder of a busy motorway.
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I carry my caravan spare in the car and the Dimpa bag looks like a good idea.
Tyre failures are rarely catastrophic (unless you hit something that destroys the tyre) if you are warned of pressure loss early enough.
I wouldn't tow a caravan (or own a car) without a working Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, great peace of mind justifies the initial expense.
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My advice would be if you cannot change the wheel yourself why carry a spare. Also bear in mind you are not allowed to change a wheel on motorways, you are supposed to call for assistance. I don't have one on our car or my motorhome, I could change the wheel on the car but not the motorhome. I rely on keeping my tyres in good condition and my breakdown cover to attend. In the last 30 years of motoring I have not had a puncture but have had to call our tyre repair service once about 3 years ago to my motorhome because of a leaky valve which I could not fix myself.
peedee
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I have time on my side, I have no dead lines to meet perhpas others do. The only time I have called out a tyre repair service they have asked what size my tyres were and have brought along a spare. That said I do have a spare tyre which I do carry on my tow bar when going across the water but don't bother taking it in this country.
I firmly believe unless you are unlucky most punctures/blowouts are due to lack of care of tyres and/or overloading. I never push mine to the limit, the latest they are changed when old is at 7 years.
peedee
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MY old Avondale caravan had the best solution. Wheel well in the floor. Low down, centrally balanced, easily accessible. Why on earth caravan manufacturers don't design them in is beyond me. I wouldn't have thought the manufacturing costs would be any greater than supplying ALKO carriers. Wind down cable is more wind-up if you've ever had to wrestle with one.
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like PeeDee, I carry a spare tyre (but no spare wheel) as it will be the (MH) tyre that's tricky to source..any tyre/rescue firm that arrives will be able to change the tyre.
I may get a wheel at some point but so far I've felt the tyre was the more necessary.
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I am pleased to say I have the peace of mind to have both spares for Caravan and Car and the car being a full size spare. Many many years ago I had a tyre blow on the Caravan on a Friday evening in Mid Wales and didn't have spare wheel, hell did that tyre replacement cost us !..................I have learn the hard way as per usual.
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My first motorhome came with a spare wheel but my second one didn't so it was one of the first accessories I purchased. Fortunately it fits in an AlKo cradle under the rear of the van. I can see that carrying a spare tyre in a motorhome could be a good halfway house, assuming the breakdown service has suitable equipment for changing a tyre. I imagine most new motorhomes have a TPMS system which can give you forewarning of a more serious incident. Perhaps caravanners should also consider such an after market system as it could alert you before a more serious issue happens like breakup of the tyre?
David
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There are a lot of comments here about he Al-Ko spare wheel holder. It is a disgrace for a so called safety company. I wrote to them years ago suggesting a simple modification to make them easier to use. My comments were ignored and the design still remains the same. My suggestion was to use "R" type split pins to hold the rack to the chassis on the offside. The whole rack could then be easily dropped to the floor to enable access to the spare wheel. These "R" type pins are commonly used on the rear of many trailers.
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get a spare and use an alko underslung carrier, if you van doesn't have a spare as standard
the weight comes out of your user payload
as for a jack I have a kojack they have the bracket to bolt on your chassis, I think their better than an alko scissor jack,
NEVER us a jack under the chassis you will put a dent in your chassis
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