Spare wheels................

[Twiggy]

I recently had a problem with my spare wheel, which could have turned out disatrously. Had a puncture, replaced the wheel (in the dark) with the spare, and carried on. 20 miles further on, a strange dull thudding noise appeared, but as it was only a couple of miles home I ignored it, carried on, and got home. The following morning when I went out to the car, the wheel I had changed the previous evening was at a rather odd (and somewhat alarming) angle to the car. Thinking the worst.........drive shaft broken, wheel bearing totally collapsed........I took off the wheel trim, to find that all five of the wheel nuts were loose. I jacked the car up, and removed the wheel to find that the stud holes were full of rust. What had happened was that the wheel, being under the car, and exposed to the elements had rusted round the circumference of the stud holes. Tightening up the wheel nuts when I`d put the spare on had compressed the rust and with the vibration of the travel the rust had fallen out, loosening the wheel nuts.Clearly, it would have been a disaster had the wheel come off. So, gentlemen, I suggest that you look carefully at your spare wheel and take off any rust which may be there. Maybe put a touch of grease aroung the edges too........help prevent any more rust forming.

[Albert Ross]

Zafira? Sedona? Transit? What is it?

[Twiggy]

Citroen Synergie..................

[Father Ted]

I learned early on with French Bilge that the spare wheel was prone to getting very rusty and neglected under the car so aI took to a light spray of duck oil on the internal face of the wheel and wrapping in a thick plastic bag sealed with gaffa tape.

[ashmicro]

Puts me in mind of something my father told me. About 1955 he and my grandfather were in Grandad's Daimler Major, heading out of Belfast."Look at that!" quoth Grandad "There goes someone's whee..." CRUNCH!'Twas the rear left off the Daimler.

[Richard]

The lesson there is that a rumbling noise soon after a wheel change means it's an idea to check the wheelnuts.

[Station]

I once nearly replaced a gearbox because I hadn't tightened up the wheel nuts enough. I've done this hundreds of times.

[seth]

This was the spare that was under the Hillman when got it.

 

 

Now, considering I know that this car was originally supplied with radials, I think this Dunlop C41 crossply was quite possibly the original spare.

 

Wheelnuts can also loosen themselves with freshly painted shiny wheels as the paint prevents the nut from locking on to the wheel properly. Also experienced this with the Hillman!

[Pillock]

I once left BugJam one year after hastily getting my car ready for the show, to find it handling alarmingly badly on the road out. Pulled over and all 8 wheelnuts on the rear were finger-tight.... I was just about to get on the motorway! Still don't know whether it was my cack-handedness (although I put the fronts in too, and they were right) or someone trying to nick the wheels overnight.....Also, had a wheel bearing done on my old Mondeo, and then drove down to Bucks. 80-odd miles of M1, pulled off to find a sandwich and a toilet to find exactly the same, four wheelnuts at least 15mm away from being tight. Complained to the garage but all I got was "naaah, can't have been me" - yeah, right, they stay tight for 2 years and then someone loosens them overnight less than 12 hours after you've had them off?

[Dukestar25]

Citroen Synergie..................

I'd better check the one under mine as one of these is now my daily hack...thanks

[pbottomley]

....I took to a light spray of duck oil on the internal face of the wheel and wrapping in a thick plastic bag sealed with gaffa tape...

Good idea but those fluffy feathered things are so unwilling to give up their oil one has to catch and squeeze them very hard