Home/roadside puncture repairs...

[Bill]

Anyone got any recommendations for a kit?? Wife's SMax has no room for a spare... Looking at plugs and/or goo.

[supacool1]

Doesn't it come with a pump and some tyre weld or some such as standard if no spare tyre?

[Bill]

Nope, used car and I assume it had run flats originally?? Currently running around with one of those crappy little cans of goo.

[Dapster]

What year of S-Max? My wife’s 2015 has a factory fitted space saver - it’s under the car.

[CraigyMc]

I don't get wound up specifically about having a flat tyre.
To me, it's the same as any other car problem that stops it moving and isn't transient; you call a tow truck.

I've driven somewhere in the region of 400K miles, am yet to have a flat tyre.

On the other hand, I have had:

• oil leak, oil warning light (Ford Ka 2)
• broken water pump, water temperature (BMW E39)
• punctured radiator, water temperature (BMW E39)
• clutch failure (BMW E39)
• Head gasket failure, water temperature (Elise S1/RoverK)
• burning oil off flexi, smoke trail (Elise S1/RoverK)
• turbo manifold failure, no boost (Audi TT 2.0)

All of which caused a need to stop to avoid damage / failure to proceed.
All of the above ultimately ended in a tow truck.

[Speed addicted]

CraigyMc said:

I don't get wound up specifically about having a flat tyre.
To me, it's the same as any other car problem that stops it moving and isn't transient; you call a tow truck.

I've driven somewhere in the region of 400K miles, am yet to have a flat tyre.

On the other hand, I have had:

• oil leak, oil warning light (Ford Ka 2)
• broken water pump, water temperature (BMW E39)
• punctured radiator, water temperature (BMW E39)
• clutch failure (BMW E39)
• Head gasket failure, water temperature (Elise S1/RoverK)
• burning oil off flexi, smoke trail (Elise S1/RoverK)
• turbo manifold failure, no boost (Audi TT 2.0)

All of which caused a need to stop to avoid damage / failure to proceed.
All of the above ultimately ended in a tow truck.

I’ve had 5 (I think) punctures in the last 30 years.
All of which were fixed in about 10 mins at the side of the road by fitting a spare.
I’ve also had a few on motorbikes that were fixed using plugs.
Why wouldn’t you carry something small like a can of goo snd compressor kit that would allow you to continue your journey rather than wait for potentially hours to get towed?

[Soloman Dodd]

I've used my motorcycle plug kit in the past on a car tyre.

example:

https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/mcn/content_prod/...

Halfords stock mini compressors to re-inflate if the CO2 cartridges are insufficient.

[CraigyMc]

Speed addicted said:

Why wouldn’t you carry something small like a can of goo snd compressor kit that would allow you to continue your journey rather than wait for potentially hours to get towed?

Why not carry a spare v-belt (or a selection of other small spares and tools) in the car?
Same type of reason. Where I drive isn't short of tow companies. For tyres it is a rare occurrence to have a flat on the road (for me, zero occurrences in ~30 years/400K miles).
In fact the only flat tyres I've had this decade have been on track (both in karting and in a single seater) where I've returned to the pits that lap.

To me, op talking about tyre repair is really op talking about:

• removing a wheel by the side of the road wherever the car has stopped,
• doing an austere repair (hoping it's in the tread rather than a sidewall) with a rasp and a puncture kit,
• refilling the tyre with a crappy inflator (hoping that the bead will sit), and then
• refitting it to the car and hoping it worked wherever the car is.

It isn't like that repair process will take no time and isn't going to cover you in whatever is on the ground where you stopped, so you're really comparing "how long does A take versus B" where options A and B are both a pain in the arse that will make you late.

By the way, when I visualise this stuff I don't visualise the car breaking down on flat tarmac in sunshine. I visualise it breaking down on a slope with uneven mud at night in the rain.

I'm not at all uncomfortable with working on my own stuff in the right conditions (I have a decent garage setup at home). By the side of the road isn't the right conditions. I utterly hate the idea of having to clean up emergency goop off a rim, and I've spare wheels for both my cars.

It is possibly also a money thing. Replacing all 4 tyres because I want to rather than need to is a factor. I'm not that happy with having a repaired tyre on the car, but of course that's just me. YMMV.

[vikingaero]

Speed addicted said:

CraigyMc said:

I don't get wound up specifically about having a flat tyre.
To me, it's the same as any other car problem that stops it moving and isn't transient; you call a tow truck.

I've driven somewhere in the region of 400K miles, am yet to have a flat tyre.

On the other hand, I have had:

• oil leak, oil warning light (Ford Ka 2)
• broken water pump, water temperature (BMW E39)
• punctured radiator, water temperature (BMW E39)
• clutch failure (BMW E39)
• Head gasket failure, water temperature (Elise S1/RoverK)
• burning oil off flexi, smoke trail (Elise S1/RoverK)
• turbo manifold failure, no boost (Audi TT 2.0)

All of which caused a need to stop to avoid damage / failure to proceed.
All of the above ultimately ended in a tow truck.

I’ve had 5 (I think) punctures in the last 30 years.
All of which were fixed in about 10 mins at the side of the road by fitting a spare.
I’ve also had a few on motorbikes that were fixed using plugs.
Why wouldn’t you carry something small like a can of goo snd compressor kit that would allow you to continue your journey rather than wait for potentially hours to get towed?

Breakdown services have got worse for end users, so why wait 2-3 hours for a patrol/truck when you can change a tyre or plug a hole in 10-15 mins, other than the danger on some dual carriageways and motorways.

[Speed addicted]

A quick look online shows various places selling space saver spares for Smax.
Are you sure there’s nowhere to put one?

[Bill]

Dapster said:

What year of S-Max? My wife’s 2015 has a factory fitted space saver - it’s under the car.

Hmmm. It's a 63 plate. Pretty sure I'd have noticed a wheel while fitting the removable tow hitch... And I haven't found a jack etc. I'll have a proper look underneath later!

I've had a few punctures over the years and would rather be able to sort it there and then.

[MajorMantra]

Basic puncture repair kits are very cheap on eBay, there's a huge choice under a tenner. Seems silly not to have one?

They won't help without a blowout but can with a simple hole.

(Fwiw I've had one car puncture and one motorcycle puncture in my life. Both would have been a massive pain in the arse had I not been equipped to fix them...)

[Dapster]

Bill said:

Dapster said:

What year of S-Max? My wife’s 2015 has a factory fitted space saver - it’s under the car.

Hmmm. It's a 63 plate. Pretty sure I'd have noticed a wheel while fitting the removable tow hitch... And I haven't found a jack etc. I'll have a proper look underneath later!

Mine's a mk 2 S-Max. Your 2013 may be one of the last of the mk 1s - not sure if they had a space saver or not!

[edc]

If my wife had a puncture whilst out, plug kit, compressor kit or spare aren't going to be used by her anyway.

[Bill]

Fair point, but it does most of its miles as the family car with me at the wheel.

[Miserablegit]

I bought one of these for my Le Mans trip after a friend had a nightmare with a puncture last year.

It’s been used in anger already- helping a biker who’d suffered a puncture and he was on his way in no time.

[Smint]

Plug kit plus a compressor of some sort would probably do the trick for a nail or screw, large gash and unless you have a spare of some sort its game over, and if far from home the possibility of being turned over with a panic new tyre purchase assuming not the dead of night.
Still need a jack and preferably wheelbrace **, plugging a rear tyre especially not going to be easy with the car sitting low.

My last puncture in my own car was a couple of years ago, 10 minutes later i'm on the way with the full size spare in place.

Won't buy a car without a spare wheel of some sort.

• which reminds me, family with Golf visited last week, whilst here i gave the car the once over, especially brakes which most garages don't service any more.

Wheelbolts were very tight, which in the case of the lockers was a bit concerning, had to use my extension bar and a quality 6 sided socket to get good grip on those lockers, no way would the lady concerned be able to undo the bolts with the supplied brace, not sure even if a good samaritan passing chap could have...so, suggest you check your wheelbolts whilst at home and/or make sure you have some suitable leverage in the kit and a good fitting wheelbrace.

[119]

I just call the recovery guys who come as a perk of my bank account, or buy a car that has spare.

fk getting my hands dirty.

[gt40steve]

edc said:

If my wife had a puncture whilst out, plug kit, compressor kit or spare aren't going to be used by her anyway.

If I was there I'd put the spare on for her. She'd be home to cook your tea in good time ! Everyone's happy, surely a better situation than her waiting for hours for the breakdown company to arrive and then trying to get a puncture repair or source a new tyre whilst her car is stranded at the side of the road.

[Boleros]

gt40steve said:

If I was there I'd put the spare on for her. She'd be home to cook your tea in good time ! Everyone's happy, surely a better situation than her waiting for hours for the breakdown company to arrive and then trying to get a puncture repair or source a new tyre whilst her car is stranded at the side of the road.

Wrong on so many levels. Tea should only be taken at breakfast and in the afternoon, there is only dinner or supper in the evening.