No Jack or Wheel Wrench
Discussion
I know this is now quite normal with modern cars but what a PITA!
My wife called yesterday (Sunday) afternoon saying she'd hit a pothole and blown the side wall out of a tyre and could I please come the the rescue, as she couldn't use the tyre sealant that came with the car because the hole in the tyre was beyond that. She was 30 miles away in a Forestry Commission car park so I put a wheel wrench in the car "just in case" and some blocks of wood I had in the garage expecting to have to leave the car jacked up until today. Only when I got there I realised that neither her 2015 Disco Sport or my 2017 BMW have jacks or wheel wrenches, so although I had brought a wrench we couldn't jack the car up, so were were completely stuck unless we called out a recovery service, which would no doubt have cost an arm and a leg.
As it happens a young chap turned up just just then in a battered old Peugeot to walk his dog so (ignoring the whiff of cannabis as he opened the door) I asked him if he had a jack he could lend us to get the wheel off. He was as nice as pie and by the time I'd slackened off the nuts he'd already got the jack in place and taken up the pressure. So, job done and I offered him £20 for his trouble and he told me to keep the jack as he has a few spare ones at home. Our local fitters will have a new tyre fitted shortly so we can go and get the car later on today.
So all in all it worked out OK but would otherwise have been a nightmare but lesson learnt - by the end of today we'll have jacks and wrenches in the back of both cars.
My wife called yesterday (Sunday) afternoon saying she'd hit a pothole and blown the side wall out of a tyre and could I please come the the rescue, as she couldn't use the tyre sealant that came with the car because the hole in the tyre was beyond that. She was 30 miles away in a Forestry Commission car park so I put a wheel wrench in the car "just in case" and some blocks of wood I had in the garage expecting to have to leave the car jacked up until today. Only when I got there I realised that neither her 2015 Disco Sport or my 2017 BMW have jacks or wheel wrenches, so although I had brought a wrench we couldn't jack the car up, so were were completely stuck unless we called out a recovery service, which would no doubt have cost an arm and a leg.
As it happens a young chap turned up just just then in a battered old Peugeot to walk his dog so (ignoring the whiff of cannabis as he opened the door) I asked him if he had a jack he could lend us to get the wheel off. He was as nice as pie and by the time I'd slackened off the nuts he'd already got the jack in place and taken up the pressure. So, job done and I offered him £20 for his trouble and he told me to keep the jack as he has a few spare ones at home. Our local fitters will have a new tyre fitted shortly so we can go and get the car later on today.
So all in all it worked out OK but would otherwise have been a nightmare but lesson learnt - by the end of today we'll have jacks and wrenches in the back of both cars.
You can pick up jacks, wrench and spacesaver on Facebook Marketplace for most cars. If you can't find a spacesaver then the standard wheel for the base model of your car might fit.
Of course many PH'ers don't venture past retail parks, think a 20 mile drive is long distance, never had a puncture in their life or get the breakdown service to fix it.
Of course many PH'ers don't venture past retail parks, think a 20 mile drive is long distance, never had a puncture in their life or get the breakdown service to fix it.
TheOctaneAddict said:
One thing i've noticed in more modern cars is that a spare, jack and wrench wont fit in the under boot floor. That really drives me mad!
Most "current" cars are still made with a well for a spare. often it's a different foam insert. Sometimes you can hack the insert, other times it's easier to buy a OEM one. My Mums Honda Jazz has the jack, wrench and spacesaver using the insert from my old MINI Clubman that I've cut to fit. SlimJim16v said:
Not knowing if your car has a jack and wheel brace 
Many of my friends don't know whether their car has ABS or not. They don't correlate their lack of knowledge with the risk they take not knowing how hard they could push the brake pedal if needed to stop on a sixpence (5p in new money).Quite often, manufacturers now fill that space in the boot with a sub bass amp and speaker if you ticked another £1,000 option box.
I think ditching spare wheels was about reducing weight for CO2 emissions (and cost of course) plus increased boot space.
My 2005 BMW 3 Series came with run-flat tyres, my E46 3 Series had normal tyres and a space-saver but neither could accommodate a full-size wheel with a puncture anywhere other than in the boot!
I've left the 3 Series on run-flats but put a full-size spare in my Z4M, along with a BMW jack, breaker bar and torque wrench for when I do long trips I wouldn't want to be ruined by a puncture - although it does limit boot space.
My 2005 BMW 3 Series came with run-flat tyres, my E46 3 Series had normal tyres and a space-saver but neither could accommodate a full-size wheel with a puncture anywhere other than in the boot!
I've left the 3 Series on run-flats but put a full-size spare in my Z4M, along with a BMW jack, breaker bar and torque wrench for when I do long trips I wouldn't want to be ruined by a puncture - although it does limit boot space.
PistonBust said:
Many of my friends don't know whether their car has ABS or not. They don't correlate their lack of knowledge with the risk they take not knowing how hard they could push the brake pedal if needed to stop on a sixpence (5p in new money).
Quite often, manufacturers now fill that space in the boot with a sub bass amp and speaker if you ticked another £1,000 option box.
Well said; my younger sister has a nice Kia Niro and when I asked if it was 2wd or 4wd, she had no idea. Turned out to be FWD, which I had expected. Actually, she's quite a good driver, and successful at work, so isn't that important to her, but her interests just don't include vehicle awareness, Quite often, manufacturers now fill that space in the boot with a sub bass amp and speaker if you ticked another £1,000 option box.
I have to add, as somebody who aware of decimalisation, 6d in old money is 2 1/2 p. You know the P in PH is for pedantry right?
simon_harris said:
there is no jack or wheel wrench in my R35 GTR, most annoyingly though is that there is clearly a moulded space for them in the passenger footwell.
Wow that's unusual. Is the storage spot right down the front? I had a look on the internet but couldn't dig up any images.Slowboathome said:
I have a wrench and a jack but couldn't get the wheel off once because the tyre fitters had over-tightened the nuts. Had to get a mechanic out with a longer wrench.
Went straight out and bought a longer one myself after that.
I had this last weekend, luckily in the in-laws driveway. After raiding their shed I found a mallet and managed to get the nut off by holding the wrench in place and walloping it.Went straight out and bought a longer one myself after that.
alangla said:
Slowboathome said:
I have a wrench and a jack but couldn't get the wheel off once because the tyre fitters had over-tightened the nuts. Had to get a mechanic out with a longer wrench.
Went straight out and bought a longer one myself after that.
I had this last weekend, luckily in the in-laws driveway. After raiding their shed I found a mallet and managed to get the nut off by holding the wrench in place and walloping it.Went straight out and bought a longer one myself after that.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/wheel-wrench/s?k=wheel+wr...
They are a bit wobbly in use so it's better to hold/steady the socket with your other hand whilst levering it off. So why not get a breaker bar? Because this one is compact and stores better and comes with 2 reversible sockets 17 & 19 and 21 & 23 which covers most cars. So with a breaker bar I would need 4 sockets to cover all eventualities.
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