Should I ditch my spare wheel?
Discussion
i have posted this a million time but will do so again. I carry a spare. 1. I tried tyreweld once and it didnt work. Second time it was ok. 2. I rang 6 tyre fitters locally to see what the "additional charge" would be for removal of the tyre weld before fixing the puncture. none of the 6 would touch it and said i would need a new tyre if i used it. The tyre on the car was £100 worth and had done less than 1000 miles.... 
millions swear by it. i swear at it
millions swear by it. i swear at it
I've got one, but it is now in the garage. I'm relying on tyre weld if I get a puncture, but never had to use the stuff.
There have been a few threads on this before & the following comments have been made:
Apparently you can't get the jack under the chassis when you have a flat.
Would you really want to drive on that skinny space saver (could be interesting on the back!, even more so in the wet!)?
What do you do with the wheel you have taken off?
Apparently you have to replace the space saver after one use and it cost more than a full size tyre.
There have been a few threads on this before & the following comments have been made:
Apparently you can't get the jack under the chassis when you have a flat.
Would you really want to drive on that skinny space saver (could be interesting on the back!, even more so in the wet!)?
What do you do with the wheel you have taken off?
Apparently you have to replace the space saver after one use and it cost more than a full size tyre.
I agree with shnozz.
Certainly two new rear tyres fitted in my boot so I don't see the problem with a wheel (plus flat tyre). I am fairly convinced the jack will fit under somewhere but it may require a lot of grovelling about on the floor.
With the spare on you wouldn't want to go far or fast but it should get you to a garage quicker than waiting several hours for recovery.
One thing to bear in mind with space saver is to check the pressure as mine was ~10psi when I last checked and it is supposed to be an awful lot higher (40psi plus?). With the 'squeeze' test it seemed fully inflated.
Certainly two new rear tyres fitted in my boot so I don't see the problem with a wheel (plus flat tyre). I am fairly convinced the jack will fit under somewhere but it may require a lot of grovelling about on the floor.
With the spare on you wouldn't want to go far or fast but it should get you to a garage quicker than waiting several hours for recovery.
One thing to bear in mind with space saver is to check the pressure as mine was ~10psi when I last checked and it is supposed to be an awful lot higher (40psi plus?). With the 'squeeze' test it seemed fully inflated.
shnozz said:With a total of 9803 posts on PH. You're time sheets should be a work of art!
i have posted this a million time ...
1 What to do with the now spare wheel when you've removed it?
2 Spare is space saver so driving will bring a whole new experience to keeping a TVR on the road
3 You're just showing off because you've got a Chimaera and it's even possible to have this debate
beano500 said:
3 You're just showing off because you've got a Chimaera and it's even possible to have this debate
Hmmm, dare I say it, it's not the reason, but the real reason may be worse I need to get 2 sets of golf clubs in the car and had seen Tuscans only come with tyre weld so am tempted to ditch spare but I've never used tyre weld I and don't trust something in a tin to inflate a tyre.
Can you even drive normal with tyre weld?
Just give Beano more ammunition 
JonMil said:
I've got one, but it is now in the garage. I'm relying on tyre weld if I get a puncture, but never had to use the stuff.
There have been a few threads on this before & the following comments have been made:
Apparently you can't get the jack under the chassis when you have a flat.
Would you really want to drive on that skinny space saver (could be interesting on the back!, even more so in the wet!)?
What do you do with the wheel you have taken off?
Apparently you have to replace the space saver after one use and it cost more than a full size tyre.
i would be amazed if you cant get the jack under the chassis. I did it numerous times with the S3 I had before the chim and would be surprised if the chim was lower. In any event, most roads in my area have a kerb, and bingo.
I drove around on a space saver tyre for a few weeks on the S whilst awaiting a further delivery of SO2s before and it was fine. I didnt go country lane blasting, but it was my everyday car and it was fine. On an old Ford Probe I had I drove on a spacesaver for 6 weeks
since I couldnt be arsed to get a new tyre. This "one use" business. I cant see the logic here. I know thats what "they" say. How do you determine "one" journey. So if I am going from my house to north scotland in one journey thats ok, but if I needed to do 10 journies of 60 miles each it wouldnt be? I cant see any logical reason why the tyre would need renewing after each use, maybe someone will enlighten me?
The wheel that comes off? Stuck it on the passenger seat with a cloth under it in my S3 cos that had a tiny boot. Would have thought the size of the boot in the chim it would fit.
Incidentally, I do carry tyreweld as well, just in case
not having a pop at you by the way, just replying to your "apparently" comments with my actual experiences.
With some gloopy systems you do have to let the tyre right down, remove the valve and pour the gunk in, spin the wheel to distribute it and then pump it up again. This what our old Alfa GTV had. It was completely useless (we had a sidewall puncture) and put me off these systems entirely.
I gather tyreweld is more of a foam that fills the whole tyre and supports it. Having seen someone try to use it at a trackday when they got a puncture it appeared equally useless (although they appeared to be having huge fun spinning on every corner) but someone may have got it to work.
In my view having something to bolt on is a lot more reliable than something in a can but if you need to fit your golf clubs in then go for it (just make sure you have recovery cover).
I gather tyreweld is more of a foam that fills the whole tyre and supports it. Having seen someone try to use it at a trackday when they got a puncture it appeared equally useless (although they appeared to be having huge fun spinning on every corner) but someone may have got it to work.
In my view having something to bolt on is a lot more reliable than something in a can but if you need to fit your golf clubs in then go for it (just make sure you have recovery cover).
tiger6791 said:Mr Big has got two sets of golf clubs in the boot of the Griffith
2 sets of golf clubs in the car
We have never used our space saver....yet - but we have let other borrow it when they have had the misfortune to pick up a flat.
Tyre weld works OK - ruins the tyre and is only safe in very slow speeds to get you to the nearest tyre fitter.
Personally, I would not be too happy having a puncture repaired on a TVR anyway.
I know I am tempting the fate monkey but in 27 years of driving (including a lot of building sites) I have only had one puncture.
shnozz said:
not having a pop at you by the way, just replying to your "apparently" comments with my actual experiences.
No worries, actual experiences better than the collection of thoughts that I can remember from past posts. I'm a fairly new owner, so no experience of a puncture to draw on.
Having read this, I might pop my space saver back in the boot. However, I make two more obseravtions:
1. If you are on holiday, and have the boot full, and a passenger, you may still struggle to find space for the wheeel that has come off.
2. Alot of cars don't come with spares now (only tyre weld) from Lotus Elise to Aston Martin.
We have a spare wheel in our Chim. When we went on two weeks touring holiday we ditched it and took some tyre weld with us - which I still have - as we needed the luggage space.
I took the view that either it would work or the recovery service would help.
Got a flat in my Porsche once. Used the space saver to get about and it scared me shitless even though I didn't go over 40mph!
There's no space saving to be gained in my Porsche so I keep it in there even when travelling.
The last time I had a serious puncture the pothole took out both nearside tyres and I had to be recovered.
It actually wouldn't have mattered on that occasion anyway. Why? Well I had a passenger. The only place a full size Porsche wheel and deflated tyre fits in my Boxster S is on the passenger seat...neither luggage hold will take it (and they were full anyway!).
So - screw it. Take the tyre weld and make sure you are well covered with respect to AA/RAC/European recovery.
I took the view that either it would work or the recovery service would help.
Got a flat in my Porsche once. Used the space saver to get about and it scared me shitless even though I didn't go over 40mph!
There's no space saving to be gained in my Porsche so I keep it in there even when travelling.
The last time I had a serious puncture the pothole took out both nearside tyres and I had to be recovered.
It actually wouldn't have mattered on that occasion anyway. Why? Well I had a passenger. The only place a full size Porsche wheel and deflated tyre fits in my Boxster S is on the passenger seat...neither luggage hold will take it (and they were full anyway!).
So - screw it. Take the tyre weld and make sure you are well covered with respect to AA/RAC/European recovery.
For any sort of long journey, Recovery is the best bet..although I heard that they can be difficult with you for not having a spare! For short-run arounds, where you can limp home, then I'd plump for Tyreweld.
Besides, I can't get two sets of scuba equipment (including 5x12 litre Air Cylinders) into the back with the spare wheel in there!
Besides, I can't get two sets of scuba equipment (including 5x12 litre Air Cylinders) into the back with the spare wheel in there!
tyreweld is great stuff as long as you have a normal puncture if you smash into a kerb and rip out the sidewall you are in trouble but as long as you read the intructions on the can and have only a normal puncture tyreweld works great
tyreweld does not damage a tyre look at the can its approved by the ntda nationla tyre distributors association and ive had quite a few punctures repaired after using tyreweld when ringing up tyre companies dont tell them its a tvr then they wont automatically assume you have money to burn also out of interest a lot of "normal" car manufacturers use tyreweld and in there handbooks it says the tyres can be repaired (volvo peugeot ford citroen renault vauxhall ferrari porsche)
tyreweld does not damage a tyre look at the can its approved by the ntda nationla tyre distributors association and ive had quite a few punctures repaired after using tyreweld when ringing up tyre companies dont tell them its a tvr then they wont automatically assume you have money to burn also out of interest a lot of "normal" car manufacturers use tyreweld and in there handbooks it says the tyres can be repaired (volvo peugeot ford citroen renault vauxhall ferrari porsche)
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