Moving wheels around

[jfgw]

There are quite a few Google results and the ones I have looked at all suggest rotating the tyres. For example, https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/advice/tyre-care/tyre-rotation. I haven't bothered doing it myself for years.

If you don't rotate them and end up with uneven wear (or if you replace just two), the tyres with the most tread should go on the back — there is less chance of pirouetting when slamming the brakes on in the wet. Obviously, your options are limited if you have different sizes front and back.

Punctures are very rare these days, I went for years without having one. Then, this year, I had two about six weeks apart. (Head torches are a great idea, I recommend that you carry one.) I would not want to be without a spare. If I take out my space-saver and a bit of black polystyrene, I can carry a full-size spare.

Even in relatively flat Essex, phoning the AA can involve walking a mile or two to somewhere with a mobile phone signal. I certainly wouldn't want to be in the hillier or more remote parts of the UK without a spare.

From the RAC website,

In 2018 our patrols dealt with almost 200,000 ‘puncture no spare’ breakdowns – an increase of 84% on 2012.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/rac-news/how-the-rac-universal-spare-wheel-fixes-no-spare-breakdowns/


Julian F. G. W.

[Lanark]

With 8 million RAC customers that means there is on average one flat tyre every 40 years of motoring.
Modern tyres very rarely blow out completely, you can usually limp to a garage.

The cost saving in petrol due to less weight from the spare + jack is very roughly about £20 per year if you do 10,000 miles/year.
So over 40 years thats £800, plus all the spare wheels/tyres you don't have to buy.

One thing I do always carry is a proper tyre pump, with a slow puncture that will often get you a few miles. I think its a nice middle ground between having the full spare wheel kit and having nothing.

[jfgw]

With 8 million RAC customers that means there is on average one flat tyre every 40 years of motoring.

That only includes the "puncture, no spare" incidents that the RAC are called out to. It does not include any of the punctures that I have had (a lot more than one every 40 years) as I did not call the RAC for any of them and, in any case, I have a spare. It does not include drivers who fix their own with a can of foam. Depending upon the RAC policy, they may not attend if the puncture is discovered while at home, which will include a lot of slow punctures.

My most recent puncture was just before a roundabout. By the time I had driven slowly to somewhere I could pull over, one side-wall was done for. A pump or a can of foam would not have helped.

I carry a spare.


Julian F. G. W.

[Nemo]

i have a Q5 that did not have a spare. I purchased one and had to have the boot refitted to take it as well. Best part of £1,000 as far as I can remember.

I usually keep my cars for quite a while so I thought that it would be worth it.

[bungeejumper]

My most recent puncture was just before a roundabout. By the time I had driven slowly to somewhere I could pull over, one side-wall was done for. A pump or a can of foam would not have helped.

Indeed. Apart from run-flats, there are not many cars that could manage more than a mile or so without the tyre wall starting to collapse and the wheel rim striking sparks off the road surface. The police have their own views about people who do that, and so do the magistrates.

Foot pumps and (snigger!) 12 volt plug-in pumps won't have a prayer if your tyre's rim has started to loosen its fit against the wheel rim. Here's what it takes to solve that one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXW7Z8V7qm0

BJ

[9873210]

Foot pumps and (snigger!) 12 volt plug-in pumps won't have a prayer if your tyre's rim has started to loosen its fit against the wheel rim. Here's what it takes to solve that one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXW7Z8V7qm0

BJ

That's one way. I expect saner people carry a tube.

[bungeejumper]

Here's what it takes to solve that one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXW7Z8V7qm0

That's one way. I expect saner people carry a tube.

And a set of tyre levers, and all the gubbins to get the tubeless valve out of the hole in the rim, and then tidy up all the grit and stuff.

Not to mention, more patience than I'd have. I once fitted a new tube onto a motorbike wheel with the tyre still on the rim, and it took me two days and an awful lot of swearing. (It's perishingly easy to get the tube twisted, and then it gets nipped somewhere and you wish you'd never bothered.) Even a wheelbarrow wheel took me two hours. Would have been less sweat to shell out twelve quid on a new wheel, tube and tyre already fitted. Oh well, you live and learn....

BJ

[Lootman]

With 8 million RAC customers that means there is on average one flat tyre every 40 years of motoring.

That only includes the "puncture, no spare" incidents that the RAC are called out to. It does not include any of the punctures that I have had (a lot more than one every 40 years) as I did not call the RAC for any of them and, in any case, I have a spare. It does not include drivers who fix their own with a can of foam. Depending upon the RAC policy, they may not attend if the puncture is discovered while at home, which will include a lot of slow punctures.

Agreed. I get a flat about once every 5 years (2 cars, 2 drivers). Mostly I fix them myself so they are unreported. I have called for help a couple of times, once when my spare was also flat and once when I considered the location too dangerous to work roadside.

The trivial fuel cost of carrying a spare and a decent jack is not a factor for me.

[genou]

That only includes the "puncture, no spare" incidents that the RAC are called out to. It does not include any of the punctures that I have had (a lot more than one every 40 years) as I did not call the RAC for any of them and, in any case, I have a spare. It does not include drivers who fix their own with a can of foam. Depending upon the RAC policy, they may not attend if the puncture is discovered while at home, which will include a lot of slow punctures.

Agreed. I get a flat about once every 5 years (2 cars, 2 drivers). Mostly I fix them myself so they are unreported. I have called for help a couple of times, once when my spare was also flat and once when I considered the location too dangerous to work roadside.

The trivial fuel cost of carrying a spare and a decent jack is not a factor for me.

In 50 years of driving I have had the princely sum of 1 puncture. That was in my last car which had a skinny - had to buy a new tyre on Skye. Which was not cheap. When it happened I'd have done over 40 years with no puncture at all.

Wet finger in the air 400k miles. I now have a can of slime, which I trust I'll never use.

[jaizan]

On your typical front wheel drive car, the tyres on the front wear out much faster than the rear. If you do a low annual mileage, the tyres on the rear might deteriorate beyond use before they wear out. So swapping them around can avoid that problem.

I actually had some Continental tyres develop cracks on the sidewall on the rear of my previous car. I think this was something of a quality problem, as they were only about 3 years old & I now avoid the brand.

However, having to scrap them was rather annoying, as I hadn't had much wear out of them. Had they spent half the time on the front axle, I would have at least got more out of them.

I now tend to swap wheels and tyres around once per year, if I remember.


As for spare tyres, I've had 3 punctures in 40 years of driving. In all 3 cases, slime would not have fixed it. So I spent about 10 minutes fitting the spare and continued my journey. I have been avoiding purchasing cars with no space for a spare tyre.