 | Home > Wheels & Tyres > Would you run your defender without a spare tyre |
 
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| willy eckerslike Member Since: 15 Jun 2009 Location: North yorks Posts: 1789   
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I ran my Double cab without a spare 40000 miles, only took one when greenlaning, I did however carry puncture repair gear and a compressor and I ran mud terrains. Original Member Pie n Pea Club.
110 HCPU Tipper |
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10th Jan 2013 6:37pm |
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| Pam W Member Since: 25 Oct 2011 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1169  
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Ok Steve - you are forgiven!
(Although I still think that taking safety of yourself and others in at the side of the road into consideration should apply to anyone and everyone!) Our blog - http://landytravels.com/ Yorkshire Off Road Club - http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net |
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10th Jan 2013 6:48pm |
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| Honker Member Since: 26 Jun 2011 Location: St Albans Posts: 353  
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It's on average a puncture every 5yrs according to some AA - Smmt stats. Most common call out is still run out of petrol and changing a wheel.
Manufacturers remove wheels because a) saves cost, about 45euros b) can help bring the weight of the car down into a lower weight class so there is a benefit in the EC economy test and so lower co2 for co car tax c) increases boot volume and d) theft prevention. Go to any of next years motor shows and lift the boot carpet on the brand new cars and even the wheel well will have disappeared. So best get used to not having a spare 
Stu Ps think a boost alloy plus tyre is 33kg....or 38kg ...either way quite weighty |
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10th Jan 2013 7:02pm |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10383
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No, I wouldn't.
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10th Jan 2013 7:09pm |
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| JJ Member Since: 18 May 2009 Location: Winchester Posts: 932 
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No , I wouldn't . Having run a small fleet of vans where company policy was the drivers were not to change a wheel and must call a " professional " it does seem to make sense for safety reasons .
The jacks were removed from all vehicles but of course the spare is still needed by who ever attends to carry out the replacement. The natural law of all things does state that you would get a puncture when the 2nd car was unavailable !! HR064 Hampshire and Berkshire 4x4 Response |
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10th Jan 2013 8:30pm |
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| big steve Member Since: 24 Dec 2009 Location: hertfordshire Posts: 2456 
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Yes I do but only as I can't be bothered to lift it into the back
 2015 2.2 tdci hardtop xs
3.2 conversion DONE 238bhp and 707nm torque and thats just the start ;-P hybrid turbo in build -done ready to fit ashcroft atb in transfer box 6 speed auto in build |
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10th Jan 2013 8:36pm |
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| noworries4x4 Member Since: 24 Dec 2010 Location: Newton Abbot Devon Posts: 1195
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I have had 5 punctures in 8 years with my Defenders and 1 many many years ago in my dad's Disco 1 but i have been lucky apart from 1 blow out on the M42 motorway and the dad's Disco flat nr Carmarthan late at night i have never had to change a tyre at the side of the road. I have always noticed i was getting a flat pump it up keep going wntill repaired. I know my puncture rate may seem high but i do work on sites all the time screws and nails everywhere, to be honest i am lucky not to get more. If everything is under control you are not going fast enough.
Every Day 16 MY Discovery 4 Commercial Workshop and Escort Vehicle Weekends 07MY L322 TDV8 Vogue SE Series 1 80" 3ltr 6cyl with overdrive No Worries 4X4 |
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10th Jan 2013 10:20pm |
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| Tony Member Since: 13 Mar 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 72 
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No, definitely not - have only had 2 punctures in 30+ years of driving but having a spare wheel also makes it easier to rotate the wheels so you get even wear and more life out of the tyres (but then they all need replacing at the same time
)
I was thinking of buying a new Vitara a couple of years ago but as soon as I realised Suzuki had stopped fitting a spare wheel I dropped the idea straight away - I recently heard they now fit them again so they've seen the light! The Suzuki salesman I spoke to at the time claimed they'd stopped fitting a spare in order to save weight - oh yeah, so why did the Jimny still have one then? Aesthetics, me thinks! Cheers,  |
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11th Jan 2013 5:35am |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17414 
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I would always carry a spare, irrespective of what I was driving and where I was going.
When I bought my Disco2, for the first 18 months/30k miles I ran it on the standard (Michelin XZ..something) tyres. I was getting an extraordinary number of punctures - a puncture every three months on average, about 6 in total in the period. It was actually one of the main reasons for upgrading the tyres. Then I swapped it to BFG Muds (the originals not KM2) and in the following 9.5 years and 180k miles didn't have a single puncture, although the usage of the car and the places I drove it never changed. On the Defender, on Kuhmo KL61s I had zero punctures in the first 18 months/20k miles, then I changed to BFG KM2s and have subsequently had one puncture (a nail) in the last two years/40k miles. I have however found that the KM2s are far, far more prone to picking up stones than the original BFG Muds, and now make a point of regularly de-stoning the tyres. All of my tyres have a number of flint cuts etc which haven't punctured them but may well have punctured a lesser tyre. On balance, if the option was available I would revert to the original BFG Muds rather than KM2s. |
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11th Jan 2013 9:33am |
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| diesel_jim Member Since: 13 Oct 2008 Location: hiding Posts: 6093 
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Sorry Pam, but i disagree.... if you're going to drive a car, the minimum you should be able to do, is change a wheel. regardless of footwear  |
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11th Jan 2013 9:51am |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610 
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Pam your post did make me chuckle....Chivalry is not yet dead. I am sure without 'willy waving' many individuals at seeing anyone at a quandry with a flat would still possibly stop to offer assistance. I did once in Lechlade where a 4X4 had put larger wheels on and their jack was no longer able to extend far enough to get the wheel sufficiently off the road surface. But that's another story. I had a Discovery that the tyre steel belt failed on and had to fit the spare. Apart from that I have done many many thousands of miles and never had to change one, regardless of that personally I would always carry a spare. If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!! Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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11th Jan 2013 10:00am |
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| Glynparry25 Member Since: 16 Feb 2009 Location: Miserable Midlands Posts: 3015  
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Always carry one...... and almost as important I regularly check the pressure- nothing worse than putting it on and it is low/ flat itself
Talking about safety...... Of all the people who 'won't change their tire because of safety reasons' who have 2 triangles, a warning beacon, enough lumi vests for maximum number of people in their vehicle? If I get a flat, the 2 triangles go out 50m and 100m and the warning beacon at the 100m point if it isn't bright. I will also have my hazards on and lumi vest. I will have a wheel changed in approx 5-10mins- that is me then off the road/ np longer a hazard to other drivers. Also, if your vehicle is stranded on the road you are supposed to leave it and move to a safer place.... I would rather be in the rain for 20 mins changing a tire than sat in the rain for 1hr waiting for someone to come change my tire. @ Pam..... Have you thought of a breaker bar with socket (about ฃ15)  A 5 year old can achieve the correct pressure for a LR wheel with one of these. As for lifting the tire on and off.... Military spare wheel sling- these were designed for weaker soldiers to get the spare wheel on and off a vehicle: http://www.ekmpowershop5.com/ekmps/shops/g...-281-p.asp As for suitable shoes......... I always have a suitable pair of shoes in my Defender (flip flops are terrible when trying to do anything other than walking). Even if it was just because I wasn't in phone signal- last thing I will want to do is walk a mile in the rain in anything other than a pair of boots or trainers. Glyn   |
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11th Jan 2013 10:01am |
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| ken Member Since: 18 Aug 2009 Location: Banging Birds with my bitches !! Posts: 4328
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Id also add go and check your nuts
Agree with Glyn about the Breaker Bar however if the wheel has been gunned in too much its a PITA to break the nut At the roadside most people get stressed etc. so an over tightened nut is an issue sort it now check regularly and the stress is somewhat lessened |
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11th Jan 2013 10:21am |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17414
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Some interesting thoughts and arguments developing in this thread!
Certainly as far as your own vehicle is concerned, then:- 1) There is very little if any excuse for having wheelnuts which are incorrectly tightened (I don't regard ignorance as an excuse). If you get a puncture and then find that your wheelnuts won't shift, whose fault is it? Yours! 2) I would hope that any female member of my family would know how to change a wheel safely, and would know and check that all the equipment for so doing was on the vehicle. In an emergency, I would expect any of them (even my 80-something year old mum) to be able to change the wheel. 3) I would also expect anyone in my family to be smart enough to have adequate hivis, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, plus any seasonal equipment (such as snow equipment etc) where appropriate with them. Again there is really no excuse not to. 3) If I, or any member of my family had a flat tyre, I would expect the first priority to be to move the vehicle to a safe place. If that means wrecking a rim and tyre, then so be it, they can be replaced. 4) I would not by any means expect a female family member, especially if they're on their own, actually to change a wheel at the roadside even if they are physically capable of doing so, or even to accept help from a stranger. Although I believe that the real personal risk in such cases is low, the perceived risk is high and I would frankly rather thay waited (in a place of safety - whether in or out of the car - of course) for either the AA/RAC or similar, or for someone they know, to assist. The decision whether or not to do this is theirs and should be made according to the circumstances. 5) There is also no doubt that the sheer weight of a Landrover spare, and the manner in which it is carried, means that for many females to attempt to change a wheel would put them at unacceptable (and unnecessary) risk of injury. In a real emergency the risk may be justified, but if help is available then the risk is not justified. (My Defender runs 285 BFG Muds on Boosts, and SWMBO simply cannot lift one. She could in emergency change a wheel by dropping the spare off the carrier and removing/fitting the wheels without lifting them off the ground, but I seriously doubt that she'd be able to put the take-off back on, or even in, the truck). Now it may be that I have high expectations of my family (and indeed I am fortunate that they live up to these), but in principle I have the same expectations of other motorists. I totally understand and respect the decision (especially of women) to call for help rather than change the wheel themselves, but everyone should know how it is done. (Why isn't it part of the driving test?) Equally (sorry, Pam!) I regard the shoes excuse as a bit feeble, if I was you I would take a pair of sensible emergency shoes with me just in case. The "not up to it physically" explanation is wholly understandable though. |
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11th Jan 2013 11:01am |
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