If your car suffers a puncture whilst towing a caravan - is it safe / legal to replace the wheel with the space saver spare until the tyre can be repaired ?
Space Saver Spare Wheel
- Thread starter Dave_5040233
- Start date
Dave, the answer to your question is no. I have a BMW 320d which is supplied with a space saver spare wheel. BMW and the CC do not recommend that you tow with a space saver spare wheel on your car. Buy yourself a steel rim and have the correct size & rated tyre fitted for peace of mind and safety reasons.
Damian
Moderator
Dave, yes it is OK to use the spacesaver until you can get the main wheel tyre replaced, however, that means like AS SOON as possible, not at the end of the holiday!!!!
Space Savers are , imo, a complete pain and make more problems than they solve. I could not get a replacement tyre for the space saver on my Espace, and after a lot of argument with renault, they supplied a steel full size wheel as a spare. If you have the depth of recess to accomodate a full size spare, (try fitting your space saver and the wheel you take off, see if it will fit in the spare place), then it is worth thinking about changing the type of spare for one of the same as your main wheels.
Space Savers are , imo, a complete pain and make more problems than they solve. I could not get a replacement tyre for the space saver on my Espace, and after a lot of argument with renault, they supplied a steel full size wheel as a spare. If you have the depth of recess to accomodate a full size spare, (try fitting your space saver and the wheel you take off, see if it will fit in the spare place), then it is worth thinking about changing the type of spare for one of the same as your main wheels.
There have been a number of concerns and complaints about these space saver wheels and I wonder if this is taken into consideration when PC magazine and others are doing their tests on towing vehicles. Can out moderators answer this?
The other issue is trying to obtain a steel spare wheel for your car if the the tyre is not standard i.e is a 17" instead of a 16" etc.
The other issue is trying to obtain a steel spare wheel for your car if the the tyre is not standard i.e is a 17" instead of a 16" etc.
Could not agree more with Ian's comments. The CC towcar of the year the Maxda 6 Estate has a space saver and no mention is made of this in their report. The space saver is not even the same diameter as the rest of the wheels and the handbook states it should not be used for towing. Fortunately the well accomodates a full size wheel and there are enough wheels that have been changed at dealers under warranty (cosmetic) to acquire one cheaply.
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