Come out this morning to get the car out of the garage and have a flat tyre.

Normally, this would not be a problem – change wheel, go to work, get new tyre replace spare in boot, job done.

However, Ford in their infinite wisdom have ruined what is an otherwise all round excellent car by neglecting to provide a spare wheel and instead substituted it with a plastic bottle of gunk.

Notwithstanding this, I walked the kids to school , walked to the train station and retrieved my wife’s car from the car park and made my way to work. I’ll sort out the flat tyre later.

So, my query to the STW collective today is this…….. I want to buy a full size spare wheel to keep in the garage.
Does it need to be an Smax one or will wheels from other Ford cars fit?

I’m assuming that a scrapyard / car breakers is my best bet but also assuming that the chances of finding an s-max or galaxy wheel are pretty slim.

Mondeo or transit wheels are likely to be a much more common commodity, no?

Any other s-max owners solved this problem?

Tyres are 225/50 R17 98w.

My Mondeo (mk4 2.0 diesel) is 235/45/R17 so different to yours though others may be different

heads up that it may be worth going to someone like blackcircles ETC and buying a new wheel and tire as scrappies seem to have cottoned on to this and are wanting top dollar for wheels i certainly wouldnt fit to my car.

I used to get wheels + part worn tires for 10 quid a pop for reasonable wheels.

Last time i went to get some he wanted 50 quid a wheel for some of the worst looking wheels and tires ive seen in some time.

Subject to getting the right size and load rating of wheel and tyre I think most (all?) of the Ford cars have commom pcd so should fit. I replaced the can of gunk in the wifes C-Max with a space saver spare from a Mondeo. Transits have different stud count and pcd.

why didn’t you try the can’o’jizz ?

I’d worry about tyre sizes and speed ratings later.

You need to find out your PCD and ET first and make sure they fit.

why didn’t you try the can’o’jizz ?

No point. I’ll get a mobile tyre fitter to come and change the tyre or i’ll jack it up, remove the wheel, throw it in the boot of the Mama-wagon and take it to a tyre fitters and get it changed.
Both of these options save me the cost of replacing the can of monkey dung.
I didn’t have the time or the inclination to faff about with it this morning when a bit of brisk exercise would give me a guaranteed result of offloading the kids at school and still making it to work on time.

You need to find out your PCD and ET first and make sure they fit.

Don’t know what these are…..yet! Goooogle!

PCD?

ET?

PCD is the number of nuts and distance between them e.g. 4 x 100 (4 studs/bolts 100mm centres)

ET if the offset from the hub. Probably not so critical if it’s just a spare.

But you also need to be cautious of the wheel fitting over brake callipers etc. if you’re buying a non matching alloy/steel.

I’m guessing most Fords will have the same PCD but the vans maybe different to cars. I’d also think the ET would vary between ranges.

This being STW i think someone should pick you up on this while avoiding discussing the actual topic.

Notwithstanding this, I walked the kids to school , walked to the train station and retrieved my wife’s car from the car park

Walking an option but you both drive?

Walking an option but you both drive?

Really??? You’ve made a few assumptions there….

Walking to school? Yes…. but i left school some years ago.
Walking to work? Not so much? It’s a bit too far.
Walking to the train station? For ME yes, but I need to drive to work.

My wife could (maybe) walk but she would then deny herself the opportunity to vent her pathological hatred of pedantic cyclists by knocking them over with her car.

One thing to bear in mind is that any wheel you get will have to be load rated for the weight of the Smax.

there was a spate of lads on the Smax forum fitting focus st wheels and wondering why they were cracking !!

Tyre needs to be XL rated too.

Does it have a spare tyre well? I can’t fit my full size spare wheels for my mondeo in the spare wheel well, they’re too fat, so I’ve still got a bloomin noddy car wheel in the car. So maybe one to watch, there.

Does it have a spare tyre well? I can’t fit my full size spare wheels for my mondeo in the spare wheel well, they’re too fat, so I’ve still got a bloomin noddy car wheel in the car. So maybe one to watch, there.

Nope. Nowhere in the car to store even the tiniest of wheels. The space under the floor of the boot is taken up by 6th and 7th seats. An onboard spare wheel of any description isn’t an option unless it’s lying loose in the boot waiting to crush your kids in the event of a crash.

I’m looking for a full size wheel for keeping in the garage… or a full set which i’ll stick winter tyres on.

Our car came with gunk and no spare. I bought a steel wheel from Oponeo and had a part worn fitted to it.

SMax ones are high load.

May be relevant reading

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/car-tyre-repairs

Mytyres.Co.UK will sell you a steel wheel for under 40 pounds, decent jack and cheap tyre should do the job as a temporary

Our car came with gunk and no spare. I bought a steel wheel from Oponeo and had a part worn fitted to it.

As perchy said, you can’t carry this without securing it in car, and there is nowhere practical to do this in the S Max.

Most of my failures have been incurable with jizz. One memorable occasion the wife took 2 out 👿 – even the RAC guy was puzzled. Had to swap wheels around to tow it to a depot.

One memorable occasion the wife took 2 out

Tell her to stop when the police tell her to 😉

I’ve been looking on t’internet this morning to try and source a s-max wheel.

E-bay has a few scabby alloys for silly money.

The only steel wheels I can find are 16″ and my alloys are 17″ with 225/50 r17 tyres.( overall diameter of wheel / tyre combo = 657mm )

If i get the 16″ for a spare and fit a higher profile tyre like a 225 / 55 R16 (overall diameter of wheel / tyre combo = 654.5mm )…..will I die?

Well on the diameter, no you won’t – space saving ones are smaller and work and given that this is just for get you home after a puncture, restricting the speed will likely be fine.

or you might die. On your head be it 😉

You’ll need to make sure the smaller steel wheel can fit over the rear disc and brake calliper though.

Surely a spare in the garage is only useful if you’re at home. Granted the car is at home and that’s where you have the problem… now

Next time you’ll be out, so it’ll be even more annoying!

My wife’s civic is like this. My 5 series has run flats at least (and space to carry a spare wheel, though I’ve filled the space with useful supplies)

How do you know if a wheel’s rated for the weight? Most manufacturers seem to recommend reinforced tyres for the mondeo, I suppose that could imply that the wheels are built for weight too, but maybe not. They’re pretty easy to find, though, especially the ugly ones

Surely a spare in the garage is only useful if you’re at home.

….. and infinitely more use than NO spare at all.

90% of my car use is by myself and within an hour of home. If needs be I can have my wife / a mate / family member / someone pick the spare up and bring it to me. Annoying, but less so than stuck at the side of the road fannying about with the, generally useless, liquid alternative

Gives you more options at night / weekends than phoning the RAC and looking like a weapons grade tadger.

I’m losing the will to live with this now. Tried to book Etyres to come out tomorrow to change all the tyres on the car but the work firewall has blocked the payment process. Double GRRRRRR!

How much space is there in the boot of an S-max? is there no room at all to stick a space saver under a bit of bungee netting?

The lack of spare wheels on my last two company cars was a major PITA.

A flat on my Mazda 6 at 11pm after a really long day, that could have been a remedied with quick swap to the spare, instead resulted in a 90 min wait for tow truck to take me home (and then having to get mobile tyre fitter out). The recovery guy said he’d picked up someone with brand new Range Rover earlier in the day in same predicament.

On the one occasion the can of gunk did work, Kwikfit wouldn’t subsequently even attempt to repair the tyre (apparently too messy/time consuming to remove the gunk out of the tyre before doing repair. And I dare say more margin on new tyres than repairing.

One getting rid of company cars and buying an older car, I was pleased to find a full-size spare in the boot.

The boot itself is about the same size as this….

The storage of the spare isn’t the issue.
It’s the finding of an appropriate wheel since Ford don’t supply one either as standard or as an extra cost option.
The apparently gargantuan weight of the vehicle precludes the use of a space saver anyway it would seem.

The presence (or lack) of a spare wheel has been a major deciding factor in my last 4 car purchases.

2nd Hand Smax wheel on ebay for £30 plus £8postage, seems pretty cheap to me and certainly better than no spare.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-SMax-17-Alloy-Wheel-Tyre-/171909024663?hash=item2806938b97

If its mainly just yourself in the car for 90% of the time I’d stick it in the boot and find someway of securing it, just remove it for the odd occasion when you need either extra boot space of the 3rd row of seats.

Or just fit some run flats?

Or just fit some run flats?

…without Tyre Pressure sensors?

“option unless it’s lying loose in the boot waiting to crush your kids in the event of a crash.”

ever the dramatics for the want of a ratchet strap….

“On the one occasion the can of gunk did work, Kwikfit wouldn’t subsequently even attempt to repair the tyre (apparently too messy/time consuming to remove the gunk out of the tyre before doing repair. And I dare say more margin on new tyres than repairing.”

Exactly that – i have had absolutely ZERO issues getting tires repaired with gunk in. I have told Mrs T-R to use the gunk first before attempting to jack car up with the widowmaker scissor jack and trying to change the tire – i dont want her doing that if at all possible.

have had great success with weld tite tire weld including a flint rock slash through my land rovers front left tire – two cans of tire weld got me home at low speed where icould replace at leisure

does that mean you repaired yourself, or got someone who would repair it. As per the link in my previous post, when this happened to me (nearly a year ago, where’s time gone!!) I tried half a dozen who came up with half a dozen different types of bullshit reason, such that in the end I bit the bullet and got new tyres

it means i went to mcconocheys in arbroath.

How ever – i went to school with their workshop manager – that maybe made a difference although nothing was mentioned about the gunk.

It is a PITA. The problem with the SMax gunk system is that the type of gunk they use means the tyre has to be replaced even if it is repairable – I think the chemicals in the gunk attack the rubber and degrade it. Also you need to replace the bottle of gunk (about £35) and the compressor hose. Also the compressor is useless as a compressor without using the gunk.

I considered a spare wheel but decided against it. It makes a nice useful flat floor into a less sensible and usable space, using a ratchet strap is actually not that feasible as where the floor anchor points are means the the strap will take up even more room in the boot. An the occasion where I would actually find the spare wheel useful – i.e. when i’m away from home on a getaway with the family, the boot is usually full so there is no room for a spare wheel – and a space saver is no good even if you could squeeze one in, because you have to put the removed full size wheel in the boot. I’m not too fussed about getting a flat locally, it would be a minor inconvenience, it’s when you’re away from home when it becomes a major pain.

I don’t think the SMax is unusual compared to alot of other cars these days. Personally I don’t want run flats- they are noisy and ruin the ride quality and the tyres cost a fortune. Just make sure your AA/RAC cover includes recovery for a flat tyre.

Ford do sell a spare wheel kit for SMax/Galaxy/Mondeo. It costs £125 (there or thereabouts I think) includes a space saver, jack and wheel nut wrench all packaged up – but still doesn’t get around the space issue I mentioned above.

Having said all of that i’ve only had one puncture in about 15 years of motoring, so putting it into perspective it’s not a particularly inconvenient problem, especially considering that the reason why there is no room for a spare is to enable two fold away seats in the back and a larger boot space with is far more convenient all of the time.

My sister had the same issue with her s-max. I bought a space saver off ebay for about £50. We were driving to the Alps with her and didn’t want an issue on the French roads at the weekend. Of course we didn’t use it but if we didn’t have it I’m sure we would have needed it!

Also you need to replace the bottle of gunk (about £35) and the compressor hose. Also the compressor is useless as a compressor without using the gunk.

Other brands of sealant cost much less than the official Conti stuff. Leave the cap on the compressor where the gunk screws in and it works a treat.

But yes, not having a spare or space saver is a pain. The downside to the convenience of those rarely used back back seats.