So I fitted all season tyres…

I was wishing for run-flats when I hit a pothole leaving me stranded on a blind bend on a country line.

You can still move your car out of immediate danger on a normal flat. Unless it’s completely shredded I suppose, but tbh I think I’d sacrifice a rim to not die.

I bought a full size spare and got a jack from a scrappy. The spare is slightly too tall for the space it sits in, but bigger messing about with temporary spare wheels when you’re heading back from the alps or whatever

There is  chain through my spare (in the back) and acts as a sort of anchor which I chain the bikes too!

Thanks for the thoughts on run-flats.

I’ve checked with her and she does have one of the sealant kit things in the boot.

With regard to a spare, the boots is always full with a pram and her work boots, PPE etc

In reality I dont see her trying to change a wheel anyway so probably not that concerned about run-flat or not now.

Thanks

The newer collapsible spares are quite interesting too for this. But neither of my cars have spares (one never had room, the other has an lpg tank), tbh flats are just rare now with modern tyres especially if you keep on top of wear etc, so I’m happy to maybe goop it and then otherwise breakdown it.

(or one time, walk home and get another wheel)

Aside; I checked the manufacture dates on my winters thinking they’re getting a bit old now and the pair that I’m about to replace are almost 10 years! That crept up on me, super easy thing to stay on top of but you have to actually do it, “once a year” checks are some of the easiest things to overlook though. Can’t even guess how often I’ve checked tread depth, condition,looked for cracks, checked pressures etc and missed that.

With regard to a spare, the boots is always full with a pram and her work boots, PPE etc

Most cars, unless hybrid, have space under the boot floor. What model car?

Kiss of death this thread. I just went to run an errand in my Wife’s car and the local lane has one of those longitudinal cracks dropping away on one side. Caught the inside wall of a very recent Bridgestone Turanza literally just driving along… Fkcu! That’s £100 and bike ride disrupting buggeration tomorrow getting it fixed. Grrrrrrr…

Oh and the piddly little electric pump wouldn’t touch it. I got home whipped the wheel off and the compressor did the rest revealing a GASH so not all bad…

Last time I carried a spare it was nicked 🙁

Edit: spare worth nicking, I’ve learned to keep a just legal one if ever I carry one, and the phone number of the insurance/recovery.

Yeah I tried the AA. They’d take me to the dealer (closed) or the tyre place (closed) or home which is where I was calling from… Hmmm…

Interesting Matt…I’ll have a look this morning – it’s a BMW 2 series hatchback

I checked the manufacture dates on my winters thinking they’re getting a bit old now and the pair that I’m about to replace are almost 10 years!

That may not matter. The 7-year rule of thumb applies to tyres that are out in the sunshine and ozone all year round. If your winters are kept in a garage for 9 months of the year they will last much much longer. However you do need to fit them – I once went several winters without fitting mine and they went sort of oily; when I fitted them they had terrible traction for a few journeys. After that they were fine. It’s something to do with the flexing of the rubber and the oils within it – sounds weird but seems borne out by experience.

Yeah, it’s just one of a bunch of factors- the tyres actually seem fine, no cracking at all and they were working fine as of last winter. But luckily they’re also getting low on tread for winters, so I don’t need to find out 🙂

It is worth checking the sealant, some of them turn solid after few years and that’s not nice when you need it.

I have tried to use the pump and sealant for 6mm hole caused by 6mm bolt on a piece of flatbar and not a slightest chance of sealing the tyre. Since then I have added car-sized anchovies but I believe plug type things might work better.