Sourcing Temporary Spare Wheel.

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twofor1

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I have bought a new car for January, comes with 16’’ alloys, there is a space in the booth for a temporary spare wheel but it does not come with one, it is available for an additional €400, which seems excessive.

Will any temporary spare wheel do ? or will say a Nissan temporary spare wheel only fit a Nissan etc ?

Are they readily available in breakers yards ?

Have googled it, plenty in the UK but not over here.

Anyone any experience of this ?

Thanks.
 
They're notoriously hard to get! I had a Mazda and couldn't get one for the life of me. Traynors in north are a good breakers yard. They deliver to Dublin once a week. I've gotten parts from them before.
 
Use an online calculator to determine the spare wheel size and tyre combination that match your current setup. You'll need the overall diameter to match the rest of the wheels.
 
Here you go. Use "COMPARING TYRE SIZES" here - http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_size_calculators.html

You'll get the dimensions from the tyre & wheel fitted to the car.

My suggestion would be to use the actual tyre and wheel-size data to get a a steel wheel of the correct size with the correct tyre size, provided of course the wheel-well in the boot is big enough to take a full-size wheel and tyre. It'll cost a heck of a lot less.
 
I spoke to the main dealer thinking he might do a bit better as I was buying the car off him, he said the nearly €400 I see on line is for the wheel only, If I want the kit which includes tyre, jack, brace and new booth moulding to secure it, then it’s €650, he makes nothing on it he says, he just passes on what he is charged.

It seems they are notoriously hard to get, as most that don’t have a temporary spare wheel stay that way, so breakers never have them.

Done Deal don’t have any suitable, eBay does but when you include courier and currency you are still talking a wild amount of money for a skinny metal wheel.

To buy other than the car manufacturer made wheel seems to have many possible pitfalls, the holes as well as the wheel itself have to perfectly match the hub, which I believe can vary on both counts, so short of actually trying on a spurious wheel one could not be sure of its suitability.

The temporary spare wheel is smaller both in height and width so the steel version of the existing wheel would not go in the wheel-well.

I do 20,000 Kilometres annually, mostly within 25 kilometres of home, I recon it is at least 12 years since I last had to change a wheel at the side of the road, I think I will just buy a wheel brace and jack in a breakers yard, If I do get a puncture I can take it off myself and get it to the nearest tyre depot, if it’s outside of hours or on a motorway, I can get the AA who I believe will do a temporary repair if it’s a simple hole, or they will get my car to a tyre depot where it can wait until opening time, or get it to my home if it’s not too far away.

Thanks for the replies.
 
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Down the line you will need one for your NCT I think, though you've a few years before that if it's a 16 reg.
 
My understanding is a spare wheel is not a requirement for the NCT. Many cars today come with tyre inflation kits instead of a spare wheel.

An external spare wheel carrier (if fitted) will be checked and if cracked or insecurely mounted will fail.

If there is a spare wheel in the carrier, it must be securely held.

Interestingly it also clearly states in Notes 1. Defects in a spare wheel tyre should not be considered a reason for failure.

Have a look at item 40 on page 68 here;

[broken link removed]
 
twofor1 said:
To buy other than the car manufacturer made wheel seems to have many possible pitfalls, the holes as well as the wheel itself have to perfectly match the hub, which I believe can vary on both counts, so short of actually trying on a spurious wheel one could not be sure of its suitability.
Click to expand...
I can assure you that motor manufacturers (primarily assemblers these days) do not make either wheels or tyres but select from a range of readily available sizes to shoe their cars. The only exceptions are high-end cars which may strut their stuff in bespoke rubber and light alloy.

As I posted all the information you need to select a suitable wheel / tyre combination is stamped on the wheels and moulded onto the tyres. Bog standard stuff. If you must buy a jack and wheel-brace, be sure to get the special lock-nut opener for your car. The other alternative is to have your car fitted with run-flat tyres.
 
mathepac said:
As I posted all the information you need to select a suitable wheel / tyre combination is stamped on the wheels and moulded onto the tyres. Bog standard stuff.
Click to expand...

Exactly, only other variable is 4 or 5 nuts.
 
JohnJay said:
the same seller seems to have wheels for a lot of different makes, all for delivery to Ireland for around €25
Click to expand...

Indeed they do John, I missed that company searching ebay.

They have a few good condition second-hand space saver wheels with tyre for the car I am buying delivered here for €190 and a few of my preferred option that includes jack and brace for €210 delivered here, I would pay that amount.

Thanks.
 
Leo said:
Exactly, only other variable is 4 or 5 nuts.
Click to expand...

Not quite, although still standard stuff, you need:

PCD: or pitch circle diameter and is the diameter of a circle drawn through the centre of your wheels bolt holes. PCD is measured in millimetres and also indicates the number of studs or bolts the wheel will have.
The most common fitment spec has 4 studs and a PCD of 100mm, hence the fitment 4x100, but fitments of 5x110 or 5 x108 are also common.

OFFSET (also referred to as 'ET'): Your car requires a specific wheel offset. This is stamped on the inner face of the wheel, presumably for aesthetic reasons. Simply this is where the outside of the wheel needs to be in relation to the bodyline of the vehicle in order to avoid fouling the bodywork. Typically you'll see numbers like ET43 or ET38 stamped on wheels
 
Good stuff Mathepac. I'm guessing the offset is more relevant to the larger alloy after market wheels than the skinny temporary wheels to ensure the section of rim inside the bolting face doesn't interfere with the bodywork or suspension components.
 
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