After many years of puncture-free motoring, the CC3 let me dowm this morning.
Or its rear nearside tyre did.
Mmm, no spare, all packed for a long weekend in the caravan, could be a spot of bother, I thought.
Out with the cheapo Ford 12v compressor and I had some air back in the tyre in no time.
Not coming out too quickly, either, so time to get to the nearest tyre place.
Turns out there's a nail, which happily has gone through the centre of the tread, so it can be repaired.
The guy drilled out a hole - at an angle - and used a mushroom patch.
A neat and tidy job for which I was charged just £10.
With hindsight, I reckon I've been driving around with the nail in for a day or two.
I noticed some 'tramlining' from the rear on Thursday, and I didn't think the car felt quite right during a short run yesterday.
The tyre's done what it's supposed to by letting the air go slowly - better that than all in one go.
If that had happened, I might have needed a spare.
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Glad it was a nice easy job there Iffi, now put yourself late at night in the middle of nowhere on the way to your caravan in a car that has the goo and compressor only.
Tyre goes down, you feel it through the car as the tyre slowly deflates, stop in layby get the old gunk and compressor out do the business and away you go.
What you don't realise is that a screw the head of which has driven deep and you can't see it has gone through the edge of the tread at an angle and during the past 20 miles has been systematically cutting through the sidewall cords each revolution without actually breaking through...i've seen this many times when i worked as a lad at the tyre repair shop...you carry on safe in the knowledge you tyres are fine.
BANG.
As i said, this was a good result for you and i'd have done the same given the convenient circumstances, but in other circs i'd rather slip a spare on and let a man have a nose inside my punctured tyre.
Out of interest did the fitter remove the tyre and inspect for internal damage?
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sat 8 May 10 at 15:52
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...Out of interest did the fitter remove the tyre and inspect for internal damage?...
Yes, as did I looking over his shoulder.
The nail was more what I would describe as a panel pin and appeared to have caused no internal damage.
The fitter seemed to take quite a bit of time easing it out, I'd have just put the pliers on and given it a good yank.
He drilled the hole out to make room for the mushroom.
Looked like a job well-done to me.
We used to do tyres at the garage where I worked for a year or two.
That was in the days when 70 per cent was low profile and only exotic stuff had alloys.
Quite rightly, I wasn't deemed experienced enough to do a mushroom repair.
It was a case of: "Whip that tyre off, my boy, and I'll come over and do the patch."
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...i'd rather slip a spare on...
A point worth making for those of you whose cars do have a spare wheel.
My wheel was stuck to the hub and needed a whack from a soft mallet to free it.
Not something you'd want to be doing at the roadside with the car perched on a scissor jack, even assuming you had a mallet.
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how many cords did he cut through when he drilled it
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...how many cords did he cut through when he drilled it...
Haven't the faintest idea, but he looked like he knew what he was doing.
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the wheels on the lancer just pop off in an instant. There is very little of the wheel over the centre of the hub to corrode to. Its been copperslipped anyway.
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>> the wheels on the lancer just pop off in an instant.
Really ?
Men's wheels on Fords.
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>> >> the wheels on the lancer just pop off in an instant.
>>
>> Really ?
>>
>> Men's wheels on Fords.
Is that why ford drivers have arms like hairy gorrilas?
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...Is that why ford drivers have arms like hairy gorrilas?...
Zero,
There's nothing complex about it, the Mitsubishi is just inferior.
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None so blind as those who can not see.
At least mine has a roof.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 8 May 10 at 21:30
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>> At least mine has a roof.
>>
I bet your roof isn't guaranteed to leak, - eventually.
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...I bet your roof isn't guaranteed to leak, - eventually...
Dear oh dear, there are some sour faced folk on here aren't there?
First it was 'don't buy that, the roof leaks'.
So I do buy it, the roof doesn't leak (of course), so now it's: 'the roof will leak'.
I tell you, I've had more pleasure out of that car in a year than anything I've been able to afford in 30+ years of motoring.
As for you Old Navy, can I suggest you click on the following link?
I think you'll fit right in.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/
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Calm down ifit, I am sure the CC3 gives you great pleasure. I believe that any car roof compromised by a sun roof, or joints for folding, is a potential source of leaks. I have no experience of modern roof systems but have owned cars in the dim distant past that had leaky sunroofs. These days I prefer a tin roof and aircon for everyday use.
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...I have no experience of modern roof systems...
I guessed that might be the case, so I took slight exception to your 'guaranteed to leak' comment.
Anyway, back to motoring...
The roof on my car doesn't leak, although that could change.
Some might think it strange, but I was reassured when the early cars leaked and were taken off sale.
Ford cares deeply about it's reputation, only because it's directly linked to profit, but they care nonetheless.
So I don't doubt great efforts were made to make sure the leaky roof problems were cured on the later cars.
If they were not, Ford would have quietly dropped the model.
I've been genuinely surprised how much fun open top motoring has been - I thought I was probably too grumpy for a convertible.
One of the best bits is lifting the roof after the car's been parked out on a warm day - the open roof lifts the fug far better and quicker than any amount of aircon.
A final point about leaky sunroofs - we fitted quite a few when I worked at the Renault dealer and yes, the majority of them leaked.
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>> Is that why ford drivers have arms like hairy gorrilas?
>>
My arms are nothing like those of a gorrila (sic).
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>> Not something you'd want to be doing at the roadside with the car perched on
>> a scissor jack, even assuming you had a mallet.
not something anyone here would have to worry about then, during routine checking and cleaning of brakes etc after winter our esteemed home mechs would have wire brushed and coppaslipped the hubs as a matter of course.....all done while the interim oil change is draining.
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I would never buy a car without a spare. A can of gunk is just cost cutting in my book. Tyre blows out and disintegrates - what'd you do then?
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...what do you do then?...
In my case, it's a breakdown, so you call the AA.
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True...
but still a bit cynical on the part of the manufacturers, I think. The Touran and S-Max were rejected from my list for this reason.
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A space saver is either a low-cost or no cost option on the CC3.
In today's deflation incident, I was better off with a compressor.
Shoving some air in the tyre and limping round to the tyre place was a lot cleaner and quicker than changing a wheel would have been.
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Run flats are the easiest answer. The latest generation (allegedly) don't feel like you have tyres of concrete.
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www.pvrdirect.co.uk/productinfo.aspx?catref=TC960
This is what you need sling this in the boot when you have no spare and crack on.!
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>> My wheel was stuck to the hub and needed a whack from a soft mallet
>> to free it.
Putting copper grease on the abutment face of the wheel prevents wheels from sticking.
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>> My wheel was stuck to the hub and needed a whack from a soft mallet to free it.
Old thread I know but anyway.
I had this happen once, flat tyre and the wheel stuck to the hub. Only hammer I could find was an 8 oz rubber mallet, useless, hit it with a crook lock, useless.
The solution was to put the wheel nuts back on, but leave them slightly loose, inflate the tyre and hope it holds air long enough drive forward at 10 mph and slam the brakes on. Worked for me but if the tyre had been too badly punctured to hold air at all this would have destroyed it.
edit: I put copper slip on all the hub/wheel surfaces after that.
Last edited by: The Nut on Mon 20 Sep 10 at 10:44
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"After many years of puncture-free motoring, the CC3 let me dowm this morning"
I can't remember when I had a puncture last but mid to late nineties. However there is an enormous screw slap bang in the centre of my front left tyre at the moment and it is slowly deflating. Fortunately they are my winter set so I can simply change them tomorrow and worry about it in 6 months time.
I'm more peed off about my bike which picked up a puncture in both tyres last week so instead of going on my daily ride in this glorious sunshine, I have to get the spoons out and do some dreary, oily labour-type stuff. What an absolute drag.
Haven't needed the spare though...
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My new C5 has no spare. If it had been a factory order car I could have paid £100 to spec one and may just have done so.
However I haven't had punctures for years and if I do I'll deal with whatever (or rather get someone else to) the no-spare situation causes. It's no big deal.
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My D-i-L currently sitting on hard shoulder awaiting Green Flag - aerosol foam useless.
Spare or skinny spare is essential
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...My D-i-L currently sitting on hard shoulder awaiting Green Flag...
FB,
Well away from the car, behind the Armco and up the embankment?
I'm sure she will be.
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Annoyed about this on our Jazz as I completely forget to get a spare included in the deal and it's £160 as an option. We did use the spare on the last one too, and it was during the weekend of a family event and it would have been awkward to have been without the car.
One thing I hadn't realised is that once you use the goo, the tyre then can't be repaired.
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I don't like the idea of a car with no spare either. I'll probably be looking for a large MPV next year. The Galaxy and S-Max don't have spares, nor does the new VW Sharan/Seat Alhambra (although the tyres do apparently come fitted with sealant goo).
Which does narrow my choice somewhat. Espaces seem too unreliable, Grand Picassos without air suspension have a spare, as does the Pug 5008 (I believe), but they are not really big enough and I will want a 'proper' automatic diesel.
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On the bright side, it'll improve the fuel economy (removing 15kg of wheel & tools from every acceleration adds up), might also be the difference between one CO2 tax band or another, for RFL or BIK.
Folks that want it (i did) can specify it for a token amount. £55 to add it to my octy, i couldn't buy the bridgestone tyre for £55 never mind the steel wheel + tools.
Everybody's happy :-)
The other approach is it's in by default and you elect to remove it for a £55 saving on list price. Horses for courses.
Last edited by: Skoda on Mon 20 Sep 10 at 13:55
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Could you specify six for £330?
One spare, a set of wheels and spare for Winter tyres. ;>)
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>> a set of wheels and spare for Winter tyres. ;>)
Nice idea :-)
I wont be buying any winters for this car, no point, the ground clearance is too low :-(
I bought it a nice fitted cover so once it's polished and prepped it can rest up the back of the driveway when the cold weather comes :-( I'll miss it.
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Who needs a spare wheel? - -
