I'm amazed how some people are so ill prepared for any possible emergency.
I'm staying in the Lot, in France with my caravan. This morning another visitor asked me if I had a tyre inflator that he could borrow as he had a flat tyre. I loaned him mine and then went over a little later to see if he was OK.
His spare tyre was flat and in poor condition: possibly illegal. Fortunately, my inflator was doing the trick and the tyre was going up. After the tyre was at the correct pressure he removed a tiny jack that was balanced on a couple of wooden blocks that he had got from the site owner. I don't think he had managed to raise the Hyundai 4X4 so it was as well he managed to inflate it. They have now gone off to see if they can purchase a new spare tyre and have their other one checked out.
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On route to my daughter's, she called and asked me to bring my inflator. I replied that I wasn't going home for it and asked why she couldn't use the one in her boot. Neither she nor her husband knew if they had a spare wheel or inflator and gunk in the boot. They've had the (2-year-old) car for a year.
I mentioned the locking wheel nut key to no avail. They're on their own.
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Have they no breakdown cover?
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"Have they no breakdown cover?"
I think nowadays for a lot of people the only essential item of kit carried in the car is a smart phone so they can call Dad or the breakdown service.
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>> I think nowadays for a lot of people the only essential item of kit carried
>> in the car is a smart phone so they can call Dad or the breakdown
>> service.
>>
I have a daughter like that, fortunately her husband is now on speed dial. :-)
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>> I think nowadays for a lot of people the only essential item of kit carried
>> in the car is a smart phone so they can call Dad or the breakdown
>> service.
And given that some makers provide no spare that is the way it must be.
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To be honest there are not many breakdown situations you can do much about except a deflated tyre and I wouldn't care to change a wheel by the side of a motorway or at night. A decent breakdown company and a mobile phone is the best option for most.
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>> a smart phone so they can call Dad or the breakdown service.
Had that call 4 times. Two kerbed tyres and two * battery flattened while sitting in car with radio/fan/lights on.
I can do nothing from 150+ miles away except tell him to join a breakdown service.
He still hasn't.
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I insisted mine got at least the lowest cost decent cover - AutoAid.
PS 12% off with Quidco for first timers which brings it down to around £38 with Spouse included for free.
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Good idea ??? for a Christmas present.
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Had that call 4 times. Two kerbed tyres and two * battery flattened while sitting
>> in car with radio/fan/lights on.
>>
>> I can do nothing from 150+ miles away except tell him to join a breakdown
>> service.
>>
>> He still hasn't.
>>
How did he get sorted in the end?
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There are still about 4,500 miles of roads in the UK where there's no mobile reception, and another 30,000 where coverage is patchy. I would really like some of the men in suits who decide not even to offer a spare wheel as an option to get a two-inch gash in one of their tyres from a pothole on one of those roads.
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Runflats are a reassurance.
There are a lot of drivers who wouldn't stand a chance changing a wheel and a lot more who couldn't do it safely, frankly the driving test should be much more comprehensive.
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>> Runflats are a reassurance.
But if you get side wall damage they might not be safe to drive. I had a colleague in that situation with a BMW and no local tyre place could help. Car transported back home - over 100 miles away.
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>> >> Runflats are a reassurance.
>>
>> But if you get side wall damage they might not be safe to drive. I
>> had a colleague in that situation with a BMW and no local tyre place could
>> help. Car transported back home - over 100 miles away.
>>
Yes but a spare in the boot is a useless waste of space if the driver doesn't have a hope in hell of changing the wheel. OK, they can call a breakdown service though runflats in the majority of cases (punctures within 50 ish miles of home/destination) will get them to safety and if they do call the breakdown service they can be transported if necessary.
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>>There are still about 4,500 miles of roads in the UK where there's no mobile reception, and another 30,000 where coverage is patchy.
That'll be that ridiculous RAC survey I'm guessing. Though they didn't say "patchy" they said "partial". Which means you have 2G (voice, SMS and slow internet) just not 3 or 4G.
Nonetheless, given the roughly 247,000 miles of road in the UK that's like 2% without a 2G signal - which I still don't believe. And that's not evenly spread over the UK.
So, as justification for spare tyres in all cars goes, that'd be utter garbage. Though if I lived in a remote or rural area, which most of us don't, I might carry a spare.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 7 Jun 17 at 03:31
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I've specified an 18" collapsible spare tyre on my new car, which incidentally comes with a built in compressor. Cost. £161.
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>> I've specified an 18" collapsible spare tyre on my new car, which incidentally comes with
>> a built in compressor. Cost. £161.
>>
Similar sort of price for Audi but reports say closer to £500 if bought afterwards.
Probably not data on the safe life of such tyres so buying S/H is risky ?
A demo if you have not had to deploy one
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZeMN59hvEQ
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I was in Norfolk-not far from Norwich-in a village.No O2 signal(2G) but Vodaphone was OK.Local inhabitants used Vodaphone but I had no signal.
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A few years back, a son came out to find a flat tyre on the Saturday morning.
Had attempted to change the wheel but could not get the wheel off the hub!
Gave him two options.
1)Foot pump - get at least 20 lbs in the car & drive slowly to a tyre outlet.
2) Loosen the wheel nuts slightly, let the car down slowly until the car's weight
is used to break the "rust" between the hub & wheel. Jack car up & change wheel
as per demo given by me when they were given their first car @ 17 years old (+many times in previous years when they were kids)
He found the tyre would not inflate & did the jack up/down & up again - it worked.
Further calls from Daughter-in-laws with similar issues - phone the breakdown people as talking them through changing a wheel would be impossible - in a similar way to me learning to knit!
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FB
I suspect your experience is generally the norm but also the need for a long lever to get the wheel nuts/bolts undone.
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princess zero, size10/12, 5'5", 9.5 stone has NO chance of changing a tyre
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Herself, who is 5'2" and 9 stone, has changed at least three. My fault possibly for equipping the cars with an extendable bar and a proper socket.
The last time was when she ran wide at a junction and hit one of those square granite kerbs that just knocked the tyre off the rim. She had 3 other members of the provisional wing of the WI with her at the time.
I had a mental image of it being something like a Ferrari pit stop, but apparently they gazed in astonishment while she got on with it.
She is now under strict advice (giving her orders is a bad idea) not to do it but to call the breakdown service. I'm fairly confident that she will do that if it happens on a fast road.
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>>Herself, who is 5'2" and 9 stone, has changed at least three.
SWMBO was amazed at the ability of a colleague who correctly diagnosed a flat tyre as they pulled out of a car park, knew how to find the jack and spare wheel under the bonnet (Fiat 127) and how to use it along with the wheel brace.
I suspect she wanted to get home as quickly as possible!
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re the stature of Princess zero. No excuse. Nicola Adams the boxer was 8 Stone and 5'5" when she won her first Olympic medal. Probably wouldn't even need a jack ;-).
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I'm 5' 8", 9.5 stones and built like a sapling. No problem changing wheels, though it's a while since I had too. Handling the wheel is easy enough. Loosening the nuts is a struggle but using a socket and long extension then standing on end does the job.
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Nicola Addams is not 61 years of age with spinal issues.
Plus Princess Zero has the mechanical sympathy and feel of a slow worm
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 8 Jun 17 at 11:33
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>>Princess Zero has the mechanical sympathy and feel of a slow worm
But can she cook, or is she like my missus :(
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>> >>Princess Zero has the mechanical sympathy and feel of a slow worm
>>
>> But can she cook, or is she like my missus :(
>>
Ah, I was thinking princess is daughter and queen would be missus ?
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>> >> >>Princess Zero has the mechanical sympathy and feel of a slow worm
>> >>
>> >> But can she cook, or is she like my missus :(
>> >>
>>
>> Ah, I was thinking princess is daughter and queen would be missus ?
The dog is the queen. And its cooking skills are better. And it wins at dog shows.
Even the dog nags me tho
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>> And it wins at dog shows.
>>
Tho can it change a wheel?
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>> >> And it wins at dog shows.
>> >>
>>
>> Tho can it change a wheel?
>>
Reminds me of the story of the man who parked his car on match day near Parkhead (Glasgow Celtic ground).
As usual he was approached by a small boy who offered to "Watch yer car mister"
He replied that he was leaving his large dog in the car so it should be alright and refused the child's kind offer.
The lad's parting question as he strode off to the match was, "Hey mister can yer dug pit oot fires?"
Last edited by: commerdriver on Thu 8 Jun 17 at 14:23
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>> >> And it wins at dog shows.
>> >>
>>
>> Tho can it change a wheel?
No but it can make BMW runflats not run flat.
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>> I was in Norfolk-not far from Norwich-in a village.No O2 signal(2G) but Vodaphone was OK.Local
>> inhabitants used Vodaphone but I had no signal.
>>
We've quite a few dead spots around here, for example in my old house, not far from here, i couldn't get a signal unless i went upstairs. Quite a few roads that have no signal at all on them.
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>> Nonetheless, given the roughly 247,000 miles of road in the UK that's like 2% without
>> a 2G signal - which I still don't believe. And that's not evenly spread over
>> the UK.
I was mooching around the borders of Wiltshire and Hampshire last weekend filming a train. For some of that time, over quite a largish area, I had no signal. No 4G, No HSPDA, No 3G, No 2G, No bars, Nothing!
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"I was mooching around the borders of Wiltshire and Hampshire last weekend filming a train. For some of that time, over quite a largish area, I had no signal. No 4G, No HSPDA, No 3G, No 2G, No bars, Nothing!"
And did the train get a puncture?
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>> "I was mooching around the borders of Wiltshire and Hampshire last weekend filming a train.
>> For some of that time, over quite a largish area, I had no signal. No
>> 4G, No HSPDA, No 3G, No 2G, No bars, Nothing!"
>>
>> And did the train get a puncture?
I bet you didn't know that steam trains do actually have tyres.
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>> I bet you didn't know that steam trains do actually have tyres.
Wheely? Well you learn something new every day.
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>> I bet you didn't know that steam trains do actually have tyres.
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Yes, but I have never seen the driver at the side of the East Coast Main Line changing one. It would need quite a big jack to take the weight of one side of an A3 :-)
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>> I bet you didn't know that steam trains do actually have tyres.
>>
....and it is possible for trains to have flat tyres. ...
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>> I was mooching around the borders of Wiltshire and Hampshire last weekend filming a train.
>> For some of that time, over quite a largish area, I had no signal. No
>> 4G, No HSPDA, No 3G, No 2G, No bars, Nothing!
>>
i used to visit a pub near Caversham so hardly remote.
The pub landlord enjoyed watching folks not being able to use any phones.
At that time I had phones on all the networks ( perks of sons job ) and it was certainly true.
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Zero....can we expect a short report on your time with the 540(Z) anytime soon?
I had a text from Lloyd BMW Colne yesterday about the new 5 Touring. I replied in the affirmative that I was 'still interested' but have heard nowt since.
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yes some time in the next few days I will pen a few words.
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>> yes some time in the next few days I will pen a few words.
>>
Have you made up your mind?
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I think Princess Zero made my mind up for me when she slid into the optional Ivory Nappa leather, fully electrically adjustable comfort seats, option cost £ 1,265.00
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>> I think Princess Zero made my mind up for me when she slid into the
>> optional Ivory Nappa leather, fully electrically adjustable comfort seats, option cost £ 1,265.00
>>
Does that mean that the BMW is out cos the options are pricey, or that she persuaded you to order one cos the seats are extra comfy for only a grand or so more?
EDIT: BTW the BMW sports seat are very comfy.
Last edited by: Hard Cheese on Wed 7 Jun 17 at 12:57
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>> Does that mean that the BMW is out cos the options are pricey, or that
>> she persuaded you to order one cos the seats are extra comfy for only a
>> grand or so more?
Possibly the later
>> EDIT: BTW the BMW sports seat are very comfy.
The BMW Comfort seats, make the sports seats seem like something out of the Spanish Inquisition.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 7 Jun 17 at 13:14
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>> The BMW Comfort seats, make the sports seats seem like something out of the Spanish
>> Inquisition.
Talking of the Inquisition, it came as a bit of a surprise to me to discover that as I understand it, Pope Benedict XVI , Joseph Ratzinger, (who was poping from 2005 to 2013) was previously Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was previously known as the Holy Office - which in turn was known before that as, of course, The Roman Inquisition.
Just in case anyone cares. I thought it would make a change from nobody expecting something.
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>> Talking of the Inquisition, it came as a bit of a surprise to me to
>> discover that as I understand it, Pope Benedict XVI , Joseph Ratzinger, (who was poping
>> from 2005 to 2013) was previously Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was previously known as the Holy Office - which in turn was known
>> before that as, of course, The Roman Inquisition.
>>
Er, I though he had a Golf not a 5-Series Touring ...
Last edited by: Hard Cheese on Wed 7 Jun 17 at 13:32
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>> Just in case anyone cares. I thought it would make a change from nobody expecting
>> something.
>>
.....I thought you'd gone for the "comfy chair" connection ...
;-)
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Get a flat tyre in France between 12.00 on a Saturday and 08.00 on Monday and you'll be walking. Not even the repair / recovery people will be able to get you a spare. I drive maybe 5,000 miles there a year and always make sure I have a full size spare, footpump, working jack and extending wheelbrace.
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I too woz in the Boy Scouts
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Hyundai - Ill Prepared - bathtub tom
