Tyre sealant stuff - which one?

Tyreweld is OK. BTW: you can still try to put a "space saver" spare...

Irrelevant. Any tyre sealant should be considered a temporary (until you get home or to the garage to REPLACE the tyre) solution.

Personally I'd just get some tie-downs and carry the spare in the boot space unless you are using the boot space regularly. Otherwise, tyreweld is OK, or there might be a spacesaver spare option that will fit your car and not take up too much space.

Mike P

Bad form to reply to my own post, but you also need to consider that if you have a blowout and the tyre is split or damaged, tyre sealant won't help you at all. You'll be waiting for the recovery service. Which could be in the pissing rain in the middle of the night, if you're anything like me ;-) I'd just whizz the spare in the boot unless I really needed to take it out.

Mike P

Interesting, Mike, that both you and "fast_cars_guy" mention a space-saver tyre. Unfortunately, although it would work for almost 11 months of the year, holiday time would be the problem. We usually go away for about 4 to 5 weeks, driving as far as Poland and Hungary, and believe me, that takes a lot of luggage - and then there's booze to bring back, of course, so every square inch of boot space is needed in that situation :o)

I'd heard that Tyreweld makes a mess of the rims (in respect of fitting a new tyre) and tyre fitters moan and complain about it - is that correct?

TIA,

John

Oh, I agree completely with that, but I thought it relevant to mention because I'm sure I remember hearing about something (may have been Ultraseal?) that you put into the tyre as a "whole of life" thing. As in yes, any damage whatsoever and yes, the stuff does a temporary job but if, for instance, the tyres have a further 3 years use in them and they don't get damaged in any way, the stuff just sits inside them, ready, in case of damage - as opposed to Tyreweld that you use at the time of damage.

John

Fuck 'em, they might piss and moan but they can still change the tyre

I carry the spare in the boot. Thought that I would have to leave it at home recently when on holiday. Just packed a bit more intelligently and the spare came with us.

If you can pack two weeks worth of luggage for three people into a ragtop golf with an lpg tank in the boot and still have space to carry the spare, you can do it with any car. Think soft bags - forget cases.

The rest of the time, the spare has the boot all to itself.

Yep. One fitter I spoke to *claimed* it ruins the tyre- I was carrying a can while waiting for my tyre to get ordered in. I have no idea if this is true, but it definitely makes a mess for the fitters.

My Corsa has no spare wheel due to the tank being in the well. No room to carry a spacesaver too. It came supplied with a can of Tyreweld but I had something like Ultraseal put in the tyres when I had them replaced and had no end of problems with the balance of the wheels. I also suffered a puncture, only a small hole, and the sealant did not work. Got the three remaining tyres replaced f.o.c. by the garage that persuaded me to put in the sealant and me paying for one new one so I had four new and could check that the balance issue had gone, which it had. I would suggest beware of the stuff that gets put in for the life of the tyre. I have another car, again no spare, and a bike that I was considering getting it done to but glad that I did not.

Ian

Yes, they will also normally refuse to repair the tyre as a result.

Well it's certainly true that tyre fitters piss and moan a lot.

Yes.

But.... Tyreweld have a deal with Kwik-Fit or some other high-street chain of monkeys, that they'll clean it up while fixing the puncture for no extra charge.

Another good reason for not using it.

My car never came with a spare, I have 2 cans of Renault 'Tyre Repair Aerosol" - no idea if it's any good mind you :-)

I stuck a set of these on. Problem solved. No noticible difference in ride once the pressure was reduced a few psi from stock. Technically you need tyre pressure monitors too but thats up to you. I tries tyreseal gunge but wheel balance goes out while stood, and returns only after 70 plus for ten mins. After that it stays good until you park up for a while again.

Yeah, my 225 Megane was the same, just a polystyrene insert in the spate wheel well with a couple of cans. Didn't have the car long enough to use the spray though...

I've just bought a spare wheel and tyre for a tenner off Ebay for my Touran just because I didn't want to go to France for a fortnight without one! Mine lies in the boot wrapped in plastic until I need extra boot space or the extra seats then I remove it, or roll up the parcel shelf and stack it vertically.

Having previously broken down on a French (privatised) motorway and had to pay a fortune up front to the recovery service to be taken to their tied garage I don't want to repeat the experience. Yes, you can claim it back off your breakdown service, but it's an unpleasant experience.

No, it's not up to you. They should not be fitted to vehicles which do not have remote pressure sensors. The reason is, once a puncture has occurred, they must be treated as a temporary space saver tyre (or unmatched tyre) - i.e. 50mph/80kph max and only as a get you home type thing. In the link you sent "you can do 100 miles or so at 50 mph all the way home safely". Without remote pressure sensors you have no idea whether you have a puncture, and so could be doing 70mph or whatever.

As eTyres says: "The other essential item of safety equipment for a vehicle with Run-flat tyres is a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS). Run-flat tyres are designed to minimise the difference in ride quality when a tyre is punctured. This is especially the case with motorway driving where there is relatively little cornering. For this reason it is difficult to determine that a tyre has lost pressure or is operating in zero pressure conditions. Should the driver not be aware of a loss of pressure they may well exceed the safety limits imposed by the manufacturer. This would eventually cause the tyre to fail. Run-flat tyres are not indestructible!"

D

Wrong. It is up to you. And it was up to me too! And I know all that. Its easy to tell if ones a bit low just by driving it. I tried it by letting

10 psi out. Feels horrible. So I do not need tp sensors. You might but then thats "up to you" isnt it.

Yep my gran wouldnt notice if you stole the whole wheel. I on the other hand certainly can, even on the rear. As could most on this group I would hope...

For this reason it

As I said your choice! I can easily tell when 10 psi is missing. And you can run a NON run flat at

10 psi down on a motorway at 70 with little likelyhood of a problem. Ask my mum she never checks tyre pressures and they are always half flat... Now she needs tyre pressure monitors on ordinary tyres. I or most of this group dont. Just a bit of "feel" and awareness.