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spare wheel mount


tommydud

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We have just had a puncture on our 2010 Fiat X250 which the RAC swiftly dealt with. However it appeared to me that the spare is hanging under the van on a single wire with no supporting metal cage. Should the cable break or become dislodged from the wheel does the wheel drop to the ground and frighten any following driver witless?

What happened in your two cases? Do I need a sticker on the back of our van to warn following traffic that I carry a spare wheel and may do a Dambusters impersonation!!??

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Guest pelmetman

Recently had my 20 year old spare replaced with a 10 year old tyre............ and received a telling off from Dave Newell :$

 

But that was nothing to the comments I got from the tyre shop as they tried to access the spare tyre and swap it over, it does make me think what the AA man will say should I get a blow out and I call them to change it :-S

 

Motorhome designers did not give much thought to the access of the spare in those days, but at least I do have a spare :D

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Guest pelmetman
Dave Newell - 2010-10-14 8:55 PM

 

That's a bit harsh Dave, I didn't "tell you off" as much as advise that replacement now might be better than getting a puncture and then finding your spare gave up soon after fitment :D . I know your comment was made with tongue in cheek ;-) .

 

D.

 

I'm off to the naughty step now (lol) (lol) (lol)

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I wonder why they stopped putting the spare under the bonnet. Seems a much more sensible place to put it.

 

With a rear tyre blowout and the back of the van low down in the mud I imagine it is quite difficult to get the spare out when it is underneath at the back.

 

Phil.

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This has been a problem on X250 vans.

 

To start with, we had trouble removing some spares or putting the back on with the winch cable becoming insanely tight. More alarmingly there have been a couple that arrived at the workshop with no spare and no carrier, just a severed wire and winding mechanism looking very rusty. We initially put this down to theft but upon closer inspection, the part of the cable that was broken would not be accessible to a thief.

 

I will pause while the implications of this sink in........

 

We ordered some new winch mechanisms and they did not arrive. The part number changed and the later parts did not arrive either. We were told that the new parts were not up to scratch and were not released by Fiat for sale until a couple of months ago. The new items have arrived and are working fine.

 

It took nearly 18 months to get the new parts. I do not know if they will be any better than the original ones. The part number is 1361585080 and it is about £150!

 

Incidentally, in the name of balance I should mention that our local BT fleet workshop has had to change "over half" of the carriers on their 2008 Transits, which mirrors our experience with our service customers' vehicles.

 

Nick

 

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Guest Peter James
euroserv - 2010-10-15 10:14 AM

 

This has been a problem on X250 vans.

 

To start with, we had trouble removing some spares or putting the back on with the winch cable becoming insanely tight. More alarmingly there have been a couple that arrived at the workshop with no spare and no carrier, just a severed wire and winding mechanism looking very rusty. We initially put this down to theft but upon closer inspection, the part of the cable that was broken would not be accessible to a thief.

 

I will pause while the implications of this sink in........

 

Nick

 

Thanks for the info.

Now you mention it, I have noticed a number of X250 vans on ebay with the spare wheel in the back, not on the carrier!

When it had sunk in I have just been out and secured my spare wheel with an additional ratchet strap. (X250 maxi van) I noticed though, that if the wheel wasn't wound up fairly tight it would swing about loose on the carrier, continually bending its supporting cable. And since it was only held by this thin steel cable it would be easy to imagine the mechanism being damaged if it was tightened up like a wheelnut!

So I guess its necessary to get underneath to watch the wheel being wound up, to see it is not being wound up too loose, or too tight. I can see why either could result in the spare wheel falling off.

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Makes me glad the new Auto-Trail we have just ordered has the spare wheel in its own stylish, secure and easily accessible special carrier on the back. Makes one wonder why more manufacturers have not copied them. Clearly their designers have never tried to extract a spare at night one the road side in the rain!
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I fitted a racthet strap on my Ford when new as I dld'nt trust that weight hanging on a bit of thin wire. It was hit and miss to get the handle onto the end of the winch, as it is not visible through a hole in the rear of the van, until I put a pipe sleve on the end of the handle to guide it onto the spindle.
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Guest Peter James
I suppose we will never know whether these spare wheels falling off has been caused by over tightening or under tightening the cable, or by the spare wheel grounding? (The low floor of the X250 is great for interior space, and stepping in and out, but doesn't give a lot of ground clearance)
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Can't really over tighten it as a safety latch engages when fully up, do make sure it engages mine won't unless I put a jack under it.

 

Yes they do fall off if they hit things, when I was changing my garage door I had to move the van & drove over the corner of the old door lying on the drive, it flicked up caught the spare & it dropped down.

 

 

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After a puncture I had problems with the spare wheel mounting in that I couldn't get it to re-wind. Fiat dealer confirmed mounting cable etc needed replacing but this was not covered by the third year of the warranty. (ACE now Swift). After a call to Fiat care they agreed to cover replacement and all labour and the unit was duly replaced by Fiat dealer within a couple of weeks. (bits came from Italy). During the whole process both Fiat and my dealer, Wessex of Gloucester, were brilliant and kept me fully informed. I shall however get the RAC to change it if I get another flat! I have the Ducato 2.2 2008 registered but guess the spare wheel mount is pretty much the same on them all.
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  • 1 month later...
Guest Peter James
lennyhb - 2010-10-16 5:49 PM

 

Can't really over tighten it as a safety latch engages when fully up, do make sure it engages mine won't unless I put a jack under it.

 

I have never found a safety latch on mine (2008 model X250 Maxi commercial van) The wheel appears to be held up by only the thin winding cable. I can see nothing that would stop this cable being overtightened, or under tightened. (?)

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lennyhb - 2010-10-16 5:49 PM ....... Yes they do fall off if they hit things, when I was changing my garage door I had to move the van & drove over the corner of the old door lying on the drive, it flicked up caught the spare & it dropped down.

So potentially a 25kg (thats half a hundredweight to you metric types! :-)) spare wheel dropping horizontally onto a motorway at 70 odd MPH.  Oh goody!  What happens next?  How high can a 25kg wheel bounce at 70 MPH? 

On second thoughts, I'm not sure I want to know any more, especially if it means finding out by discovery learning.  Bloody hell!  :-(

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Brian, mine dropped down down at an angle and the tyre shoulder hit the road as it was still attached by the cable. You also need to hit something quite big a t the right angle to dislodge it, chances of it happening on the road is minimal , millions to one I would think.

 

 

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I have had the same sort of spare wheel storage set up on different transit pick-ups for the last 20 years

 

The spare was held on with a thin wire bond, these vehicles go through all sorts of abuse but never could I imagine the spare wheel coming off.

 

Cheers

 

Dawki

 

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My Transit-based Hobby has a 'winch' mechanism to raise/lower the spare wheel. The wheel is attached to a wire, but there is a secondary safety-cable that, if the winch-wire broke, should keep the spare-wheel still attached to the chassis.

 

Pity that Ford made the winch winding-connector out of putty-metal and a shame that Hobby built a motorhome body that prevented accessing the connector with the Ford-supplied tool. But otherwise it's brilliant!!!

 

(I have seen an underslung spare-wheel fall off a car. It was at dusk and the wheel skittered along the road at about 50mph shedding streams of sparks.)

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Well, thanks for the reassurances, the original reference to the wheel dropping down was quite worrying!  Even with chances at one million to one.  I just wonder how many vehicles with that kind of attachment are circulating Europe's roads at any moment in time?  Made me think, anyway!  :-)
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My spare is quite accessible in the rear, transverse locker.

However, those outside, underslung bracket holders for spare wheels are most vulnerable to thieves.

I have seen more than a few being stolen from cars parked on my road by commuters, before local authority imposed parking restrictions. It rakes about 2 mins to cut through the bracket with bolt cutters, and wheel is ready to take.

My 999 calls initiated an attendance in 5 to 20 mins. Too late.

And perpetrators vehicles never registered anyway for follow up.

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