# Punctures - who's had one in the last 5 years ?



## subfiver

Trying to get an idea of whether to retrofit spare-wheel to my new Fiat/Alko chassis.

Who's had a puncture? 
Did you have a spare ?
Did you have a jack that would allow the spare to be fitted ?
Did you use the "goo" in lieu of spare?

In thirty years of tugging, 2 punctures (and I couldn't get the spare out from under to fix one). Have run two cars for 30 odd years and have only once had to change a wheel. Have had many "slow" punctures tho' ... usually a nail or a bad valve.
I do tend to check pressures regularly, and always before a long journey.


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## drcotts

Hi
yes had a blow out on the a11 approx 3 yrs ago.
the tyre was only 6 months old and a 3in rip came in the side of it.

Although i did manage to change it it did raise a point that with a few extra tookls the whole process could be easier.

I did have a spare

The scissor jack supplied with my new van creaks and squaeals when raising the van so i now have a small bottle jack to get it off the ground by a few inches and then take over with the scissor jack.

Phill


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## javea

Personally I don't think it is worth the risk to run without a spare wheel.

The goo is fine if you just have a relatively slow loss of air in the tyre as you will not damage the fabric. However, if you are running fully loaded and at speed there is a distinct probability that the casing will be damaged and you will not be able to reflate the tyre.

Whilst I have tried to keep my payload to a miniumum, I always run with a spare, would be just my luck to have a puncture which ruins the tyre in the middle of the Spanish sierras. :x


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## pneumatician

Me,Me,Me, Two motorhome and one motorbike.

The motorhome ones we discovered on failure no two was that it was the valves failing. Same result tyres wrecked. Changed wheels myself at the roadside. Always carry paper boiler suit and gloves.

Motorbike was 150mm of extruded Al probably fell of a scrap lorry. Tyre again a write off and we were carted home on a recovery vehicle.

I wouldn't depart the drive without a spare. Our new car came with a repair kit. I advised the salesman either replace it with a spare wheel or the deal was off.
I also carry a spare for our trailer when we are towing the motorbike.

Steve


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## JeanLuc

Yes, we had a total deflation about 6 months after getting the van (4 1/2 years ago). The previous owner had fitted some dodgy valve extenders and that was the only apparent cause of the air loss.
I changed the wheel (full spare in the garage) using the standard Sprinter pillar jack, which was more than capable of the task, and the wheel brace, which wasn't!

After that, to make things easier in future, I bought: an impact-grade socket and a short extension bar, a long breaker-bar to undo the wheel nuts and a torque wrench to do them up again. I also carry a thick oak block to spread the load under the jack. I found the effort needed to undo wheel nuts set at 190 Nm was rather more than my muscles were happy with, using the supplied wheel brace.


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## SpeedyDux

Hi,

Yes, a front tyre blew out after running over a pipe dropped by a tanker on the motorway, last July. The tyre had 5 big holes in the sidewall but it saved the alloy wheel as the tyre blowout must have absorbed all the energy of the collision. 

The supplied VW jack was easy to use. I also have a 3 tonne bottle jack but it was too tall to get under the jacking point with the tyre deflated. 

The big problem was undoing the wheel nuts. I have an extending wheel brace but am not heavy enough to exert the force required. Needed help for that. :roll: 

A can of tyre goo would have been useless. I'm glad the full-size spare was serviceable even if it was a pain to get it out of its cradle under the van. 

SD


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## erneboy

I have had two punctures recently. I don't carry a spare but we do have goo in the tyres so neither went flat and we drove to a garage for repairs, Alan.


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## MrsW

I had a puncture in my car when I fell asleep at the wheel Fortunately I was the only one involved andI wasn't injured. The wheel that punctured had only been replaced 2 months earlier when it had got trough all the tread. An expensive afternoon, and I had to call out the RAC as with my arthritis I wasn't strong enough to move the nuts! I've never had a puncture in the motorhome though. We do carry a spare in all our cars and MH.


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## ched999uk

I have had a few flats and blow outs in my time but if on a motorway don't even attempt to change it your self. There have been many cases of people being killed on the hard shoulder while changing a wheel. There was a case recently where a driver killed 2 people who were changing a wheel on hard shoulder: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-16552730. Don't risk it.

If on a motorway call your recovery company to change the wheel it's so much safer. They have an additional vehicle to protect them and they have good jacks and long extensions to undo stubborn wheel nuts.


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## autostratus

In eleven years we've had two, both in France. One of those 4 years ago falls into your survey.

I didn't know I had this second one (on the offside rear wheel) until someone flagged me down at a railway crossing. As the tyre was visibly damaged I limped to a nearby aire and called out the rescue service which is part of our mh insurance.


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## peedee

erneboy said:


> I have had two punctures recently. I don't carry a spare but we do have goo in the tyres so neither went flat and we drove to a garage for repairs, Alan.


I assume you put the goo in on observing the puncture otherwise how would you have known there was a puncture? What make of goo did you use ?

peedee


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## erneboy

Puncture Safe Pete, sorry I couldn't remember the name earlier.

No it's in there all the time, water based so just wipes away to allow a repair. I knew I had punctures because I could see the tyre slowly deflating over a few days and a little of the blue gunge/green was leaking out, Alan.


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## GEMMY

Never had a puncture in m/home, BUT, had a tyre go down because of a faulty Fiat wheel in brand new vehicle. :roll: :wink: 

tony


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## Rapide561

*Puncture*

Hi

Yes I had a puncture on the motorhome - what a shambles.

Only a Fix n Go kit on board. Tye firms said if I used it, the tyre could not be repaired.

Could not drive to the tyre place due to the flat.

Camper Assist were useless

From then on, belt and braces, a spare and a Fix n go kit

Russell


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## KeithChesterfield

We had a nail in the tyre of a hired MH last year resulting in a slow puncture.

The guy parked alongside noticed it and helped me replace it with the spare wheel. The hire van had a jack and brace but no spanner to release the spare from inside the MH garage - luckily the guy was more experienced than me and he had a full tool kit available. 
I did thank him on these forums, but I hadn't got his name, and I hope he realised how much I appreciated his help.

We had the puncture repaired at a Peugeot dealer a couple of miles down the road for around €15.

I had thought, before I saw your replies, that after using the goo in the tyre it was useless and had to be replaced.


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## 04HBG

Yes we have had 3 major blow outs in 7 years all Michelin Camping tyres.

The first about 4 years ago the inside rim blew out completely on the motorway, Michelin replaced that tyre free.

The other two were both last September on the way down to Portugal just north of Alencon, rear left hand side blew the wall out completely. The Michelin garage in Alencon said it would be 10 days before they could supply a replacement but another local tyre depot supplied a new tyre.
We left there and within 5 miles the tyre i had changed for the spare earlier that morning blew out the inside wall so back to the same tyre depot for a second tyre.

All tyres had excellent tread depth but the second tyre had been flat once before when the valve gave out so probably damaged the wall then.

No way would a can of gunge or even six cans of gunge got any of those tyres going again so I woukd never think of buying a van without a spare wheel.

RD


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## 04HBG

Forgot to add that every time i called out the breakdown services as i have never trusted the scissor jacks and my back would not stand the problem of getting the spare wheel from underneath.

The breakdown services, Rac the first then a French garage through Red pennant for the second were excellent but the third blow out the garage that came out for that only had a small jack and brace, too small to lift the van high enough or the brace to fit so he ended up using my brace and scissor jack.

It managed to lift it ok but my heart was in my mouth as no way would i have trusted it, LUCKILY the wheel had been taken off by the first garage only a couple of hours earlier using a large brace and extending bar but even then the second breakdown man had to jump on my brace to shift it.

My guess is if you were using just the brace supplied then no way would you shift the nuts without the use of an extending bar of at least 4 foot long plus some brute strength. 
Many years ago i would have thought nothing of changing a wheel on a lorry using the right tools but to my mind Fiat or any other vehicle maker does not supply tools heavy enough for the job.

RD

RD


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## Zebedee

Slow puncture in a rear tyre due to an embedded flint.

Only done 200 miles in the new van, so the moulding pips hadn't even worn off it - and I had to have a new one (sob!).

I was visiting my friend Spykal at the time and his electric pump re-inflated it enough to get home. I then pumped it up again to get me down to the local garage for a new tyre . . . and to buy an electric pump on a long lead! :roll: 

I would not have tried to change it myself. Just too much heavy lifting in awkward positions, and I already have a chronic bad back.

Had a screw in a front tyre of the previous van, but that was such a small hole it was repairable. A very slow leak again, so no problem getting to where it could be fixed.

I do have a spare, but it's slung under the centre of the van, as they so often are. I doubt if the designers could have thought of a dafter place to carry it!! :roll: At least it's there though, so the call-out boys can get it out and fit it without having to go off and fetch one . . . at considerable damage to my wallet!!

Dave


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## Grizzly

We're on our third in the last 5 years, all slow punctures rather than blow-outs and with 2 different vans.

Two of them were definitely caused by rivets or screws in the tyre and happened, in France, within 100 miles of Calais.

We have had the theory offered to us by a (French ) tyre repairer that the ramp of a ferry sheds the odd screw or rivet on a fairly regular basis and what happened to us is not uncommon.

All were dealt with, quickly and efficiently, by our breakdown insurance who sent out someone to change the tyre. We then took the punctured tyre to have it repaired. 

The only problem came with the first one in our then new (2007) X250 when the jack was hermetically sealed in its packaging under the driver's seat. Several people had a go at a) opening the "drawer" and b) extracting the jack but eventually it was done by brute force.

No, we don't have any goo installed and don't carry sealant but we do check the tyres on a very regular -some might say obsessively so- basis !

Despite the call-outs for tyres and 3 other breakdowns our breakdown insurance premium did not increase.

G

Edit: passenger's seat not driver's !


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## patp

Yup! Middle lane of M25 doing 70mph a couple of years ago 8O . Changed it on the hard shoulder 8O 8O 8O 

More recently when I was in the middle of nowhere with no mobile phone and could not find the jack in the hire vehicle I was in. Had to walk 5 miles to get help :roll:


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## Grizzly

Slightly OT but, from bitter experience of many call-outs I could offer this advice:

1. If you've got a satnav then work out, before you need it, how to operate the " Where Am I? " function. It helps the breakdown service if you can give them as much information as possible.

2. Before you go away print out a sheet of every possible number and detail you might be asked for: all relevant telephone numbers ( including your mobiles- charged, of course), all vehicle numbers ( registration, VIN, make and model etc etc) as well as policy numbers and phone number of company, and carry this sheet where you can find it.

You will be asked- by Fiat Roadside Assistance anyway- for all sorts of information and this way you are saved having to flit round your vehicle ( in the dark or rain ?) seeking out engine number and so on. 

G


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## Antonia

Yep, had a flat caused by a split tube that has the valve on the end of it. 
Half way between Naples and Rome, August 39DegC. Used the Tyreweld till I saw it coming out of the valve tube. Had to change the wheel on the side of the road ( motorway) in a very little pull in.

Lots of needles and SH1 T on the tarmac...yuk!

Lots of sweat later we were on our way to a garage...woke them up ( they were having a kip). They went into Rome and got us a tyre and re installed it as the spare. Job done and on to Rome.

Simples it was NOT. The wheel bolts had been put on by a man with an air powered wrench thing. I had to extend my spanner to give me more torque. I used my (nightime French person bashing stick  ), stearing wheel clamp slotted over the end of the spanner to extend the lever or i would still be there.

Antonia


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## wakk44

Fortunately I have never had a puncture on the van in 5 years(how's that for tempting fate :lol: ).I have had a couple on the car in recent years but a spacesaver spare wheel enabled me to limp to the garage for a repair.

I would never rely solely on a fix and go repair kit and insist on carrying a spare at all times.As has already been said a slow puncture can be dealt with,but a catastrophic blowout and shredded tyre would leave you requiring a lowloader to the nearest garage. :x



Zebedee said:


> ...............and to buy an electric pump on a long lead! :roll: ...............


A thing of the past after Mrs wakk's xmas present-a rechargeable cordless tyre inflator 

No more tripping over the 12 volt cable. :wink:


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## rugbyken

had 2 both total blow out's the one in angouleme the thread seperated and whipped around trashing the step/mudgaurd etc,
the other went while going through roadworks on french motorway managed to get to the end of work's,
the only saving grace is that both were on the rear wheels and controllable, i think it's because the veh was short wheelbase found the new longer base much better.
my mate lesanne had one on his and only then did we both find how inadequate the supplied jacks are


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## hblewett

Like you, I hadn't had a puncture for years, so wasn't worried when motorhome came supplied with goo instead of a spare. However, when we went to Morocco we were strongly advised to get a spare, so we did (from someone on here who had fitted alloys). We had two slow punctures while in Morocco, which didn't cause much of a problem as we had the inflator, and they were properly fixed at a tiny back-street garage. 

However --- last February we were travelling on the Autovia near Zaragossa when we had a blow-out. No gunge would have helped, and it was Sunday afternoon, so no garages would have been open. we decided it would be safer to get a breakdown service to change it, as traffic was heavy. Like Grizzly said, we had all the numbers written down and in the mobile, so there was no problem. The guy came and changed it, refused to let me even pack away the jack, picked up our two warning triangles, refused a tip (can you imagine that in Britain!). 

So we were very pleased we had got ourselves a spare. 

Fortunately OH was driving - I say fortunately, because she said afterwards that a front wheel blow-out was her worst nightmare with driving the motorhome. As it was handled it absolutely fine, whereas if I'd been driving she would have been convinced I had done something magical that she wouldn't have been able to do, and would probably never have driven it again. as it was, I drove for the rest of that day, and after that she just carried on as normal


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## rogerblack

None for years then two in the last 6 months. One a slow which was repairable, one on the A1 whilst Mrs B was driving, was completely flat as pointed out by some kind soul when we stopped at Wetherby services - " I thought if felt a bit odd!" :roll: 

I would never even attempt to change a wheel myself unless really stuck, that's why we have AA cover (as part of our Safeguard policy). AA man attended pretty promptly - happened to be a fellow mher and he agreed it wasn't a great idea to try changing a wheel on a 3 ton vehicle using the supplied scissor jack. Said if he had a puncture in his he would also call out the AA as they all carry a decent trolley jack. Needed a new replacement tyre, somewhat annoying as I had new winters waiting to be fitted back home in Berkshire but as we were on our way to Scotland didn't want to be caught out a third time with no spare.


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## Christine600

Three times in less than a year on my four door sedan. A few years back. Found nails in the wheel two of the times.


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## barryd

Only had one in the motorhome about two years ago in Northern France. Sunday afternoon and the AA sent the most unhelpful obnoxious mechanic to fix it. He refused to go under the van and get the wheel off and tried to make me do it.

I have Arthritis in my knees and find it hard to get down low and fiddle with stuff (Oh err Matron!) 8O 

It doesn't matter anyway as for some reason undoing the spare wheel underneath our van is probably as difficult as taking the engine out. In the end he reluctantly relented and sorted it but not an experience I would like to repeat.

I have considered dumping the spare as it would give us an extra 20KG or so for a bigger bike on the back but I think you need it really.

Had countless blow outs and punctures in cars and bikes but even I can sort those!


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## spaniels

*Puncture in our first trip abroad last year - costly*

We attended a Rally to Erding in Sept 2010 arranged by SW MC club. there were about 8 of us travelling in convoy and between us there were 2 punctures.
1st puncture was a complete blow out tyre shredded - they had a spare wheel so just a wheel change although it was on the side of the Autobahn. Able to do this because carried a jack, etc. 
2nd Puncture - Us. We have a relatively new van so did not have a spare wheel just one of those silly tyre repair kits with a compressor. Our puncture could not be repaired so we ended up having to be towed off the autobahn to a safe service area. Then we had to wait whilst they sourced a tyre which cost us top wack 150 euros (because the only one in the area). Took all day so missed our ferry. Luckily we had breakdown cover so only had to pay for the tyre but a costly lesson.
The first thing we did on our return was get a spare wheel, proper jack etc because once bitten as the saying goes.

We will now always carry a spare


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## trevd01

Quite a few actually. In various cars and two different camper vans.

Most recent:

Hit this










On a two lane section of the motorway










Try mending this with a can of gunk










New tyre, plus new arch liner and repairs to electric step


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## blu66

just had one on Saturday  my god what a job changing it, thought i was on the krypton factor lol


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## Jodee

We began our journey North Wales to Austria Sept 2011. Took short cut up back road from home to fill up with Deisel, and just for us it seemed, they had just finished cutting the Hawthorne hedges again !!! Travelled to Seefeld in Tirol without a hitch. Spent a pleasant five days in Camp Alpin, but as Our A-Class came down off the levelling blocks the RH rear tyre went completely flat. At this point it rained like the monsoon weather in the Far East, but not to worry the last job before leaving home was putting the spare wheel back in the garage (of the camper) it normally lives in the shed at home. After a two hour wait (it was a Sunday) for the chap to arrive and change the wheel (because himself had a heart problem and had not long been out of hospital) we were back on the road again, making for Ravensburg. It took three days to get a new tyre to match the rest (£250.00), when we saw the cause of problem we didn't know whether to laugh or cry ! The smallest thorne you could imagine but it had gone through the inside of the tread sideways, which is why it could not be repaired (our camper has only done about 11,000 miles from new. So no we wont be taking that short cut again thank you, but will live in hope that the next time the hedges are cut someone will sweep the road afterwards, before it costs some other poor beggar their life.
:x :x :x


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## grout20

Hi
Two punctures in the car (30K miles per year) and one in the MH (3K miles per year - most of that across the Channel))
Always carry a spare on the MH, but I did cheat and called out Rescue to change the wheel - nice BIG safe trolley jack!
A silly "goo" kit comes with the car which was no use at all as the tyre had split, so a joyous 3 hours on the side of the M1 on a Friday evening  
The joys of motoring!
Happy MH-ing all
John


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## goldi

Morning all,
On more than one occasion I have found nails and screwws etc in the tyreswhilst still in the driveway. As former trucker I inspected the tyres every day or so, preventive maintenance its called, when hanging about at ferry terminals etc its time well spent. I always carry a spare.



norm


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## Christine600

I never should have read this thread...

Took my mum in my four door sedan this evening to visit her brother. After a couple of miles the car started shaking and the wheels rattled. So I stopped. Two flat tires! 8O 

The front left and the rear right. How is that even possible? AFAIK I did not run over anything in the road.

Well - my car is now at the local garage. :roll:


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## tyreman1

Without a spare tyre you only need to have 1 puncture in the wrong place at the wrong time to ruin a holiday or weekend break and cost you a fortune,i`ve refused to to buy my idea of a perfect van because i couldnt work out a provision to carry a spare wheel....i think its absolute madness to be driving around in 50 or 60 thousand pounds worth of van to be stranded as one other poster was by a thorn,i have a spare on my present van and have also treated the other tyres with punctursafe as i would rather choose where to change my wheel rather than be stuck on the hard shoulder of a busy motorway for a couple of hours waiting for the AA/RAC or similar to find a tyre to replace a blowout.


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## subfiver

Ok, Ok, enough already! I'm convinced .... 8O


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## tyreman1

Good man.....you know it makes sense.....Dave


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## jiwawa

Yes, we had a double puncture on one side on our Transit twin-rear-wheel. One went entirely flat, the other a slow puncture. Think it must have been a broken bottle or tin caught between the two tyres.

We had a spare but called our breakdown service to change it. We were at the side of a very busy road; they had a heck of a job to get it changed. 

Then they escorted us at snail's pace to the garage where we'd get new tyres - a week later, after the hols!!

But it was Cahors, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

I wouldn't travel without a spare - in fact, our insurance insists on it.


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## OllyHughes

Yes In Ireland. Yes.Yes & No. Tire was to badly damaged and had to be replaced. 

Regards Olly


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## BarnacleBob

Hi, Had a puncture Last January in Southern Spain. One of my rear tyre walls was punctured somehow and the puncture sealant in the tyre was not effective on the tyre wall.
I carried no spare, only the sealant and inflation kit supplied with the m'home which would have been a waste of time with this type of puncture.
Luckily our friends travelling with us in their own m'home did carry a spare wheel the same size as ours and so our breakdown service were able to fit that spare enabling us to continue our journey to the Coast.
It then took 5 days for the local tyre depot to obtain a new Michelin Agilis!!
I now carry a spare wheel which I needed to fit quite recently as a result of a tyre valve failure.

Bob


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## HH66

Had a rear tyre blow out on the A55 near Chester last year late on a Saturday afternoon. Managed to get most of the way off the carriageway and then rang the AA as I couldn't shift the bolts. Got home to Cumbria on the spare - good job really as garages etc were all closed.
H


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## WhiteCheyenneMan

Since several posters have referred to doing their own wheel changing, even on motorways, it may be worth pointing out that in the UK at least you should not attempt any repairs, including punctures, on a motorway Hard Shoulder (Highway Code Rule 275). Put your hazard flashers on, turn the wheels to the nearside and exit the vehicle on the nearside leaving animals in the vehicle (unless on fire etc!). Stand 'upstream' of the vehicle and behind a barrier where possible. Don't attempt to put out a triangle!

My Cheyenne came with a compressor and repair gunge all-in-one kit, but we also have a spare wheel, extending wheel wrench and torque wrench. Being paranoid, I have also fitted the Tyrepal system in the hope that we will get some advance warning of any pressure/ overheating problems.

Once a Boy Scout, always a Boy Scout  :lol:


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## DustyR

Only one puncture when parked up on our drive, fortunately ATS tyre depot only 1/4 mile away so inflated and drove to depot.

Our Swift Sundance does not come with spare wheel so have joined the Tyron emergency tyre service where they will come to you with tyre and fit it.


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## grizzlyj

Hi

One thing not mentioned is with an urgent need for a tyre you may not have the chance to shop around. 

And many here have posted that in France you have to change both on that axle, so you have to buy two


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## MyGalSal

Yes we have had a puncture on a fairly new tyre. Huge nail. 

We have tyron bands fitted so we were able to drive to a safe convenient spot and call Tyron Assist who in our minds are well worth their money. It costs £65 for 3 years insurance. (I have remembered this because mine came up for renewal today.) 

We do carry a spare: **** won't fix a blowout. In any case our insurance require it.

Sal


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## ActiveCampers

Two screws last year.

In the tyre - my love life is better than that


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