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MG MGB Technical - Spacesaver wheel

Having recently replaced the tyres on my Minator alloys because of their age. I would like to get rid of the Rostyle spare which is even older, and must be unusable. And with the stow away hood in the boot, there is little room left.
Are there any other car manufacturers spacesavers that can be used?
c cummins

I wouldn't touch a space savers, proper tyres everytime.
K Harris

I Think I remember reading that a Saab one fitted. I'd be inclined to replace the tyre, as AFAIR they are designed for max 50mph but also limited mileage use.
Michael Beswick

Actually a spacesaver in an MG is an interesting idea. Yes they are limited to 50 MPH. The thinking is that it gets you to where you can have the failed tyre reapired or replaced. You should be aiming to do this ASAP anyway. I was pleasently surprised at how well the Fiat coped on its space saver on the only occasion I had to use it, carrying your speed on sweeping A road bends is not ro be attempted of course. I think the MGA is a car that would benefit more, we have always coped fine in the B for luggage.
Stan Best

Actually, there is a lot of room under the RO style wheel (or in it, depending on how one puts it in the boot) to stash tools, jumper cables, spare coolant hoses and fan belts, etc. All the emergency stuff one carries in the trunk, leaving the rest of the space for luggage. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

The wheel of choice is a pre 1987 Saab 900 spacesaver. I've been l0oking for one for while now as I have no spare having just changed from wires to alloys. Saab changed the hole spacing from 4.5 to 4.75 inches in 86/87. I believe the correct ones are coloured grey. Don't go for the orange ones. I'm still in two minds as to go for this or a full sized wheel. The spacesavers are certainly cheaper.
Steve Church

Thanks for the replies. It seems secondhand spacesavers are well sought after due to a lot of manufacturers not supplying any sort of spare wheel.
There seems to be a few 4 stud 114 PCD around, but they are for small cars, and the stud and centre bore may be a problem.
c cummins

Intereting thread on these space savers. My colleague at work here in Queensland rang in saying they were going to be late as they had a flat and did not know how to change a wheel! She is a very nice young girl with a mini ( new ones!) I thought, hold on a minute I will come to you. When I got there I thought 'should be easy to change the wheel must be a space saver in the boot'. No, there was not!! What there was, an electric air pump and a can of aerosol tyre goooh. Idea, you put the goo into the tyre then use the eletric pump to inflate again. Than is all very well, but the tyre had popped the bead at the rim!So we had to leave it. Apparently in some states here, you don't need the wheel at all, but, not much use if the tyre is shredded or off the bead, and you are in the middle of nowhere! I have minilites, but still keep a standard spare, with the correct section tyre, if I have trouble, I can still keep a good pace with this spare on. Mike
J.M. Doust

How about carrying an early MGB wheel (4J) as a spare? They're not that much bigger than the Saab wheel if fitted with the standard 165R14 tyre. They're good for 100 MPH too.

I had an interesting experience with our Renault Espace (2001) and its space saver wheel in the snow. It would have been no worse if I had replaced the tyre with the castor of a shopping trolley! I have now left the space saver in the garage and put a proper winter tyre under the car. c cummins, you say there's a market for these things? Must put mine on ebay!
Mike
Mike

My only experience with driving on a space saver (daughter's Honda), a matter of a few k's, convinced me I would NEVER buy a car with that as a spare. Handling is massively compromised. Down here we get the majority of our deflated tyres on country roads, often miles from any prospective tyre replacement point. I recognise not everybody is situated as I am. I also note that more and more manufacturers are going that way.
Regards
Roger
Roger T

If your car, like the MINI mentioned, comes with a DIY kit; and that's the way it's going for a lot of cars, a spacesaver is a +.
I used one of those gloop cans on a ride on mower, it only half inflated the tyre and blocked the valve so I couldn't pump it up.
My daughter has just bought a MINI and spacesavers on ebay go for £30 to £40.
There are some cars with 4 stud 114.3 mm PCDs that use spacesavers, but offset and overall diameter seem to be a problem. On reflection I will just stick a used tyre on the Rostyle; but as I said, with the stowaway hood in the boot ther is little room for anything else.
c cummins

My regular car has bloody run-flats. Yes they get you off the motorway to a safer place, and also get you home but virtually no-one will repair them, so you need a new tyre just for a puncture.

FWIW if, as is the case with some Minis, you do have run flats, a spacesaver will no doubt get you home but will probably put the ABS light up. Add a friendly garage to turn it off after the new tyre is fitted......
Michael Beswick

I bought a Mazda in Alabama, and on his way to fetch me at the bus station, the guy hit a large iron block that fell off a truck in front of him in heavy traffic; destroyed the wheel, so he put the spacesaver on. We took the car to have the replacement wheel/tire fitted the next day and I drove the Mazda, and noticed that we were going indicated 80mph which seemed a bit much. I asked him how fast we were going and he said 65mph. With the real wheel on, the speedo was correct. After thinking about this for a while, it came to me that if you put a different sized wheel on one end of a driven axle, the diff sun/planet gears are spinning mightily trying to equalize the discrepancy, and the diff gears and bearings are absolutely NOT made for this sort of continuous duty. I've not seen mention of this additional limitation on speed/distance for use of the spacesaver, but this is a major concern. Especially on an FWD car, you could expect to destroy the entire gearbox/final drive, but just loosing the rear axle on an RWD car is also pretty inconvenient. This is the sort of damage that may well not be noticed until much later, although a hundred miles at interstate speeds could give a satisfying instant gratification. No spacesavers on my cars, but they are good for garden carts and shop trolleys.

FRM
FR Millmore

I've just bought a spare Rostyle and tyre so no more looking for a spacesaver. I must admit that some of the comments on here have made me glad I did.
Steve Church

My (limited) experience with my Auris which picked up a puncture is that when you squirt the can of sealant into the tyre (providing it is not off the bead then as someone else has said - new tyre anyway)and pump it up with the electic pump, the tyre dealer will not be able to repair even the simplest puncture as they cannot fully clean the inside of the tyre so that a patch can be applied. This experience cost me a new tyre for the sake of a puncture. I will call out the RAC next time and get them to take the wheel to a tyre dealer for repair!
John Turner (Midget & MGB)

How much room does your stow-away hood take up? I find mine takes up very little room at all. The hood sticks fit round the spare wheel, the hood itself can either lie flat on top of whatever is in the boot or be rolled up round the header rail as in the manual.

I normally fold the hood above the window and fold the quarter windows in and fold the front of the hood with the header rail over the top. This is reasonably flat and the header rail curve is close to the curve of the boot lid.

If I'm really stuck for room, the hood can go in the car, behind the seats and under the tonneau cover.

Mike

PS: The space saver tyres of today look like the MGB tyres of yesterday!
Mike

This thread was discussed between 18/06/2011 and 23/06/2011

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