Sticker In Glovebox

[sanjsanj]

I opened the glovebox today and on the bottom left hand side, (bottom refers to the side closest to your legs) i saw a sticker which according to my iq was about the spare wheel and how it shouldn't be driven on more than 50 MPH or 80KMPH.....i mean the spare wheel isn't exactly a space saver one is it?

[Bigjeeze]

I opened the glovebox today and on the bottom left hand side, (bottom refers to the side closest to your legs) i saw a sticker which according to my iq was about the spare wheel and how it shouldn't be driven on more than 50 MPH or 80KMPH.....i mean the spare wheel isn't exactly a space saver one is it?

 

 

Sanjsanj - this questuion is not nonsesne it should go in the Questions about the Galaxy not here - this si for idiots like me to play silly buggers!! - You are also more likely to get a sensible answeer!

[sanjsanj]

well the ting is, i feel safe for posting here.....if i'm going on about something that no one knows about then its ok...

[Guest MATT jr]

i have seen this "50mph" limit in the handbook, im not sure why - as, like you say, its a full on alloy wheel (ours is anyway). my 1st thought was "maybe they dont bother to balance the spare wheel, and so might vibrate or something?" 2nd thought was "maybe there worried if someone changes the wheel, and does not tighten the nuts up enough, as a wheel flying off at 50 is better than at 70 or more (u noughty ppl!)" 3rd thought was "maybe there trying make us worry about our spare wheels, so we dash back to a garage and have a bran new tyre?"

 

another thought was - do tyres go "funny" when there not used?

 

MJR

[sanjsanj]

i have seen this "50mph" limit in the handbook, im not sure why - as, like you say, its a full on alloy wheel (ours is anyway). my 1st thought was "maybe they dont bother to balance the spare wheel, and so might vibrate or something?" 2nd thought was "maybe there worried if someone changes the wheel, and does not tighten the nuts up enough, as a wheel flying off at 50 is better than at 70 or more (u noughty ppl!)" 3rd thought was "maybe there trying make us worry about our spare wheels, so we dash back to a garage and have a bran new tyre?"

 

another thought was - do tyres go "funny" when there not used?

 

MJR

well i DO know that after 5 years the rubber disintegrates....on a molecular level.

Quote (from somewhere i read): "Using a tyre older than 5 years is a recipe for disaster, if anything is going to happen to your tyres, be sure it will happen to the tyre offending the 5 year rule."

I actually believed in this and proceeded to check the tyres and noticed a 6 and a half year old tyre....i mentioned this to my father who as usual didn't take any notice....on the way back from glasgow, that very tyre had a puncture when we were around Rugby / M1 J15.....thing is, we didnt even notice for at least 20 miles untill a good samaritan winded down his window and signalled us...

[Guest HairyPlateEater]

My Mk1 has 4 16" alloys with 215 55 tyres and 1 15" steel spare with 195 65 tyre. Due to the wheel/tyre mismatch with the spare fitted it'd be possibly unsafe to drive at 70 mph. I guess its Frauds get out clause should anything go wrong above 50 mph. "I know ... we'll hide a sticker in the glove box about the potential safety aspect - everyone will see it there!" :rolleyes:

[bus_boy]

Just guessing - but could it be to do with using wheel nuts designed for alloys on steel rims?

[Guest HairyPlateEater]

Nope .... when replacing my useless fraud locking wheel nuts last week I got replacements studs from fraud. He came out with the studs and double checked with me that they were for the steel wheels (even though I'd told him twice that they were for the Ghia Alloys!!) He checked the part numbers again and confirmed that its the same part for both.

[neiluk]

My Mk1 has 4 16" alloys with 215 55 tyres and 1 15" steel spare with 195 65 tyre. Due to the wheel/tyre mismatch with the spare fitted it'd be possibly unsafe to drive at 70 mph. I guess its Frauds get out clause should anything go wrong above 50 mph. "I know ... we'll hide a sticker in the glove box about the potential safety aspect - everyone will see it there!"

 

I've go this sticker too. I've just noticed I've got a Continental Sport Contact 205/60 R15 95H as a spare tyre on a steel wheel on my Mk1. My other tyres are 215 55 16's just like Cepheus's. I've looked at my wheel changing equipment and it is as new/never been used. This is making me think that this tyre has been on the car for 9 years and should be changed.

 

Is there anyway I can tell roughly how old the tyre is?

 

Is this size of tyre/wheel compatable with the rest of my wheels if I do need to use it?

 

From other peoples posts here, Galaxy's seem to start their lives wearing Dunlops (though the Galaxy's in my 1996 brochure have Continentals on).

 

Thanks for the help,

 

Neil.

[mumof4]

Yessssssssss....there is a way of seeing how old the tyre is...........umm..ang on..i posted the info a while ago..gimmee two mins.

[mumof4]

copied from a post i did last yr.

 

can i just add....if you lot didnt know..something that i learnt at college on my course last week...

 

One other number to look at on a tyre is a number that follows the word treadwear.....the higher the number the harder the tyre and the longer it lasts but also grip is not as good....the lower the number the softer the tyre is and wont wear as well....but the grip is better.A number say in the 300s is best.Now this number is not put on every tyre..but it is a guide as to how hard/soft the tyre is.

 

Also..look at what the tyre is made of..and the plys it has in the sidewall and the tread...usually the side is 1 ply and the tread is 2..my full run tyre has 2 on the side and 3 or 4 on the tread,,cant remember which offhand.

 

Also on your tyres, if you see the word D.O.T. foloowed by a series of numbers then a set of 4..that 4 set gives you the date it was made..so..say..it says 4006..that means it was made in the 40 th week of the year 2006.

Again..not every tyre has this on it and it can be anywher on your tyre from the side you see when its on the car or the side you see that you dont.

 

Also..even though Dunlops are the recommended tyre for the Galaxy, because they do have a very soft tread, they are better on the back than the front.....

 

well..shall shut up for now...the tyre has soooo much info on it.....you just have to know how to read it all.

[neiluk]

Thanks Mumof4. I'll see if I can get my head a bit further under the car to see. I'm a bit wary of trying to lower my spare wheel as I may never get it up again properly :blink: . I hope these D.O.T. figures have been going for some time.

 

Neil.

[turk90210]

Hi all, never posted on here before but been looking for a while so please bare with me

 

Alot of manufacturers are now supplying what they deem as "emergency" spare wheels (space savers, steel wheels when you have alloys fitted ect) believe it or not some dont even supply a spare now, instead they supply a can of foam sealer type stuff (it was around years ago)and if you want a spare it is classed as an extra and as such costs you.

The reason for the 50mph/80kph sticker is because you will usually find that the spare is of a different size in some way (be it the rim or just the tyre itself if you have what looks like a proper steel rim) and as such the manufacturer sticks a speed restriction on it useage. This is because technically you cannot put different size tyres on the same axle, but as someone mentioned before its the manufacturers get out clause

So in a nutshell if you have a space saver then its obvious your restricted to 50mph, for those of you who have what looks like a proper spare (steel or alloy rim) then check the tyre size if its the same as the other tyres then you can use it as normal ,if however the size is different then you are restricted to the 50mph aswell

On another note someone mentioned the wheel nuts/studs,

if they are original wheels and nuts then there will be no problem if you have alloy wheels and a steel spare the nuts will be ok to use, the only manufacturer that I know of that might use different nuts is merc's but there is usually a large sticker on the spare telling you of this. If the wheels are ""not original"" (usually alloys) then be careful as they rarely use the original nuts and as such might not be compatable with your spare( usually you only buy 4 fancy wheels and use your original spare) so if this is the case then keep 4/5 of the original nuts to use on your spare if ever needed