"NY" wrote in message
o.uk...
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
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On 19/10/2018 09:35, Brian Reay wrote:
How difficult would it have been for them to put a hexagonal head on
the bolt of the same size as the wheelnuts? That would have been a
proper solution.

Your spare wheel idea gets my vote.

There is an argument for no spare wheel at all since frankly 50% of the
population can't change one - its an AA (or equivalent) callout and they
are quite capable of asking what tyre size you have and fitting one at
the roadside as trucks have long done

Do the roadside trucks carry a supply of spare tyres of all sizes and the
ability to fit the right tyre to your wheel?

No they dont and it just isnt feasible with the
different wheel rim nut arrangements alone.

I never knew that. I thought they would just fit your spare and then leave
you to find a garage to get the puncture repaired -

That might have changed with the common lack of a full sized spare now.

assuming garages are open at that time. I've never had to use the AA or
RAC to change a wheel - apart from the one occasion when I couldn't
release the spare wheel from its under-floor cage, due to the stupid
"screwdriver and screw" arrangement that Peugeot used on the 306, and on
that occasion I was able to change the wheel myself. The RAC man said he'd
give me £5 if I could do it quicker than he could have done *using my
wheelbrace, not power tools*. I won :-)

When I reported the puncture to RAC, I wasn't asked what size tyre so the
RAC man could make sure he had the correct size in his van, and he didn't
offer to replace the tyre once he arrived.

But presumably they would know what was needed when
you described the car you were calling them out to assist.

I was gobsmacked that my wife would wait for AA, RAC or Green Flag instead
of changing it herself and being on her way in a few minutes. I offered to
show her how I do it, but she said no. The only time I wouldn't change a
wheel is if it's the offside when I'm on the hard shoulder of the
motorway, and even then I'd sacrifice the tyre and crawl along the hard
shoulder to the next junction to find somewhere safe to replace it, or
else give it a quick burst from my electric pump to make it safe(r) to
drive on for a short distance.

I managed to have one so flat that even the pump at the service
station wouldnt inflate it and that was the spare. By pure fluke
a mate of mine who I have known since he was a little pre school
kid who used to show up at my place most days for something
interesting to do happened to be there too and took it home
to his place and inflated it on his mains powered compressor.
Bitterly cold and wet in the winter at night with all the tyre
places closed too.