Holts Tyreweld

B

Brian-Northampton

Administrator
I saw an article in the 'Helpline' section of Februarys Practical Classics. The question was actually posed by someone wanting to shed weight for reasons of MPG and wanted to get rid of the spare. PC doubted the reason, but did suggest Holts Tyreweld as it can be washed out with warm soapy water to allow the tyre to be repaired. This led me to ponder over getting a can so that next time I'm swearing over not being able to get everything in the boot, I can opt to leave the spare behind, and take a can of tyreweld.

I assume there is some merit in the stuff as I know that some new Vauxhalls are now being without a spare, but with a can of similar stuff.

Anyone got any experience?

Tescos are currently selling it for £5.60 or thereabouts.
 
I don't know what it's like now but many moons ago I tried it a couple of times, once on a moped and once on a car and both times failed completely. The tyre blow up then slowly deflated. I thought is was illegal to have no spare, in fact I'm really sure. On one of the TV cops progs they pulled up a guy because he's front tyre was shot. He put the good spare on and the copper said that he should get that sorted as it's illegal for the spare to be bold. I also think it's part of the MOT???? Has it changed?

I do wonder sometimes If the p6 has been better with a floor mounted fuel tank and folding back seats, bit like my old E36 BMW had.
 
richarduk said:
On one of the TV cops progs they pulled up a guy because he's front tyre was shot. He put the good spare on and the copper said that he should get that sorted as it's illegal for the spare to be bold. I also think it's part of the MOT???? Has it changed?
Click to expand...

It is illegal for the spare to be bald, but it's not within the scope of the MOT, so you can get a valid MOT pass, and then get nicked for the dodgy spare the minute you drive out of the test station, especially if the Tester has put down the condition of the spare as an advisory.

Easiest way around the problem IMHO is a boot mounted spare kit.
 
harveyp6 said:
richarduk said:
On one of the TV cops progs they pulled up a guy because he's front tyre was shot. He put the good spare on and the copper said that he should get that sorted as it's illegal for the spare to be bold. I also think it's part of the MOT???? Has it changed?
Click to expand...

It is illegal for the spare to be bald, but it's not within the scope of the MOT, so you can get a valid MOT pass, and then get nicked for the dodgy spare the minute you drive out of the test station, especially if the Tester has put down the condition of the spare as an advisory.

Easiest way around the problem IMHO is a boot mounted spare kit.
Click to expand...

My Audi has an LPG system fitted and therefore no room for a spare tyre. I have a tin of that tyreweld instead.

It may be illegal to have a bald spare, but is it illegal to have no spare?
 
AFAIK you don't have to have a spare wheel for the MoT but if you have one it has to be roadworthy, if not you can fail the test. Same for carrying one on the road, if you have one it has to be legal but you don't have to have one. It's just mighty inconvenient if you get a flat & you don't have one. I've never had the spare checked on an MoT test though.
 
The Rovering Member said:
AFAIK you don't have to have a spare wheel for the MoT but if you have one it has to be roadworthy, if not you can fail the test. Same for carrying one on the road, if you have one it has to be legal but you don't have to have one. It's just mighty inconvenient if you get a flat & you don't have one. I've never had the spare checked on an MoT test though.
Click to expand...

See my post above, the spare has to be legal to be in the car when in use on the road, but is not part of the test so as far as the test goes it can be bald. There's no requirement to have one at all, but I'd say that would be very shortsighted.
 
S'pose thats why I've never had the spare checked for the MoT. It would be shortsighted & I must put some sort of spare in the 2000 as she only came with 4 Revolutions. I could put a standard wheel in which wouldn't be ideal or I've another set of alloys which are roughly the same size so one of them would do as a get-home. For either I'd have to carry 5 standard wheel nuts as the Revo's have those tube/collar type fixings. Whats the technical name for those? Ideally I need another Revo'.
 
mot - my tester told me the spare will be checked during a test if possible but if it is illegal will not fail the car, only issue an advisory note and many new cars do not carry a spare now, they either have run flat tyres or a can of sealant.

Holt Tyreweld - I used to work as a tyre fitter and hated trying to fix a puncture which had been treated with tyreweld, it was always messy and not easy to clean and repair.
If tyres are fitted with tubes I found tyreweld did not usually work, I believe because when tubes burst they usually deflate more quickly than a tubless tyre and the fluid does not have time to seal the hole.

It would be nice to do without a spare but I would not take the chance.

Robert
 
That little spray can saved me this summer when we found a flat as we hooked up the pop-up camper to head home. I didn't want to drive 400 miles on the silly little spare, and it was Sunday,so no service stations open.
We made it home, no problems, and I replaced the tyre shortly after that.
 
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