In the letters section of the September 2011 Caravan Club magazine on page 40 (headed "Going spare") a chap is reporting that he has discovered that the wheel "studs" (I assume he means "bolts" since he's talking about a new caravan) that hold his alloys on are not the right length if he needs to use his steel spare wheel.
His dealer offered to sell him some that are suitable!
Has anyone any knowledge/experience of this problem and how widespread it might be?
Seems incredible if a spare wheel supplied by the manufacturer can't be used if the need arises.
Different wheel bolts are used for alloys & steels. If you have a steel spare you need to carry a set of bolts to suit. Spare wheels & carriers are often fitted to a caravan as an optional extra, obviously a set of extra bolts should be supplied as part of the full kit.
I asked that very question when we took delivery of our new Sterling last year and was told (by a chap who spoke with confidence) that the studs were interchangable between the standard alloy wheels and steel spare......you have me worried now!
My Lunar came with a steel spare wheel and a set of bolts for it as standard. The bolts are different to those used on the alloys. Mr UM ~I think the dealer may have misguided you.
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I don't think the spare wheel is supplied by the manufacturer, it is usually a dealer fit option. He will source an Alko carrier, spare wheel & suitable bolts all from different suppliers.
As described it sounds as if dealer failed to supply bolts, it just sounds like poor workshop practice. When picked up on this the dealer added insult to injury by charging for the bolts which I guess he would have done anyway if he had included them in the first place.
Tentz, Spare wheels are standard on all Lunar models, will have to check on others. The wheel nuts for mine were in a pack that included the manuals for the 'van.
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Hi all. Being in the motor trade all my life (since leaving school of course) i was always informed that the only difference was that an alloy bolt has a alloy washer to avoid corrosion with the alloy? (against the steel bolt) As for different size i am not sure why differnet length in bolt. I have a Ranger 540/6 with alko carrier and no spare bolts. Best check now just in case.
Quote: Originally posted by birder99 on 29/8/2011
Tentz, Spare wheels are standard on all Lunar models, will have to check on others. The wheel nuts for mine were in a pack that included the manuals for the 'van.
Seconded!
Lunar supply a set of bolts for the steel spare wheel! The supply of a spare wheel on a carrier has been standard fit on all Lunars for the last few years.
We have a bailey senator and i have just read the manual regarding spare wheels and it says if using the alloy wheel bolts on a steel spare wheel to tighten up to the same torque as a alloy wheel.
Dunc.
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Best we all buy Lunars then.. but certainly some makes of caravan have retro fitted spare wheels & carriers. It is important to match correct bolts to wheels, best case is that they won't fit, worst is that they will loosen while driving. The length & shoulder shape has to be correct.
The customer cannot really be expected to know this but if the dealer does not know either then that is unforgivable.
I think it will depend greatly on the alloy wheel involved. Some will have longer bolts than others. If the bolt is too long then with a thinner steel wheel fitted the bolts may protrude too far into the hub and foul on the brake mechanism.
I had this a few years ago with a car, but found that the steel wheel was fine on the front with the longer studs as there was nothing behind for them to foul. I ended up taking an alloy off the front to put on the back in place of the punctured wheel and fitting the spare to the front.
Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 29/8/2011
I don't think the spare wheel is supplied by the manufacturer, it is usually a dealer fit option. He will source an Alko carrier, spare wheel & suitable bolts all from different suppliers.
As described it sounds as if dealer failed to supply bolts, it just sounds like poor workshop practice. When picked up on this the dealer added insult to injury by charging for the bolts which I guess he would have done anyway if he had included them in the first place.
The spare is standard fit on Baileys Tentz, if you look on the youtube videos showing the Bailey factory visits, the chassis starts its life upside down with the axle, spare wheel & its carrier fitted along with other items prior to it being turned right side up & going on the main line.
Having said that, we weren't given a set of steel wheel bolts when we picked ours up new but I retained the steel whweel bolts from our last one when we had alloys fitted. This thread has made me think now & I'll have to make sure they fit.
Is it not possible the bolt holes in the drum allow the securing bolts to go straight through so, unless there's a risk of the excess thread fouling something in it's rotation they "should" be OK but this would need checking with supplying dealerships for safety sake.
I understand there's staff from Bailey regularly following this forum so perhaps one of them could answer the questikon at least in respect of Bailey vans & others may follow.
My caravan has alloys & a steel spare but no jack? So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the wheel bolts might be the wrong type. Having said that both our cars have alloys and steel spares but no additional bolts were supplied?
I bought some winter tyres and steel wheels for my wife's car last year and bought some suitable bolts at the same time as the wheels were to used all over winter. But in an emergency I guess you could get home with alloy wheel bolts (assuming you have a jack of course).
Quote: Originally posted by audicab26 on 30/8/2011
... But in an emergency I guess you could get home with alloy wheel bolts (assuming you have a jack of course).
Not if the bolts are so long they are jamming up against the brakes, it would be like trying to get home with a wheel clamp fitted. The other common difference with wheel nuts is the angle of the taper can be different and some wheels (normally only commercials or 4x4 wheels) have no taper on the nuts at all but rely on the hub alone to centralise the wheel with the nuts just having flat encapsulated washers. Trying to use a flat washer on a tapered wheel or vice versa is asking to lose a wheel and is almost certainly going to lead to severe vibrations as the wheel may not centralise properly.
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Topic: Bolts for spare wheel
but certainly some makes of caravan have retro fitted spare wheels & carriers. It is important to match correct bolts to wheels, best case is that they won't fit, worst is that they will loosen while driving. The length & shoulder shape has to be correct.
