wheel sizes

[mattrich]

is it legal for your spare wheel to be of a different size to the other four?

[Loosehead]

It should be the same diameter, not necessarily the same thickness.

[dilligaf]

It is illegal if fitted to your car unless it .s a specially constructed spacesaver which when fitted is only temporary and has its own limitations in relation to speed and excessivly harsh braking.

[wduk2005]

yes it is legal. also legal to not carry a spare at all.but illegal to have a spare punctured, flat or with illegal tread.

[Toureman]

No. Spare wheels and tyres are never inspected during the MOT test.

Also some new cars are not supplied with spare wheels or the room to put them!

[Toureman]

Sorry first word should be yes!

[SurreyGuy]

Are you sure, Toureman? I always thought that it wasn't a legal requirement to carry a spare wheel/tyre, but if you did carry one, then it had to be legal. Surely it comes under the "if it's there it should work/be legal" rule?

[kepla]

It is perfectly legal to carry whatever tyres and wheels you like on your vehicle - round, square, flat, inflated. The 'spare' wheel is no longer inspected at the MOT test. If you want to keep an odd collection of non-matching wheels in the back of your car then it is up to you. The law only comes into it when you USE a wheel by actually fitting it to the vehicle. At that point the vehicle construction and use regulations come into play. Basically, amongst several other things, they state that the wheels on either side of an axle MUST be of the SAME size and type. Drivers whose vehicle came with one of those pathetic little 'space-saver' wheels, which are legal in some other coutries, get away with using them by the cops 'turning a blind eye'. A similar situation applies to several other weird foreign ideas on some new cars - for example, the handbrake on some new BMWs which is not purely mechanical.

[mattrich]

the problem is that my 4 wheels are 195x60 and my spare is 205x50. This came with the car and the car was bought from a vauxhall dealer.I would like to know the facts before i contact them as they have a habit of telling lies if they think that they can get away with it.

[Toureman]

Just a quick post on another subject that very few drivers know.........

If the police ask you for your driving licence and you cannot produce it you have actualy commited an offence.........BUT, if you take it to a police atation within 7 days they will not proceed with the offence.