I'm not a fan of the Croma's space saver wheel, especially as (I believe) the space under the boot is big enough for a full-size wheel, so I'm looking to buy a single 18" wheel.

I recall reading a thread on here where one or two people said they'd replaced their 18" wheels with 17" ones. If anyone still has their 18" wheels hanging around would they consider selling them individually?

I'll offer a reasonable amount plus postage.

Is anyone else also looking for a single 18" wheel? Please raise your hand if so. If four people want one each then we can organise buying a set (after sorting out delivery costs with the seller).

I've read that the space savers are only good for 50mph, and you shouldn't continue your journey but should instead divert to the nearest garage (although no figure is given for how far you can go). I really don't fancy doing 50mph on a motorway - I've seen people doing it and they look like an accident waiting to happen.

I have 4 18's with good bridgestone potenzas, and had not thought of trying one as the spare. Will try it later and confirm.

The wheel will go in the hole, but is about 1 inch too tall, according to my measuring. Did not actually try it.

Aw bum.

Now I'm confused. Why would the hole be much too big for a space saver, but not big enough for a full size one?

Having said that, the 16" wheels are only 205mm wide, instead of 225mm for the 18". Perhaps that explains it - it was designed for a standard size wheel only.

I've got some tyres on order, so I can have a trial run with a tyre only.

When having my tyres replaced I tried a wheel in the boot hole and it was perfectly OK on diameter and about half an inch too high.

This leads me to think that a smaller width tyre but same rolling radius would be a viable option.

Still means you have to buy an odd size tyre AND rim, but if like me you tow a caravan or trailer the strain on a space saver of the extra load is a worrying concern.

Another solution would be to make a plywood false boot floor/spacer, with a cutout hole, to raise the whole of the boot rear carpet by about half an inch. This to me seems the better solution and you will then be 110% legal with regards to tyre sizes on same axle. Alternativley live with a bump in your boot

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Another solution would be to make a plywood false boot floor/spacer, with a cutout hole, to raise the whole of the boot rear carpet by about half an inch. This to me seems the better solution and you will then be 110% legal with regards to tyre sizes on same axle. Alternativley live with a bump in your boot

Click to expand...

That sounds like an absolutely excellent idea, and my woodwork skills are infinitely better than my car fixing skills.

I'd just need to check whether this would stop the floor up/down mechanism from working - hopefully it has a bit of play in it.

So, are you interested in selling one or more of your wheels individually Keithglos? If you're in Gloucester I'll be passing through there probably next Saturday. Name a sensible price and we can make this happen!

I don't know how practical posting would be - if they have a tyre on then it'd probably just need a sheet of cardboard on each side, then wrap in bin liners and parcel tape. The tyre will give the wheel all the cushioning it needs. I don't know what they weigh, but I've used this company before to send heavy stuff...

www.parcel2go.com

They mainly use DHL - they just turn up the next day and take it away.

Hi Doofer, let you know later, any idea of value?
You are a Prestigio, so have the double layer of boot floor. With the tyre sticking up you would not get the second boot floor down to the lower level. The upper boot floor is not strong enough for heavy items, but you could still hide stuff in the 5 inches or so between the 2 floors.
Keith

Hello again. Yes, I know about the adjustable floor, but I need it to work at its lower level as I will be carrying bags of cement and bricks. This car is an executive builder's lorry for me - only DIY, but an extreme form of it!

I don't know about value. I know cheapo new alloys are from £200 for four, so add a bit for being FIAT, then subtract some for second-hand. The tyre doesn't have much value to me, as I'm about to have all of them changed so can salvage one of the better existing ones. I don't know really, as I don't know how much these wheels would cost in the first place.

Thinking more about it, my two rears have a bit of bubbling around the valves. I might be interested in two (at the right price!), to keep one of mine as the spare. Assuming yours are A1 condition obviously.

I tried the dealer about swapping the wheels under warranty but they said no. I may take it up with FIAT themselves yet though (not the 3rd party company that administers their third year warranty). I feel a little cheeky as I'm not the original owner, but worth a try. I've read mixed reports as to whether people succeed on this.

If they replaced them and let me keep one of the existing ones that would be ideal, but I don't expect to be that lucky.

I'll be driving through Gloucestershire on th 16th, not next weekend as I said earlier, so no panic to decide just yet.

Right, got my new tyres now so able to experiment. These are obviously uninflated, so they may bulge a bit when blown up. I'm also assuming that the tyre is proud of the wheel on each side (very likely).

My conclusion is that Keith was right - about an inch is spot on. I tried packing up the boot floor by an inch using lengths of wood, and ensured that one length was hard up against the hinged end. There's enough slack in the carpet to take it.

My wood was actually about 28mm and the floor would drop down OK, it just made a brushing noise against the carpet (like a door in the house does when you get a new carpet). However, at this height, the back (of the car) end was springing in the air - it would push down very easily, but didn't want to stay there.

So I reckon 25mm would give the wheel enough clearance, and allow the floor to sit properly.

The worst case scenario is that I have to take off the floor height adjuster (4 allen key bolts), and file out the holes (only plastic) into slots to allow it to sit a few mm higher. I don't think this would be necessary though.

I was initially thinking I needed the floor to not touch the wheel, but I realised it's designed so that the spare is the main support for the boot floor. This is why there's a packer under the space saver, and a warning in the manual saying not to remove it.

So all in all, I conclude that it will fit, and the up/down mechanism will still work.

I reckon it's well worth the hassle to be able to get rid of the pram wheel. Sod's law says I'll never have a puncture after going to this hassle, but that's fine by me - it's peace of mind I'm after.

So name your price!...

Oooh someone with a moving floor - could you take some photos of how it works? Please?

Hellcat said:

Oooh someone with a moving floor - could you take some photos of how it works? Please?

Click to expand...

No problem, will do tomorrow. It's not very exciting, but it does work OK - it gets rid of the boot lip, but you can't put much weight on it when it's up. I'll get the max figures off the underside of it tomorrow. This kind of defeats the point somewhat - it would be handy if I could slide bags of cement straight out of the boot, but it would need to be made of scaffold tube for that to work.

Hi Doofer, the upper floor is only held in by a couple of bolts and swivelling links (I think) . if so you might remove it and replace it when you sell the car.

I was hoping to offer my wheels as a set, before you got the tyres. One wheel has a small dig on the outer edge, and the Bridgestones are 3 just over 5mm average and one nearly new. They were original equipment type, and on the car when I bought it. I don't have the tracking problems that some people had.

I'm thinking of buying a second-hand alloy to use as a spare. I've noticed that many don't have a centre cap. Does anyone know whether the cap serves any function (e.g. keeping things clean), or is it purely decorative?

It's only to use as a spare, but I want it to be 100% safe to use for any distance at any speed.

If one's needed then are they standard - e.g. can I stick a Fiat cap on a Vauxhall or Saab wheel?

The centre caps just pop out from the inside and can be swapped between wheels.

Plus they're not very expencive from Fiat. We need a pair for Bunny's 17s.