Puncture plan for a loaded camping car: find the spare
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Before loading boxes over the boot floor, find out what the car actually carries for a puncture. A full-size spare, a temporary-use wheel and a repair kit each need a different plan.
Open the compartment at home
Use the handbook to see what is supplied and where it lives. Michelin UK lists a jack, the owner's manual, a fully inflated spare and a wheel wrench as essentials, with a torch, wheel wedges and a puncture repair kit as helpful extras. It also suggests a high-visibility jacket and a reflective warning sign. Check what your car really has, and do not assume equipment moves over from a previous car.
Find the locking wheel nut key if your wheels have one, before the car is packed. Michelin also says to practise changing a tyre in a secure place such as at home, and notes that a change can take under 30 minutes depending on confidence.
Read the limits before you plan onward travel
Michelin says temporary-use and space-saver spares come with restrictions of use that you must follow, as set out in your vehicle handbook. For smaller spares it says they should not be driven over 50 miles per hour, because they have less traction and cope less well with poor weather. It advises getting the tyre checked as soon as you can and replacing the flat with a new one.
Read the actual limits for your car and keep them with the trip papers. A figure from another vehicle is not a substitute, and a temporary spare is not permission to finish a remote holiday on the original plan.
Keep the spare in good order
Michelin says to keep the spare fully inflated and to check its pressure regularly, including at every professional safety check. See the cold tyre pressure guide. It also strongly advises changing tyres after ten years, replacing any damaged tyre or one at the legal tread wear limit sooner, and having tyres checked by a professional every five to six years. Ask a tyre professional about the age and condition of an older spare.
Check access in the loaded car
Photograph how the spare and tools are reached in the packed car. Ask whether you can get to them without unloading heavy items somewhere unsafe, and where a removed wheel would go without blocking passengers or leaving loose luggage. The packing guide helps with the layout.
If you tow, or add a rack or box, ask the vehicle maker or a competent tyre professional whether anything changes for the spare. The vehicle prep checklist has the wider pre-trip checks.
Keep roadside safety first
Michelin's steps start with slowing down and stopping on level, stable ground, using hazard lights and wearing a high-visibility jacket. Follow your handbook for jacking points. Michelin says never to put any part of your body under a car supported by a jack. This page does not give a wheel-changing procedure; use your handbook.
After fitting a spare, Michelin advises visiting a tyre specialist as soon as possible to check the wheel is secure and the damaged tyre. If you are concerned the spare is not at the correct pressure or safe to drive on, it suggests calling a recovery agent. Check what your policy arranges with the breakdown cover questions.
One-page puncture card
- What the car carries: full-size spare, temporary-use wheel or repair kit.
- Where it is, and the handbook page.
- The speed and use limits for your spare.
- Locking wheel nut key location.
- Last pressure check date.
- Provider number and the nearest tyre service on your route.
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