Hi folks, first time posting here and I am doing so on behalf of my daughter.

She is in Belgium on holiday at the moment and unfortunately earlier today she clipped a kerb and ripped the sidewall of her driver's side rear tyre. She has been able to fit the space saver wheel that came with the car when she bought it about 1.5 years ago. But when she tightened the wheel bolts up the head of the bolts ended up about a quarter of an inch out from the actual wheel and she can now spin the spacers that I assume are there to spread the load on the alloys using her fingers. Hopefully I can post pictures.

She is due to leave early on Tuesday morning to head back to Dover and with nowhere open due to Easter she can only get a new tyre in Dover. Obviously I am not happy about this situation, I have told her that she cannot exceed the speed rating on the tyre which is the usual 50mph so it will take her about another two to three hours to get to the ferry but I am most concerned about the wheel bolt situation and whether it is safe.

Can someone who has a 2011 Focus with the space saver take a look at the pics and video and tell me if this is normal? If not then she is just going to have to stay on in Belgium and get the tyre replaced when everywhere opens up again.

Along with the pics I have uploaded a short video to YouTube which shows this better.

 

While the cars jacked up see if the wheel can be moved as the nuts do not seem to be securing the wheel. If the wheel is loose, do not drive the car

 

First these are not the correct wheel nuts that a 2011 Focus (either a MK2.5 or MK3) should have.

These are the 2-piece design wheel nuts which have a loose conical collar. This type of wheel nut was discontinued in 2008 and replaced by a 1-piece design wheel nut.

Despite being not the correct wheel nuts these can be used on the MK2.5 alloy wheels rather safely. On a MK3 however which has the new design global alloy wheels these wheel nuts should never be used because they come loose.

Second the 2-piece design wheel nuts can safely be used on an original space saver or steel wheel (both the old design and the new global design). 

These wheel nuts have a fixed conical tip in front of the loose collar. This is what is clamping the space saver or steel wheel. Once the nuts are tightened the loose collar does not contact the space saver or steel wheel and can freely rotate

Many thanks for the replies guys. I shall pass that info on to my daughter but I think I have her convinced that the best course of action is to stay in Belgium for another few days and get a proper tyre mounted on the alloy. 

I can see from your pic @wilco how that bolt would work for both the alloy and the space saver. I know that her boyfriend replaced the wheel bolts a few months ago and has obviously  got the wrong ones. I shall source the correct ones immediately. Thank you for the information.

@paulshe hasn't been able to get the car up on a jack to see if it is loose as of yet. She is going to do that tomorrow but has to drive outside of the village she is in to get a hard standing on which to use the jack safely.

Apart from the bolt situation the drive to Calais is around 148 miles door to door and I really don't think that length of drive should be done on a max 50mph space saver on the motorway with a 85mph speed limit so I will continue to persuade her to stay for a while longer and get a new tyre.

Once again thanks. Daughters eh?

 

15 hours ago, xox101 said:

the drive to Calais is around 148 miles

I think the maximum miles you can drive on a space saver wheel is 50 - 70 miles

On 4/10/2023 at 2:19 PM, Carl123 said:

I think the maximum miles you can drive on a space saver wheel is 50 - 70 miles

...and directly to a place when you can fix your flat tyre or fit a new one.

45 minutes ago, PaterAnt said:

...and directly to a place when you can fix your flat tyre or fit a new one.

There is no mandatory distance legislated on how far you can drive on a spacesaver wheel. (how on earth would you even determine such a thing??) Hopefully the young lady in the OP has been sorted by now and will be home in time to witness the traffic chaos caused by a visiting USA president!

10 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

There is no mandatory distance legislated on how far you can drive on a spacesaver wheel. (how on earth would you even determine such a thing??) Hopefully the young lady in the OP has been sorted by now and will be home in time to witness the traffic chaos caused by a visiting USA president!

Try telling that to a Belgian traffic cop.

On 4/9/2023 at 9:10 PM, xox101 said:

Hi folks, first time posting here and I am doing so on behalf of my daughter.

She is in Belgium on holiday at the moment and unfortunately earlier today she clipped a kerb and ripped the sidewall of her driver's side rear tyre. She has been able to fit the space saver wheel that came with the car when she bought it about 1.5 years ago. But when she tightened the wheel bolts up the head of the bolts ended up about a quarter of an inch out from the actual wheel and she can now spin the spacers that I assume are there to spread the load on the alloys using her fingers. Hopefully I can post pictures.

She is due to leave early on Tuesday morning to head back to Dover and with nowhere open due to Easter she can only get a new tyre in Dover. Obviously I am not happy about this situation, I have told her that she cannot exceed the speed rating on the tyre which is the usual 50mph so it will take her about another two to three hours to get to the ferry but I am most concerned about the wheel bolt situation and whether it is safe.

Can someone who has a 2011 Focus with the space saver take a look at the pics and video and tell me if this is normal? If not then she is just going to have to stay on in Belgium and get the tyre replaced when everywhere opens up again.

Along with the pics I have uploaded a short video to YouTube which shows this better.

 

Some space saver wheels come with their own shorter bolts which must be used. Preferably don't use one on the front.

8 minutes ago, PaterAnt said:

Try telling that to a Belgian traffic cop.

Why, are you saying they don't know the law, and have mistakenly followed you for 70 miles??