Spare Wheel

We don't have a spare wheel on our Merc Sprinter based Devon.
It doesn't appear to have a spare wheel carrier underneath.
I have recently fitted roof bars and a ladder.
So I was thinking of buying a spare and putting it on the roof.
There are brand new steel sprinter wheels with 235/65/16 Tyres on eBay for about £90.
We do carry slime etc but I would be happier with a complete wheel even if it does require help to change the rear.
Any comments and advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Frank & Mandy

Can it be kept weatherproofed up there? Only a steel wheel will probably rust and leave a nasty orange stain where the water runs off. Also having direct sun on the tyre will quickly degrade the rubber.

a lot of old VWs keep the spare on the roof. My concern would be in my ability to lift it up and down, especially in the bad weather that comes with a flat.

Many thanks for your comments
I was planning to put a fitted cover over the spare wheel to keep the sun and rain off
It may be worth wax oiling it too
I guess it will be over 25kg so it will need two of us and a bit of rope to get it on the roof
Frank

there are many posts on here from people who have converted bike racks to hold their spare wheel. Is that an option for you?

Thanks for that
We usually carry bikes on our bike rack
I have seen some great threads putting the spare on the tow bar
But I don't think it will fit under the bikes.
We also have a trailer that we may want to tow from time to time
I did have a Landrover with the spare on the bonnet!
regards
Frank

I am of course incorrect. They are from people who have converted tow bars not bike racks.

Frank there's a spare wheel carrier for 2006 on Sprinter on ebay for £30. Collect only though.

Willy many thanks for that.
Do you think a wheel carrier will fit on a Devon with all the tanks and  stuff underneath.
Has anybody retro-fitted a under slung wheel carrier to an Autosleeper Merc Sprinter?
Yesterday changed a couple of Tyres and kept the best old one and fitted to a good used sprinter steel wheel. So I now have a low cost spare.

Hi Frank
      I think you will be wasting your money,The Devon is based on the short wheel base sprinter chassis cab,there is just not enough room under the body,that probably why AS do not fit one.
    Regards
         Alan

Frank, my Devon has a spare wheel, on a carrier like the one on ebay. There is a cross member just aft of the anti-roll bar on mine and the carrier hangs from that.

willy eckerslike wrote:Frank, my Devon has a spare wheel, on a carrier like the one on ebay. There is a cross member just aft of the anti-roll bar on mine and the carrier hangs from that.

Could you post some photographs of your spare wheel and carrier, please?
On our late 2014-build Stanton the fresh water tank is immediately behind the anti-roll bar and there is insufficient room to carry a spare wheel anywhere under the van. Presumably your tanks are fitted elsewhere, or are smaller? I understand that A-S can fit smaller tanks but at the time of ordering our van they wanted £1800 extra!!!! I considered that £62k was already quite enough to fork out.

Frank: I would not like to have to get a spare wheel on and off the roof of a Devon/Stanton- they are really HEAVY! Are you sure that your roof bars will carry such a weight without punching holes through the roof?

We have successfully put the spare wheel on the roof.
One person on the roof with a bit of rope and the other on the ladder made the job mangeable
I had already fitted 3 transverse roof bars made of 25x50 aluminium square section
So I have now run 2x2m aluminium bars fore and aft
The spare wheel sits happily on these with a fixing I also made of 25x50mm aluminium section
I have then put on a white wheel cover with a couple of extra bugees I made up round the cover in the the tyre tread groves.
Looks fine.
I have also put a bottle jack in with the spares in the passenger footwell.

Wow - that's some persistence! I recently weighed the 16" wheels on my van - just over 26 kilos each. I wouldn't fancy trying to get one of those off the top of a wet, slippery van in the rain on the side of the M4 in the dark! If it were me, I'd probably have gone for a can of spray-in slime and an AA subscription...

Getting the wheel down will be very easy thanks to Iasac Newton.
If we have to change wheels at the roadside the old one will go in the cab between the seats.
I think it's certainly worth carrying slime as well.

Frank.Hatfull wrote:Get the wheel down will be very easy thanks to Iasac Newton.

Hopefully Isaac will be there to catch it so it doesn't go bouncing off down the road or into a nearby ditch, and it would be good if he could give you a hand polishing out the scrapes and scratches on the bodywork too. I've heard he's quite good at that!

We transatlantic sailors always carry a lenght of rope.
Bowline round a roof bar.
Bite through the wheel
2:1 purchase 
And gently lower it down the the length of the ladder.
Easy with no bouncing or bashing

Perhaps it really is easy for some people, but you won't find me scurrying about on the top of a van moving a 26 kilo lump of steel and rubber about while 35 tonne trucks hurtle past 2 metres away! If you're having an off day and don't feel like it, don't expect an AA man to do it for you...

I don't believe that the AS standard option of no jack and no spare wheel is ideal either.
I also don't think that the AA cover north of the Artic Circle in Norway.
So I am very sorry but the spare is now on the roof where hopefully it will stay but it can be retrieved if necessary.

I understand your point, and in your circumstances perhaps you don't have any choice (though if I were that far from civilisation I would probably just stick with the van until a recovery service could bring me a new wheel!).

But I think under "normal" circumstances it doesn't make much sense to put a van spare (or anything that heavy) on the roof.

I thought Mercedes say you don't need a spare as they can get a replacement to you "very quickly" anywhere in Europe.

I have to admit that the idea that I would have a phone signal and that they could find me quickly at the Red Bull Ring was a big reason for buying a Nuevo with a spare. I hadn't even considered the Arctic circle in my thoughts.

Hi,
The only trouble with the slime is that kwik fit etc. Will not repair a punctured tyre with this gunk in and also there is a limit to how far you can travel as it is only a temporary repair, so from a simple puncture you are now looking at a new tyre plus a new tin of gunk. This is why on my Jazz I have invested in a spare wheel. I have had 3 cars with space savers and never needed them, my last puncturs was on a company van, I pumped it up and drove to kwik fit. Hopefully I will never need the spare but then again in 50 years driving I have never made an insurance claim, these things come under the heading of necessary evils.
Chris

chrisvesey wrote: my last puncturs was on a.....

don't worry, I have had all of yours for you. I have even had them when my car has been sitting parked at the side of the road.

Hi,
Thanks Dave, saved me a lot of bother, I will of course now get a puncture,
Chris