Got a screw loose – or just a wheel?

Changing a wheel used to be second nature for motorists. It was something you learned in driving school, and the necessary spare wheel was usually on board. Which was just as well. Without a mobile phone, calling for roadside assistance on a country road was far from easy. If the worst came to the worst, drivers had to rely on their own skills.

Today, full-size spare wheels are increasingly disappearing from new vehicles. Even so, millions of older cars still on Europe’s roads continue to carry one and are often mounted underneath the vehicle, as on the legendary Volkswagen Type 2 “Bulli”. Out of sight and out of the way, they can also potentially become out of mind.

Corrosion, rust, constant strain, or contact with the underbody such as during off-road driving, can gradually weaken the spare wheel mount along with its screws, bolts, and retaining clamps. Left unnoticed over time, the mounting may loosen or, in the worst case, even fail completely.

Before it comes to that, AIC Germany offers two spare wheel mounting kits covering more than 4.3 million vehicles on Europe’s roads.