Grand C4 Picasso - spare wheel carrier kit.

[Old-Guy]

The new car doesn't have a spare wheel (nor did either of those I saw advertised with one!) - just a compressor as the 'ANTI-BURSTING BOMB' (can of tyre sealer) is missing. Not only no spare wheel, but no jack or wheel brace either! A new C4 jack (they're all the same) is £35!!! Sadly, the storage space is too small to take my spare Xantia jack. Before I go any distance, I'm going to sling a Xantia wheel, 17mm socket on short breaker-bar and jack in the boot just in case. Wheel/tyre not ideal, but better than a skinny space-saver and a whole world better than having to call for recovery in the event of a puncture!

However, the handbook has instructions specific to the Grand C4 Picasso for 'Access to the spare wheel' that also caution against carrying a flat full-size wheel in the spare position as it reduces ground clearance. So obviously, a spare wheel carrier is/was available. Measurements indicate a full-size wheel would hang about 40mm below anything else and right at the rear.

For my car, citroen.service lists, under Spare wheel carrier, the fasteners for fitting one, but no carrier mechanism (aka spare wheel winch)! There are at least 3 part numbers for the winch mechanism and they seem to be successive replacements and thus presumably interchangeable. There are Peugeot/Citroen kits specifically for fitting a spare wheel carrier to Pug 3008 and Grand C4 Picasso - does anyone have any experience of 3008 or Grand C4 Picasso fitted with a spare wheel carrier please?

Once I've got a 'winch' installed (looks like a half-hour job), I'm going to try out various wheel/tyre combinations. Does anyone know offhand what the PCD for Xantia wheels is please? You can see what I'm considering...

[elma]

I've got 108mm in my head as the pcd for Citroens. I think it's right.

[Old-Guy]

4 x 108 is certainly right for the C4's 16" rims, I was hoping/assuming the Xantia is the same.

[Paul-R]

The PCD may be the same but is the off-set? I can't offer an answer, just a warning.

[Old-Guy]

Thanks for the warning, I am aware of the potential pitfall. Provided the wheel doesn't foul, a small discrepancy in the position of the centre of the contact patch isn't going to matter for a few miles - I'm looking for a 'get me to home or where I'm going' solution that's better than a space-saver. For safety, I'd always swap a rear to front to get two correct-size tyres on the front if necessary.

[elma]

Thats exactly how I play it if the spares an odd tyre.

[Richard_C]

If your Pic has plastic shiny wheel nut covers don't forget something in your toolkit to get them off so wheel brace will fit. You can buy the proper thing, or get a stainless steel teaspoon and whack the end of the handle to create a small ridge. Sometimes they just pull off with fingers, but when its dark, raining, covered in mud and slush ....

Citroen seem to be learning that customers like at least a space saver and don't like the can of gloop. Spares, jack etc are now coming back as standard fit on most models - although oddly not on some base trim versions.

[Old-Guy]

If your Pic has plastic shiny wheel nut covers don't forget something in your toolkit to get them off so wheel brace will fit. You can buy the proper thing, or get a stainless steel teaspoon and whack the end of the handle to create a small ridge. Sometimes they just pull off with fingers, but when its dark, raining, covered in mud and slush ....

Mine has rusty steel bolt-heads instead! A set of shiny covers is on the list but first I have to de-rust the bolt-heads (phosphoric acid).

Thanks for the tip about a DIY solution - I'm quite a dab hand at making tools. The official tool is a complicated plastic moulding that I suspect is too-easily crushed if accidentally stepped on in the dark. 5 minutes ago, sorting through my Xantia tools, I found a suitable hook formed from a section of broken S/S aerial - serendipity! Can't remember what it was for, fair bit of effort so it must have been important. New use found; I'll glue a few inches of fluorescent boot-lace to it - highly visible, virtually unbreakable, and absolutely FREE.

[Old-Guy]

I've just ordered the kit and a wheel-brace via e-Bay. Supposed to arrive Wednesday. Still can't find the right jack (672594) anywhere on-line, may have to order from local Citroen dealer.

[RichardW]

I'm sure ours has got a jack, brace and cover removal tool in the other well to the compressor (behind the driver I think) - despite there being no spare to change to!! I think the release tool for the hand brake is in here too. I would get the proper tool for removing the caps - I tried to get them off via other means before I realised we had the tool, and just broke them - whereas the proper tool which pulls on 2 sides at once gets them straight off.

[dnsey]

A pair of longish flat-nosed pliers is as good as anything for the caps, and might prove useful for other things if included in your car toolkit!