Carry a Spare or not?

[GotSmart]

Along with a good spare comes a good jack.  

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-...iODQuOTkiLCJwcm9kdWN0X2lk IjoiMTAwOTcifQ==

 

[eDJ_]

I always carry a kit with plugs and a "heavy built" hand tire pump.  Many a time I've plugged a flat as soon as I noticed the tire losing air.  Then pumped it back up and continued to where I could get it patched from the inside with a 2way patch.  

I've learned that  if the tire is half way through it's tread it's
about as cheap to buy a new tire at a discount tire place and keep my old one. (buy a small 2way patch kit
and patch it myself.  

On my Van the spare is mounted high on the Left rear door with a cover over it.   I had a door ladder on the right side and once I lashed the old repaired tire on the ladder with pieces of rope till I got home.

I have one buddy who is a firm believer in a product called  "Slime" (pale green stuff)  He slimes every tire he owns. Boat trailer tires, kids bicycles, and you name it.   Says he never really has tire problems now from nails
etc. 

Anyone here use Slime ?

 

[GotSmart]

I always carry a kit with plugs and a "heavy built" hand tire pump.  Many a time I've plugged a flat as soon as I noticed the tire losing air.  Then pumped it back up and continued to where I could get it patched from the inside with a 2way patch.  

I've learned that  if the tire is half way through it's tread it's
about as cheap to buy a new tire at a discount tire place and keep my old one. (buy a small 2way patch kit
and patch it myself.  

On my Van the spare is mounted high on the Left rear door with a cover over it.   I had a door ladder on the right side and once I lashed the old repaired tire on the ladder with pieces of rope till I got home.

I have one buddy who is a firm believer in a product called  "Slime" (pale green stuff)  He slimes every tire he owns. Boat trailer tires, kids bicycles, and you name it.   Says he never really has tire problems now from nails
etc. 

Anyone here use Slime ?

I have filled a lot of tractor tires with Slime.  It works in the Ozarks with the Osage Orange spikes.

 

[East]

Its wise to carry a spare definitely. I need to rewrap my spare though, noticed it cracking a little bit last I checked up under the vehicle.

 

[ccbreder]

If you have a harbor freight jack, be sure to use stands. I have three from Horror freight they all leak down.

 

[highdesertranger]

I use the slime but only on my quad tires. my quad tires last about 10 years. I don't use it in my truck tires, I use quality plugs, but only if it's an emergency and only to get me to a tire shop. tire guys do hate the slime/fix-a-flat stuff, your not going to make friends with them with that stuff in your tires. highdesertranger

 

[LeeRevell]

I have used Slime before. It's good stuff and not flammable. Also nontoxic. I have their 12VDC mini air pump too. I carry it on my bike.

 

[SoulRaven]

I haven't seen anybody else mention it soooooooo......

When I was driving box vans, steppies, or anything else where I either couldn't or didn't want to mount a spare in the rear, I mounted them to the front with a bumper mount.

The only catch I have found when mounting them to the front, is you can't use a cover, because it will block too much air to the radiator. Without a cover and white spoke wheels or similar, I never had any overheating issues.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

The big tires on our 1 ton van are too heavy for me to lift and I think too heavy for a rear door rack. We've had to make room under the bed for the blasted thing since I'm from the old school that says to carry a spare.
I also carry a good 12V pump and plug kit.

On the subject of plugs...I have used them for years and never had one replaced with a patch. Never once had an issue.

 

[LeeRevell]

I have only ever had one tire with a nail through the tread. Two tires had sidewall cuts, irreparable. Another experienced intern separation of rubber layers, leading to partial deflation, holding just enough air between delaminations to get me a couple miles to a service station. I consider a spare absolutely necessary. I just flashed on an idea for spare carry, if I need to take it off the back door. Under the bed frame, over the left wheelwell, in an area that would be of little stowage use otherwise.

 

[LowTech]

Right now 1 spare for the Draggin', and 1 for the trailer. Working up to 2 each. Also heavy duty plug kit (For the trailer) and a few tubes for the Draggin' (tube tires).
I've picked up nails many times over the years in my trailers.

Need to add in big truck tire irons and a beadbreaker to have all I need for changes of any kind. Sometimes I see no one for weeks.

Slime is the stand-by in all my mtn bikes. Used to do Mtn Bike tours in the desert and slime was mandatory.

 

[SoulRaven]

I currently do not carry a spare.

I'm at a transition point between two vans. My old ChevyG20 had a full sized spare mounted to the back before 3 tires went, now the other two will go any day (seeing as they're over 12 years old) and purchasing 3 tires is so not in my budget, especially for a van I'm not keeping. And especially when the brand new tires put on the front a few months ago are already showing uneven wear from the loose pitman arm issue that would be another $200 to fix. It's a mess that I'm done with. At the moment I drive slowly with baited breath in urban areas with my AAA card on hand.

The minivan I'm moving into is an AWD purposefully designed with no room for a spare. Mounting a spare to the outside somehow would compromise my blend-in "stealth", which is crucial amidst my stomping grounds.

I'll obtain some sort of slime and/or repair kit thingie and call it good until one of the tires go or they wear down enough to require replacement, at which time I'd be more established and better able to evaluate how feasible adding a spare to my interior setup would be, as well as whether my physical capacity has improved enough to potentially do it myself if necessary.

For now I stay within cell signal or around populated areas so I'm not terribly worried. AAA callout is the same whether the tire is changed for you or the vehicle is towed a short distance, and as I'm currently unable to change a tire myself I cannot justify the expense and the precious space used.

In theory, I'm all for spares - in practice I'm forced to prioritize.