+1 on Willy's advice.<br><br>I remember back when I was 17 and got a flat in my old man's Oldsmobile in a rainstorm, and it took me 2 hours to figure out how to remove the damn hubcap as it had a special locking mechanism and tool to remove it. Knowing where the jacking points are is very important too, and carrying a block of wood to distribute the load on unpaved surfaces is wise as well.<br><br>I would never rely on AAA instead of carrying a spare. One can change a tire in 10 minutes and be on their way, or call AAA, wait for a few hours for them to show, remove the tire, take it somewhere to be repaired or replaced, return to the vehicle, re install it and then be on their way 6 hours later. Putting them selves at the mercy of every person in between. no way would I willingly subject myself to that. And I doubt the person who didn't carry the spare when they needed it would ever be caught without one again, and the know how to do it themselves.<br><br> I've now got a full size spare of the same make and age are the rest of my tires that I've introduced into the rotation which I do more often than required. which allows me to check the condition of my brakes and adjust the 'self adjusting' rears, which do not self adjust very well.<br><br>One thing not yet mentioned is torquing the wheel lugs properly and evenly. Not doing so, or doing so very improperly can warp disk brake rotors, causing the brake pedal to pulse and braking performance to suffer. While it is not realistic to travel with a torque wrench, One should have a basic idea of how much 90 to 115 LB/ft of torque is, and apply that torque to the lugs in stages, in a star pattern. One should also know how much torque their studs require. The 90 to 115 range is what my manual states for my 3/4 ton 5 lug Dodge.<br><br>While I had one hingepin shear on the door carrying my spare tire, this same door once carried two full size spares to the tip of Baja and back, over hundreds of miles of washboard, and rough roads.<br><br>I was not able to remove the pin sections myself and brought the hinge and new pin to a machine shop. Would have been cheaper to just get a new hinge from a junkyard.<br><br>I'd never waste internal space carrying a spare inside, and would get a door carrier if my Van did not come with one. I weigh 220 lbs, and regularly stand on my Spare tire mounted on the back door. One just needs to make sure the door is not floating, but that the bottom guide is resting on the metal where it was designed. Had I done this, I doubt the hinge pin would have sheared.
