How important is a spare tire

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Yep...I hear ya Willy.<BR><BR>tha'd be just my luck...<BR><BR>out in the frikken middle of nowhere, 2:30am, raining, on a Sunday night (or early morning for you purists)....and having some oddball size tyre on my rig ...and no spare!! <IMG class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif"><BR><BR><BR>.....NO THANX!!!!<BR><BR><BR>2 for me please!
 
&nbsp;My '75 Winnebago Brave was one of those rigs with odd sized tires. Even used, showing up on a blue moon on Craigslist, people were asking $200-300 a pop. New.. ferget it. .Willy.
 
My Isuzu NPR Navi has 2 spares on chain hoists under the stern, one front, one back. When I got it, the very 1st thing I did was make sure the jack/breaker bar/lug wrenches etc were all present and correct. As a force of habit I also carry a screed of tools onboard, spanners, 1/2" socket set, extended sockets etc etc. The right tool at the right time can be a present from heaven!<br><br>So far I've needed the front spare only. I got lucky, it went flat overnight in a motorcamp, so no damage done and v easy to change. I had a flat on the rear, but having duel rear tires, I didn't know until a 6 monthly inspection. Now I beat on the tires whenever I think about it with a crowbar. So far so good.<br><br>There is a case to be made for keeping a floor jack onboard, they are cheap to pick up and work much better than the standard equipment, having a bigger foot print they are less likely to sink into the mud or sand. Also if you are on a funny angle on the road berm, the standard jack may not have enough height to lift the wheel off the ground, I've had this before. A hand trowel and your leveling blocks can get you out of this fix. If you dont want to have a floor jack on board, a good size bottle jack is nearly as good.
 
If you carry a floor jack, bring along a 2 1/2-&gt;3'x 12" length of wood (1" plywood or thicker works well) for it to roll on. In fact, a nice 'n wide wooden base is a good idea for any jack, given that the ground can often be rather soft and the jack base can start sinkin' to China. ..Willy.
 
Actually....elaborating on Wille's post, slide a sheet of plywood under your bed.<BR><BR>such a Godsend to have if you gotta clamber around under your van alongside the road, or on rough rocky ground, and takes up virtually no space at all!<BR><BR>heck....there's all kinza uses for it!! (windbreak, insta table, a dry flat surface to lay stuff out on&nbsp;if need be, spraypaint your S.O.S on it!&nbsp;ect....) <IMG class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif">
 
Wouldn't be without a spare myself. I like the plywood under the bed&nbsp;idea. I usually have some wood on board for various small projects.<br><br>gus
 
Here's my solution to spare tire storage. I didn't want it on the back door because honestly it's too heavy for me to lift it up there and I didn't want to block my decals on the door. I also carry my dogs exercise pen and lattice to put under the van so that they have a bigger "yard". Takes up almost no space and easy to get to.

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Here's a lesson I learned with my first car.

Loosen the lugs before you jack up the vehicle. It's much easier.
 
I don't carry a spare. Then again, I don't do long road trips yet. Spare rim and tire are on the list of things I will get in the future, but no spare right now. I'll need to crawl under the back again, but last time I looked there wasn't really a good place to hang a spare from the bottom of the utility body. I may look into a door kit if I can find or rig one for a flat door; otherwise, I'm planning on a utility basket over the cab and that seems like a good place for a spare.

I do carry fix-a-flat and I have a tire plug kit. Right now, I have a bicycle pump I carry around with me -- it would take a while to fill a tire, but it would get there eventually. And about the time I end up getting the spare wheel, I will probably also get one of those mini emergency compressors.
 
Yes by gum by all means carry a spare tire My old airstream had split rims and when I had a flat
I split the rim wrapped chain around her when refilling air bunch of popping sounds and was up and running. That was about an hour outside Santa Fe black as can be no moon.
 
LeeRevell said:
The 12volt mini-compressors work, but they take time too. And they are noisy!

They surely work better than a bicycle pump. I can't imagine anyone using one of those to inflate a truck tire. 30,000 pumps and a heart attack later...
 
All modern vehicles have torque specifications for tightening lug nuts. Very important.
I have made Atlantic to Pacific 8 times. Through Canada and Mexico once each. I have made cold north to hot south 3 times. No flats on any voyage. I have had plenty of flats other times, too many to count. In fact I saw a nail in my tire during GM&S. Need to fix that. :)
Did I say it is important to tighten lug nuts to the proper torque specifications? Not too tight, not too loose.
 
Hehehe...... the old "Flat Spare", yep. Been there, done that. When I was driving my wee Toyota Tercel, the danged mini-spare was always flat when I needed to use it. Used a bicycle tire pump, then got the 12V electric pump.
Another consideration - the spray can "Fix-a-flat". If you use it, be sure to let the tire guy know about it - he'll likely be cursing you under his breath. It's nasty stuff for him to deal with, when removing the bad tire from the rim.
Slime isn't so bad, but still messy.
 
A lot of newer vehicles don't come with a spare tire. This is a way that the vehicle manufacturers reduce the weight of the vehicle in order to get another tenth of a mile to their MPG rating. I just bought a spare tire for the Kia Soul I'm converting into a road trip vehicle. The car originally came with a can of "Fix-a-Flat" and a small 12 volt electric pump. Hopefully I'll never need the spare, but just having it eases my mind a bit about spending time on the road.

Also, unless you ask, the dealerships won't tell you there's no spare tire.
 
That doesn't work so well when you have a mini-spare......

I once saw a guy driving with TWO mini-spares on the same side - other side had regular tires. Man, did that look odd! :)
My new-to-me 1988 E150 Conversion has a good spare, and the spare in my 1986 E150 rust-bucket is good too. Nice having two good spares, JIC!
 
Full size spare tire, floor jack, stands, lots of lights, two star wrenches, and plywood to go under the jack and stands. Even a tarp for laying on if I need to. I even have a couple of spare lug nuts just in case.

Overkill????

Not if I need it once!
 
The problem is modern tires are so good we go for years without a flat and assume it just doesn't happen any more.

Wrong! It doesn't happen that often, but it still happens.

A spare is VERY important if you have a flat! :)
Bob
 
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