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When is the last time you used your spare tire?

73k5blazer

73k5blazer

End the H1B Program!
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Spare tire seems to be a PITA to cart around. I have 35's and ... well, I'm thinking of going without. I had a carrier, but it always worried me, cantilevered off the back and whatnot. And it blocks my rear view. I could put it inside, but then it takes a giant amount of room. I'm just, well, I've never actually used this thing.
So, you trail guys, seriously, when is the last time you actually relied upon your spare tire?
 
If you have a towing service and only drive on the street, go without the spare, big deal if you have to be towed home, unless it's your daily driver and it means missing work.

I broke an air valve but luckily it didn't leak. I was only 20 miles from home so I drove home aired down instead of swapping tires. I only used the spare while the other was getting fixed, and it still has zero miles, with the PO of that spare also putting no miles on it LMFAO

but I wouldn't leave home without it
 
Yeah, the planned 'how are you gonna get out when the tire goes' is a conundrum. The OEM's seem to be moving this way as well, for different reasons.

We recently bought a Chevy volt, it has no spare tire. Only mini compressor/sealant kit. Very nice kit, for a tiny tire, and it's only gonna get you out if it's a tread hole. You hit a pothole and cut up the sidewall, it's game over, your calling a tow and buying a new tire somewhere, if it's not Sunday.

But, in the last 30 years of many, many different vehicles, hunting rigs, off-roading, and highway driving, I've used the spare once. It was on our late 2000's Impala on the highway, caught something, tire went flat within 2 or 3 miles.

There is a comfort feeling with the spare in tow, but I guess what I'm asking is, is it just simply a warm fuzzy, or is it really a necessity? I can think of at least 4 or 5 other items that I don't carry, that I should, that are far more likely to bring down the K5, or most any vehicle new or old that I drive.
 
73k5blazer said:
Yeah, the planned 'how are you gonna get out when the tire goes' is a conundrum. The OEM's seem to be moving this way as well, for different reasons.

We recently bought a Chevy volt, it has no spare tire. Only mini compressor/sealant kit. Very nice kit, for a tiny tire, and it's only gonna get you out if it's a tread hole. You hit a pothole and cut up the sidewall, it's game over, your calling a tow and buying a new tire somewhere, if it's not Sunday.

But, in the last 30 years of many, many different vehicles, hunting rigs, off-roading, and highway driving, I've used the spare once. It was on our late 2000's Impala on the highway, caught something, tire went flat within 2 or 3 miles.

There is a comfort feeling with the spare in tow, but I guess what I'm asking is, is it just simply a warm fuzzy, or is it really a necessity? I can think of at least 4 or 5 other items that I don't carry, that I should, that are far more likely to bring down the K5, or most any vehicle new or old that I drive.
Click to expand...
I caught a road hazard and blew a tire out on the Tahoe two years ago. I drove on it totally flat at 62mph without a clue it was flat for a solid 16 miles until the Jeep behind me saw smoke rolling off it and pulled off the road. I saw him stopped and when I slowed down I realized something was wrong. The tire was totally intact on the outside less the gash in the sidewall but was totally disintegrated on the inside. Fullsize spare went on and we carried on.

Got a stick through the sidewall winter wheeling this last winter. Swapped the spare on and wheeled the rest of the day.

Two weekends ago I blew an inside sidewall on a back tire while tough truck racing my old 93 blazer. Ran the whole race on the rim and destroyed both it and the tire. Swapped the spare on and carried on my way. Then sold the truck that afternoon. Put new wheels and tires on it for the new owner haha!

Spares are good to have around when you need em. I keep a fullsize spare no matter the size of tires. Even my buggy has a fullsize spare now.
 
I've used the spare on all of my vehicles many times, except for the k5. If your state has nicely paved roads and people don't throw nails and trash all over the road, it might get used less. CA doesn't have those though. :(
 
I have went through several spares on my old work van, with the old co. I worked for, they just bought the cheapest tires money could buy. I have only used one spare off roading and, that was about five years ago. I carry spares on both off highway vehicles but, one is so big, I don't really know if I could raise it to the tire carrier after replacement. I would feel like an idiot if I didn't have a spare and needed one.I think I'll have to come up with a small winch to lower my spare on the carrier.
 
Last week.....had to go the the junkyard to get it:rolleyes:

1 good tire that hadn't met the rim crusher....on a 6 lug Chevy steelie:waytogo:
 
I have ruined several 35" tires on trails. Spare sucks to carry around, but is very nice to put on when something does go wrong.

I know some guys that wheel without a spare. Definitely nice to gain the room back.
 
Had to use the spare on the trail last outing due to valve stem being crushed on a rock. Reminds me that I need to figure out something better for lifting a flexy truck. John's 60" high lift had about 5 clicks left in it. Thinking about one of these http://www.rimrockmtn.com/products.htm#Jack. I have their RAD valves - one of which now needs to be replaced. I did just get an email from them and they will sell me replacements for about half of retail. Good customer service there.

As I live in the country flats are very common. It's unusual to go a month without a nail in one of our vehicles' tires. Now that flat repairs are over $20 even off the vehicle I just plug with the cord-type repair tools and move on. Last tire that was dismounted had five plugs in it, lol.

Every time they grade the road it turns up new stuff and a flat is almost inevitable. Joy of living on gravel.
 
I feel uneasy having no less than TWO spare tires with me at all times--since my tires are most often old and second hand,failures can happen a lot easier than with a new tire...more than once I've had two flats in rapid sucession,and was glad I had two spares..

The roads around here are horrible this year--they are full of pot holes from the bad winter we had,plus a lot are being torn up and resurfaced right now,including the street I live on,they are in the process of re-paving it as I type--they left new manhole and water service manhole covers sticking up 2-3" from the road surface till they get the final layer one..

--all they did was spray orange paint on them,some had striped barrels laid over them--hit one of the exposed ones and you can kiss a tire and rim goodbye instantly..also where they stop "grinding" the road ,they left a nice "step" about 6" high with nice square edges,instead of a rounded gradual "joint" between the old tar and the new surface..(almost took my axles off the frame hitting those at 20 mph over the weekend..:mad:)

My truck usually "pops" tires at the sidewall when they fail,even if its a "good" tire,I rarely get flats from nails or punctures while driving--its after I park it I'll come out and find a tire flat with a screw or nail in it usually..the truck is 3 tons and it rides like it has dead axles,so if I run load range C tires on it I risk a blowout a lot more than if it had E range tires...I have C range on it now...:(..

Carrying spares is a problem,as they take up a lot of space--putting one under the truck is stupid IMO,you cant get the dam thing out once you get a flat on a rear tire--they take up half the bed,and can get swiped if left unchained,and they block your vision if you use a side mount or other tire carrier,ones up front can block airflow to the radiator and your visibility,and on the roof can make it top heavy if your running 3/4 ton rims & tires--hoisting one up there is good for causing a hernia too...
 
Used mine last week. It's still on as I don't have the 200 bucks for a new one. Steel belt blew on the one I replaced. You never know when you need the spare. I was a hour away from home so was glad to have it. I like to be self sufficient. Nobody on the trail will want to have to give you theirs and then have an issue if they get a flat too. It's just better to have than not have. IMO. Sucks it takes up room but I'd rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Would cost at least 50-100 bucks to get it towed somewhere and hope they have a tire that fits or can fix yours. You may be stuck for awhile.
 
As for me, I always carry a spare if I'm going long distance, or wheeling, but never around town. It's just not worth the room imo. As you said, I'm already not carrying plenty of stuff that is far more likely to be used anyway.
 
In my car yes. In the jimmy no. I should though. In Horton no air and tire plugs. Plus I carry spare valve stems
 
IMO I've repaired way to many tires with all sorts of weird crap in them to not carry a spare, unless the space is absolutely needed. With that said I also have plugs, valve stems, and CO2.

I built my truck to fit the full 40" spare. So I can choose to carry it or not depending on where I'm going. Sometimes, even if you throw a bazillion plugs at something it just won't seal.
 
When I first bought my truck it didn't have a spare. Well, I never needed it until the one night when I was 2 hours from home and I had a blow out on the interstate. I limped it to the next exit, which was luckily a truck weigh station, and called my buddy for a ride back home. I was also lucky that my buddy worked at the same place that I did and he gave me a ride to work the next morning. Then I had to hunt down a wheel and tire assembly that was close to a 35" tire, that I could borrow to get my blazer back home.
Anyway, now I carry a spare. I also check the tire pressure in the spare when I check the pressure in my other tires. It won't do any good if I put it on and it's flat also...
 
When I was in high school I got a flat in my 1969 Plymouth Valiant. I used the spare.

When was in college, I got a flat on my 1978 C30 pickup with 35's, and I drove it to the next exit. It was ruined, but the shop wanted $200 for a "new" used tire. Instead, I bought two giant cans of fix-a-flat and filled it up. I drove on it for about 3 years - the motor blew before the tire did.

My 2012 Mini Cooper had a slow leak, but it has run-flats, buddy, so who cares? :woot: Actually, the dealership fixed it.

So ... in about 30 years of driving I see little need to bring a spare tire, just a can of fix-o-flat. :D
 
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