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When is the last time you used your spare tire?

If I have a flat ,I now drive on the flat tire to the nearest exit if possible,rather than risk getting run over trying to change one in the breakdown lane of a busy insterstate...its bad enough even on a residential street your at great risk of getting killed trying to jack the truck up and get the tire off,especially if its the drivers side..and soft dirt on the shoulders isn't much good to jack up the truck safely,even if you do have a hunk of wood to put under it..

I want to get a cheap floor jack and cordless impact to change tires with--had too many close calls having my truck slip off the stock jack,and trying to take 8 rusty lug nuts off with the lug wrench every thread of the way sucks royally..
 
Never had a flat away from home in nearly 30 years of driving. I've had a couple where I came out in the morning and a tire was flat. I always have a spare anyway, though sometimes I'm negligent about having a good enough jack and a big enough lug wrench to actually break loose lug nuts.
 
The down side to running 37" take off's is you only find them in sets of 4, so I don't have a spare. If I get a flat out on these Ozark Mountain sharp rocks I'm just screwed!
*Feel free to roll one my way.
Yet for some reason I still have a HiLift jack and a 4 way in the back.
 
Slightly off topic, but does anyone sell big lug wrenches in only one size at a time? All I can find is the 4-ways. They're harder to store compared to a nice long one in only 7/8". I guess you couldn't spin them, but I'm more worried about breaking them free the first time.
 
I carry a cheater pipe that fits over a 4 way or the stock lug wrench--if I didn't I most likely wouldn't have been able to bust the lug nuts free on my 8 lug axles,especially if an air impact was used on them--my air gun wont tighten them enough by itself,its a flea market cheapie POS taiwan thing,I always give the lugs a once over by hand after using the gun to spin them down quicker..

I dont know about you guys,but most of the 8 lug trucks I've had,the lug nuts come off hard every thread of the way,yet the threads look perfect...makes a very tiring job of changing a flat tire on the road..especially if all you have is the lug wrench thats factory ,not a 4 way..

Once I used a friends Snap-On gun to change a tire at his shop,and I had a flat a year or so later after I hit a muffler in the road--it was not easy getting the lugs off even with the 3 foot cheater pipe..now I finish tightening the lugs by hand when I use an impact to spin them on faster--not tighten them..

If you have a posi its important not to have a spare thats a lot different size than the flat tire was...my rear axle didn't like me using a 245/75/16 on one side and a 265/75/16 on the other,it would clunk and bang around corners and felt like it was crab tracking going down the road..
 
Mastiff said:
Slightly off topic, but does anyone sell big lug wrenches in only one size at a time? All I can find is the 4-ways. They're harder to store compared to a nice long one in only 7/8". I guess you couldn't spin them, but I'm more worried about breaking them free the first time.
Click to expand...

Break over bar and a deep socket...:dunno:
If that doesn't float your boat check a truck stop or some place that sells tools accessories and parts for semi's.
 
I always like having a spare, but I'm not nearly as concerned with having one the right size. As long as it holds air and I can limp home if needed.
 
I haven't carried a spare in years on my truck. I have AAA and I usually don't drive it far. If I do I toss it in the back. My daily driver on the other hand, definitely carry a spare.

Don't you have OBA? If so then don't worry about it at all.
 
Tires these days last a lot longer and are a lot less prone to blowouts than in years past, particularly if you buy good ones. On a mostly street vehicle, the potential need for a tire change is typically outweighed by the need for space and reduced costs, as evidenced by more and more OEMs either going with run flats or tire repair kits. It really comes down to preference. For an off road excursion, I would definitely bring a spare, particularly if wheeling on rocks is your thing. There's just a high possibility of a non-repairable puncture in a location where it might be difficult to get a tow.
 
Last time I went without a spare was a month ago, before that I always carried one. Anywho buddy I was riding with took a stick hard and long in his right front sidewall. Instant deflate, he unlike me had a spare, and it was flat.

Lesson Learned
 
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