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Hows your spare tire? (don't look at your waist)


Precise1
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Hey all, been a while... hope you have been good.

 

I'm that jerk that nags my wife to check oil/water/tire pressure/spare before a trip (just a weekend can be 600+ miles). She hates that I don't just do it for her, but she has to know how and why as well, so tough schitt. Well, she managed to avoid it a few times, but just before ThanksGiving last year, I made her do the rounds, and guess what?

 

20190308_1217531_zpsqt9qzler.jpg

 

Yep, that is what the 14 year old tire looked like. Granted it is a micro-emergency tire, but it has never been used in the 10+ years we have had the vehicle... it just sat in it's space saving well and rotted. Imagine being stuck somewhere only to find that this is what your spare looks like!

Needless to say she went from "Why do I have to do this?" to "OMG what if I needed it?" real quick.

The real point is that you won't find these tires at any tire shop, it is only at the stealership, and they probably don't have it in stock... I know, I called 1/2 a dozen. In this case, the oddball size was made by Continental (in Germany) and they would mount/balance/tax me for about $165.

o_O

So the wife now has a new full sized steel wheel ($60), a used tire from a local shop ($50) held down with some HF tie downs ($5)... $115 for the math challenged. This way she could just keep driving, across the state if need be, and not be limited to 50 miles/50mph with the factory sized crap.

I yoinked the plastic holder thingie from the well, and that area is now hidden storage for everything from jack to water to change of clothes/shoes to emergency gear. The fulll sized spare takes up a little room, but it is worth it.

 

(when will manufacturers stop this stupid schitt? Put a full sized spare tire in/on/under the car, anything else is a travesty.)

 

Anywho... check your spares... well. ;)

 

B

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Good advice and glad it was found before the need to use it came to be.

 

I haven't seen it in a while so maybe it finally failed, hopefully no one was hurt when it did. There used to be a Civic that drove around this area what seem like months that had one of the little toy spares like the one above..

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Always amazes me how much people neglect their spare tires.  I can kind of understand those space savers, although checking them isn't hard...what really bothers me is people with 5 matching full size tires and don't rotate them appropriately.  I think I've yet to see an SUV with a spare that isn't the "brand new" original underneath.

 

There's quite a few cars around here that I see on space savers, sometimes multiple.  As much as I like how little automobiles are regulated around here, there comes a point where things are plain dangerous and need to be kept in check.

 

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That's crazy. How much pressure was in that thing? I can't tell if the outside shrunk or the inside bulged. Either way, good thing she found it when she didn't need it.

 

I guess that's another point in favor of external tire carriers! Tough to miss a problem with your spare when it's right out in the open. (I say that... I remember taking the cover off the original spare on my '95 and finding the original spare inside, never used but with deep cracks in it.)
 

I had a look at the spare in my dad's Audi a while ago, just to check it, and found that it was dead flat. Imagine my surprise when I aired it up and the damn thing unfolded. Some rocket surgeon designed a collapsible full-size tire to fit in a space-saver tire well instead of just making the tire well a little bigger. At least they included a spare at all, apparently a lot of cars don't.

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Yeah that reminds me that I need to keep an eye out for a good full sized factory wheel with a good tire for the car. It's. Gen2 which which got narrow temps  for a spare, unlike the Gen1's which came with a matching full sized wheel & tire.  The good thing is that they left the well the same size throughout both generations.

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On 3/26/2019 at 2:38 AM, Slartibartfast said:

That's crazy. How much pressure was in that thing? I can't tell if the outside shrunk or the inside bulged. Either way, good thing she found it when she didn't need it.

 

I guess that's another point in favor of external tire carriers! Tough to miss a problem with your spare when it's right out in the open. (I say that... I remember taking the cover off the original spare on my '95 and finding the original spare inside, never used but with deep cracks in it.)
 

I had a look at the spare in my dad's Audi a while ago, just to check it, and found that it was dead flat. Imagine my surprise when I aired it up and the damn thing unfolded. Some rocket surgeon designed a collapsible full-size tire to fit in a space-saver tire well instead of just making the tire well a little bigger. At least they included a spare at all, apparently a lot of cars don't.

 

It's rated pressure is 60psi, and it has 50psi in it right now, almost 6 months after I took it out.

Oh, and the size is 135/70/16.

 

A folded spare... that sounds very... German. :D

Does it have a limited rating, or is it just as good as a non-folding tire? (doubtful)

 

 

On 3/26/2019 at 7:12 AM, RedPath88 said:

Yeah that reminds me that I need to keep an eye out for a good full sized factory wheel with a good tire for the car. It's. Gen2 which which got narrow temps  for a spare, unlike the Gen1's which came with a matching full sized wheel & tire.  The good thing is that they left the well the same size throughout both generations.

 

Nice that the space for it is the same, but that just means they cheaped out...

I recommend doing what I did... just buy a new steelie and go to your local tire shop and see what's in the used tire pile. The spare for my wife is a better tire with more tread than the current Kumhos.

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7 minutes ago, Precise1 said:

at sounds very... German. :D

 

 

 

Nice that the space for it is the same, but that just means they cheaped out...

I recommend doing what I did... just buy a new steelie and go to your local tire shop and see what's in the used tire pile. The spare for my wife is a better tire with more tread than the current Kumhos.

 

If I was not who I am, that might have offended me :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

Good advice, see NPORA's missed you! :bwack:

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On 3/28/2019 at 8:41 PM, Precise1 said:

A folded spare... that sounds very... German. :D

Does it have a limited rating, or is it just as good as a non-folding tire? (doubtful)

Been a while but I think it was it was the 50 mph/50 miles variety.

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My old Z's (75 280, 80 280, 85 300) all came from the factory with folding spares. It wasn't done to save money or weight, they were both much more expensive and at least twice as heavy as the road wheels and tires. It was done simply for space. The spot they found to hide them in was the right rear fender. My 280's came with an inflator can and when I actually looked at it, it was a can of R-12. My cars had inexpensive 12V inflators because they were useful and air was free, just a few min of time. Was fun to pull out the spare every 6 months or so and show the kids at the shop the cartoon tire. When done inflating, it was a simple matter to open the valve and watch the tire fold itself up again. 

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On 3/31/2019 at 7:50 AM, nunya said:

Alot of newer crap don't even have a spare, its an 'option' or 'package'...  

 

Yeah, I'll give them an "option" to see a "package" alright...

 

 

On 3/31/2019 at 4:46 PM, Mr_Reverse said:

My old Z's (75 280, 80 280, 85 300) all came from the factory with folding spares. It wasn't done to save money or weight, they were both much more expensive and at least twice as heavy as the road wheels and tires. It was done simply for space. The spot they found to hide them in was the right rear fender. My 280's came with an inflator can and when I actually looked at it, it was a can of R-12. My cars had inexpensive 12V inflators because they were useful and air was free, just a few min of time. Was fun to pull out the spare every 6 months or so and show the kids at the shop the cartoon tire. When done inflating, it was a simple matter to open the valve and watch the tire fold itself up again. 

 

Interesting...

A friend of mine bought one of the newer Challengers when they first came out, and it just came with a can of fix-a-flat, since it has different sized tires front and rear.

Yeah, that's neat and all, but screw that! Things happen on the road, and towing isn't always just down the street waiting for a call.

 

B

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The highway patrol Chargers here in Utah are stuck with the compact spare because the trunk is too small to fit a full size even if they didn't have all the gear back there. They are not anywhere near as roomy as the Crown Vic's they replaced, and almost as big on the outside. Kinda weird seeing a column shift in a Charger too.

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