I'm ditching my 90lb Spare Tire - fight me!

[GallenH]

Question. I think I read in some thread on this site that someone was carrying a can of inflatant that was specifically designed for truck tires. Is that an option for minor punctures (nails, etc.)? Obviously not for blowouts or separations. Just wondering.

[camrod]

It is incredibly rare that a tire less than 5 years old with proper tread will have a catastrophic blowout, other than hitting an object on the roadway. Most “modern day” tire issues present as a slow leak. A tire pressure monitoring system and an inflator will stand a very good chance to get you to a tire shop. The large trucking companies study operational efficiencies to death, and almost every large OTR company no longer equips trucks with spare tires.

[ChicagoTom]

I'm with you. Ditched mine and the 50 pound or so support off the rear end. 5 years and no need to jack up about 10,000 pounds and put on a 10 year old spare. As a side note, I'm pretty much on the main roads and I do enjoy a good gamble.

[The Eyesore]

In the past couple days, on our new to us 1998 van, I've installed a TPMS and an air compressor. Tomorrow, I'm going to make an appointment to have my valve stems replaced with metal ones and have the tires inspected and rebalanced. Then I'm going to replace some bushings in the front end and check for worn joints, and finally have an alignment. I feel good about my tires. It feels good to ditch that ugly, heavy, bulky spare.

[gilly]

What a timely post. I have a 2000PW for 13 years and have never used the spare. I want to exchange it for a storage carrier. If the spare is as heavy as you say I wouldn't be able to lift anyway as I'm only 5'-1" & 110#. Good tires, tools and roadside assistance is a must. We've had to use AAA twice, once to pull us out of mud in Colorado and just two weeks ago in Washington where they never showed. Thanks to Avanti for the tip on Coachnet. Of course my worry is the minute I remove my spare we’ll need it.

[otr]

Our 2000 RT 190 V has the Dodge single back door, ours sags quite a bit from the 23 years of supporting that spare tire.
My solution, as I do not feel comfortable without the spare is to add a second receiver to the left of the tow receiver. I am making a tilting mount for the spare, and go into the second receiver. This will place the tire about 3 incles closer to the back door and give us a bit more room for the bike rack, but most importantly take the weight off of the rear door.

[Mike Bee]

Maybe we are just lucky but our 1997 Roadtreek 170 Popular has the single rear door with spare tire and no sag or hinge problems. We are a 3/4 ton not a one ton so the spare is perhaps lighter than what a one ton uses.

While I wouldn't put the spare on if I had a flat it is there for the road side assitance vehicle to use when and if they come. Since we have it , we use it.
Peace of mind.

Mike Bee
97 RT 170P
formerly 89 VW Westy

[The Eyesore]

For the record, i’m not recommending that everyone ditch their spare. For myself, this just feels right.

Well, the spare itself, was about 70lbs. and the carrier another 18lbs. To be honest, it doesn’t matter if you could lift it, you’d still want to have it if you wanted to use roadside assistance. If you are planning on ditching it, I’d say to have a tire shop inspect your tires (and install metal valve stems if you don't already have them) followed by purchasing a TPMS system which are super affordable nowadays on Amazon. Learn the correct pressure for your tires and then, with the TPS you can monitor the air pressure, and also very importantly the temperature of your tires. If one of the pressures drops or the temperature rises on one of them, you know that you have a problem and you can address it quickly before it turns into something dangerous.

I think the key is having fresh tires and taking good care of them. The LT tires on my camper cost $250 each. It may seem like a huge expense, but if you need tires, you need tires. Tires and brakes are not a place to skimp, in my opinion.

[blackbourn3704]

I heard about a woman who called her dad..."Dad I have a flat tire, can you come help me?" Dad: "Well baby, can't you call your husband?" Daughter: "I did but he didn't answer the call" Dad: "Well, do you have a spare?" Daughter: "Yes, but he didn't answer either"

[dcawd]

Originally Posted by avanti

CoachNet is pretty unambiguously the best (although not the cheapest)..

Avanti, does Coach net cover the vehicles regardless of who is named on the policy? AAA only covers the named party such that if I am on a road trip and my wife has to call AAA for assistance for one of our other vehicles, she would not be covered. Thanks

[Dave in Nevada]

You are out in the desert and you are stuck. Tie rope to your receiver hitch. Tie other end thru the spare. Go as far behind your vehicle as you can and bury the spare. Go half way back to the car and push the rope sideways. Mechanical advantage will help pull your stuck vehicle out. Like a Bow String. This should be included in the list of simple machines but for some reason it is not. Dig up the spare and off you go.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by dcawd

Avanti, does Coach net cover the vehicles regardless of who is named on the policy? AAA only covers the named party such that if I am on a road trip and my wife has to call AAA for assistance for one of our other vehicles, she would not be covered. Thanks

Whole family:

Coverage includes Member, spouse, and dependent children ages 24 and under, and all other personal vehicles owned, rented, borrowed, or leased.

https://coach-net.com/24-7-protect-roadside-assistance/

[Bangorbob]

At my age I can't change a tire on our RT. I can't barely lift the tire anyway. I've already taken the 2004 spare tire and continental kit off. To me it's useless. If you are out in the desert good luck trying to put a jack underneath and jacking it up. Jacks don't do well in sand.

[jjrbus]

Does anyone consider carrying a tire without the rim? Back in the good old days people changed tires without big fancy equipment.

[The Eyesore]

That's an idea worth considering. Makes much more sense if you have roadside assistance too.

[Smarkle5]

Everyone's reply to this topic is just anecdotal information. I carry a spare, a plug kit and a compressor. Getting stuck on the roadside for hours does not work with my travel plans. I've had many flats over the years and fixed many of them myself.

[The Eyesore]

Yeah, I get it that it’s not for everyone. For me, I’m comfortable with the odds, having good tires, an on-board compressor, plug kit, roadside assistance and a TPMS.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by camrod

It is incredibly rare that a tire less than 5 years old with proper tread will have a catastrophic blowout, other than hitting an object on the roadway. Most “modern day” tire issues present as a slow leak. A tire pressure monitoring system and an inflator will stand a very good chance to get you to a tire shop. The large trucking companies study operational efficiencies to death, and almost every large OTR company no longer equips trucks with spare tires.

https://youtu.be/pGhLf0yaRxU

[The Eyesore]

The kind of person who notices their vehicle develop intense vibration and shaking, but chooses to continue driving on the freeway, and even makes a video while doing so, demonstrating the shaking and how it doesn’t go away even when he speeds up… should probably make sure they keep a spare tire on board.

Low pressure can cause excessive sidewall flex, generating heat, which causes tread separation, which leads to a vibration and blowout.

A TPMS and basic knowledge of your tires specs, goes a long way.

[GallenH]

Originally Posted by The Eyesore

The kind of person who notices their vehicle develop intense vibration and shaking, but chooses to continue driving on the freeway, and even makes a video while doing so, demonstrating the shaking and how it doesn’t go away even when he speeds up… should probably make sure they keep a spare tire on board.

Low pressure can cause excessive sidewall flex, generating heat, which causes tread separation, which leads to a vibration and blowout.

A TPMS and basic knowledge of your tires specs, goes a long way.

So true. However if he did pull over after noticing, he'd have to wait for roadside service whether he had a spare or not. He might be willing to make the change of tire himself. I'm not. My only experience calling insurance/roadside was the insurance company contacted local company and I waited for local company to call me (about an hour). It was a Sunday on a stretch of rural highway. Local roadside asked if I had a spare. Told them yes. They gave an estimate of 3-4 hours to get to me (I was about 100 miles from the nearest city). When on phone a AZDOT roadside assistance pickup pulled in behind me. He offered to change the tire with the spare. We accepted and canceled insurance company's vendor. It took him about a 1/2hr to change and we were on our way. He was a weekend volunteer and refused to accept any money for his kindness. Having a spare saved us hours of sitting in a van.