naked without spare?

[jrobe]

I had a flat in Duluth, MN last weekend in -19 below weather (2nd flat this year on fairly new Michelin LTX Defenders). Luckily I had a spare tire and was back on the road in 15 minutes. I didn't even leave town before I had the tire repaired so I would still have a spare.

A plug kit would have been worthless because I couldn't see any punctures (especially with the dirt and some snow on the tire). I bet when I was fighting the cold and wind for that 15 minutes, I would have had some choice words for where a plug kit could get shoved.

[hbn7hj]

"I hardly knew where the jack was."

I don't know what coach you have but the OEM Jack probably won't get the wheel off the ground anyhow. If you have a jack, try it at home. When it doesn't work well replace it with a bottle Jack that does. I use a three stage. It is small and can get under an axle with a flat tire, and has. No spare in the American southwest may give you some stories to tell.
Harry

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by jrobe

I had a flat in Duluth, MN last weekend in -19 below weather (2nd flat this year on fairly new Michelin LTX Defenders). Luckily I had a spare tire and was back on the road in 15 minutes. I didn't even leave town before I had the tire repaired so I would still have a spare.

A plug kit would have been worthless because I couldn't see any punctures (especially with the dirt and some snow on the tire). I bet when I was fighting the cold and wind for that 15 minutes, I would have had some choice words for where a plug kit could get shoved.

-19 below?

The plug kit is probably useless -- the rubber sealant would be too frozen to cure.

[Scottbaldassari]

Like several others, I carry an inflator, slime, a plug kit, and have emergency roadside service with my insurance.

I haven't had a flat (that needed changing) since the 1980's (or early 90's maybe). I've been carrying a big ole spare around on my "other" van for 130,000 miles. I'm not sure I could get it out of the continental carrier if I needed to. The "slime" people "claim" that 96% of tire problems can be fixed with their product and an inflator. Hopefully, if I get one of those 4% type flats, I'm within cell range

[Phoebe3]

A few years ago, I was driving the I-40 between Needles and Barstow in the middle of July. It was 115* and the asphalt was a lot hotter. The left rear tire exploded. I know from experience that a tow vehicle will take more than an hour to get to you out there. No cell service although a trucker probably would have called it in for us. Fortunately, the axle was OK. DH changed the tire and we were on our way in about 20 minutes.

[avanti]

As I see it, the question isn't whether people have flats or whether having a spare is useful if you do have one. In both cases, the answer is obviously "yes". Rather, the question is whether, with modern tires, one is any more likely to need a spare tire than any of 100 other spare parts that one might chose to carry along. It seems to me that there may be many critical parts with similar failure rates and similar costs that are at least as easy to replace on the side of the road as a tire is.

I have no data, though.

[booster]

I can only give you one data point on that theory, our experience, Me for 45 years of history and DW who has been around for 30 yearss.

Me--one mechanical failure that required tow home--failed fuel filter fitting o-ring 3 Flat tires that required changing to be driveable.

DW--two mechanical failures that needed to be towed--one electrical that eventually got diagnosed as an intermittent internal short in the battery and one separated damper pulley 4 Flat tires

So, at least for us, the tire flat rate is substantially higher for flat tires than any other part.

[jrobe]

I recently read a AAA article that showed that almost 60% of the 29 million yearly calls to AAA for roadside assistance were for flat tires, dead batteries and keys locked in the car (17 million yearly calls for these 3 problems). Most of these could be fixed with a spare tire, a portable battery jump starter and an extra set of keys in the right place.

I also remember reading though that 60% of drivers don't know how to change a flat tire.