What is worse than a flat tire???
A flat spare, after a flat tire.
Check your spare tire’s air pressure folks, we all know it should be done at least once a year. However how many people actually do??
This public service message from the guy who had a very long afternoon out in the South Carolina sun.
heheh. Been there, done that! I’d just bought my MR2 the day before and was driving it from where I bought it to my place, the next state over. I hadn’t had time to check anything more than “yes, it has oil and coolant, and probably won’t catch fire.” Tire let go. Spare was flat.
Fortunately, I always carry a jump starter with mini-compressor when I’m on a road trip, especially in a car I haven’t been maintaining myself, so I was able to just pump up the spare and get back on the road. Still, an annoying day.
I carry a full sized spare and recently had a tire on it that I knew went flat. I ignored it anyway. Dodged a bullet though. Never got a flat & replaced that tire when I got new ones on the car. That one holds air but I still check it anyway.
The donut spare on our van will only keep about 50lb in it. Its supposed to have 60. I guess I should do something about that one of these days… Of course, you can tap into the compressor for the air suspension for emergency inflation and I also keep a plug kit in there. So I guess that makes me worry a bit less.
Thanks for the warning, @gsragtop. I’ve got 3 spares to check this week in 4 cars ( I have a fix-a-flat spare in the newest). BTW, where in SC were you? One of my daughters just got home from USC. One more year to go! Then she starts looking for a job. They tell her she is golden in SC, but she wants to teach in MD. One of her mentors recently told her that she is the best young teacher she ever met. Practice pays off. My girl has played school since she was about 4. It works for everyone, not just jocks.
Good advice. Just in case, I carry a $14 electric tire pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket.
Don’t forget that those compact spares take much higher pressure, like 60 psi.
Unfortunatly neather fix a flat or a compresser would help a blow side wall… Probably would have helped the spare, prior to me chunking the side wall on that one as well trying to get to the gas station…
Next question besides a junk yard where can I get a new spare tire from? I dont have room for a full size…
I always over-inflate my spare tire, knowing that I can let air out easily if it’s still high when I put it on.