So heading out on vacation tomorrow, 2003 trailblazer. coming out of the grocery store see A nail in the sidewall. Put on full size spare, did not see any wheel weights, hope I do not have to stop for a wheel balance.
Are full sized spares typically balanced from the factory?
As a side note lots of pb blaster to get the wheel to drop, thought of dong that previously, too late now.
Oh boy shopping for a new tire on vacation. the spare still had the tire sticker on it and maybe 2k on new tires, so size should be fine, age I am not sure of age but no cracks etc. but no wheel weights.
Strapped the tire to the roof, as I need to do some lube to get the holding mechanism to drop farther for return the spare to position, a litttle persuasion got the old tire off but fix it right before remount…Looks like I am going to the baja 500, lowered just enough to get the spare off.
So only real question should I expect to need a wheel balance, or if it is out of balance can I driv 5oo miles with a free back massage and no damage to bearings etc.
Work trucks prone to flats also, street is used by roofers driving shingles to get recycled.
That is why I mentioned a few days ago, that I spend a few minutes every week, walking around looking for nails and other objects which will cause flat tires
Somebody can call me a liar if they want, but I haven’t picked up a nail or had a flat tire on any of my own vehicles. And I’ve worked at that place for awhile now
The roofers don’t pick up after themselves, so I figure I might as well do it
All the full size tires that I have seen were balanced. I can’t imagine a manufacture putting an unbalanced full size spare in the vehicle, there is usually a 5 tire rotation procedure in the manual.
You said the spare has a sticker on it, factory tires don’t have tire labels on them, that would require an extra step at the factory to remove them. That must be a replacement tire, you can drive with an unbalanced tire if it is not too disturbing.
Looking for tire shops along the route, glad I saw the nail just north of the treads, left it in in case I need to limp a few miles to repair. still holding pressure, I consider it an adventure, wife is conceding to my optimism, tomorrow will tell, so hard to find a motel that takes 2 dogs and a cat.
The answer to the question is yes, spares are balanced at the factory before being put in the vehicle. But of you feel a vibration at highway speeds you should get it checked.
@“the same mountainbike” that is what the tire store, too booked up to help, or just missed closing said also. Like I said new tire shopping on vacation, because I am pretty sure I had no roadside hazard coverage. Will double check though.
I had my share of these when they were constructing the new “wellness center” at the college where I worked. Also a few years earlier when I had my house reroofed.
I can’t say as I remember ever seeing an untouched spare tire having a sticker on it either. Now and then it so happens that a new tire can be mounted and need no weights at all but it’s very, very rare.
Any vibration at all bugs me to no end and if it were mine I’d probably have it balanced.
Roofing nails are also a problem around here with frequent hailstorms. Many of the nails shake loose and fall out of the truck while the debris is on the way to the dump.
A few years back the local paper (grasping for a story I guess…) made mention of this after a nasty hailstorm.
A local gas station owner stated that he normally did 5 to 8 flat repairs a day. After a hailstorm it jumped up to swamped with flat repairs and staying open late to catch up the backlog. He stated that they would get as many as a 100 a day.
Your spare is a 60/60, which means you should not go more than 60 miles on it and drive no faster than 60 mph. Balanced or not it is an emergency temporary spare only and the tire will give out before the bearing does if it is slightly out of balance.
I bought a new tire when I had a similar situation. I went to tirerack.com, found the tire I wanted, then looked for a participating installer a couple of days away in my trip, and had it done there. Easy peasy. And the installer was in Oregon, so no sales tax!
Normally its molded right on the tire. “temporary use only, 50 mph limit”. Or such. Hard to know what to do but if at least you are mobile, you can choose your store. A space saver doesn’t give that kind of option for a 500 mile trip. Good luck. At least you know there is no question the tire needs to be replaced.