Do you drive with a spare, run flats, or neither?

[supton]

I've seen signs on some highways indicating that you're not allowed to change your flat tire... figured I could just say I didn't see that sign... thankfully none of those roads are around me. Nor do I have flats all that often.

My vehicles have whatever is in the trunk, that is 2 full sized never used spares, 1 full sized (but used) and one doughnut. Whatever lifting equipment came with the vehicle.

For a while I did keep one of those $60 HF 1.5T jacks in one car, toyed with getting another one to keep in another vehicle, since they're pretty handy, but decided that just wasn't worth it, rarely get flats and it's pretty well populated around here.

 

[ARB1977]

Spare for sure. A coworkers Kia didn’t come with a spare so he bought a cheap wheel to mount a full size spare just in case.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Truck and Caprice have full size spares. Malibu has a Donut. Trans Am? No spare.
Trailer has two spares. I had a blow out once and it was so violent that the tire that blew, blew steel from the belts into the tire behind it.View attachment 30070

They took out the spare for the Trans Am?
I know the V6 F-body has a donut. I thought the V8's would have it too. Is there anything in that secret compartment?

 

[JeffKeryk]

Last time I needed the spare (Tundra) it turned out to be an underinflated full size.

 

[Silver]

You need a spare especially if you're travelling. Rim could get damaged, valve could fail, etc.

 

[Aredeeem]

Ugh, always a doughnut. I don’t drive much anymore and I would never risk my life in this crazy state doing a roadside tire change. Call AAA, If it’s warm wait behind a guard rail far from the car. If it’s winter call an Uber and check into a motel. I would never wait roadside. Another reason to overspend and get good tires if you’re a heavy commuter in New Jersey.

 

[tiger862]

To many people get killed changing on side of the road. I have road side assistance so I will have it towed to nearest parking lot if I have spare if not straight to nearest tire shop. Problem with that is wife is in a wheelchair so it's difficult to get her in and out of vehicles. Could call rental but just for couple miles it would be a pain.

 

[PimTac]

A lot of people including myself would have great difficulty getting the lug nuts off let alone change the wheel.

In those cases the inflater kits or a called service fits the bill.

 

[ls1mike]

They took out the spare for the Trans Am?
I know the V6 F-body has a donut. I thought the V8's would have it too. Is there anything in that secret compartment?

Hahahahaha, Yes, well there used to be an N20 bottle and bracket in there. I sprayed maybe 8 times and took it out. Made it fast enough that I needed a cage. Didn't want a cage and I wouldn't use it on the street. I put 300 miles on the car last year. There was a donut in there when it was new.

 

[ecotourist]

A lot of people including myself would have great difficulty getting the lug nuts off let alone change the wheel.

In those cases the inflater kits or a called service fits the bill.

Many years ago my brother had a flat in the middle of no-where and had great difficulty getting the lug-nuts loose with the hockey stick shaped wrench that came with the car.

So on long trips I carry an X type wheel wrench. And I generally rotate my own tires so I know the lug-nuts won't be too tight and I know how to do it.

 

[350Rocket]

To the guys that run a full size spare... that doesn't really work if you have tires which rotate only one direction, right?

Also, how come none of you rely on a tow truck? Depending on where you are, it may not be safe to do a swap.

Sometimes I drive through no cell service areas, could be a long walk to call for a tow truck. I would call for a tow truck if that was the easier/safer option though.

 

[JeffKeryk]

The lug comments struck a chord...
Too often I have found lugs that must be 200 pound feet. Seriously.
And I ain't 18 with a bullet any more.

 

[exranger06]

My Ranger, Escalade, and Bronco have full size spares. My Accord has a donut spare, which I had to use once. My Sienna is AWD, which means it didn't have any spare from the factory. The FWD Siennas have a donut spare stored underneath the van, but AWD ones have the rear driveshaft running right through that space. So Toyota decided to just forget the spare and equipped the AWD vans with run-flat tires instead. I bought my van used, and the previous owner had non-run-flat tires installed. I bought a used donut spare from a FWD Sienna and I keep it stored in the rear cargo area. Haven't had to use it yet. Even though it didn't have a factory spare, it does have a factory jack and lug wrench to change a tire.

 

[WylieCoyote]

My Mustangs came with a hilarious compressor with integrated 'tire goo' mounted where the spire tire should be. I bought a OE spare for the coupe, which is now gone. The convertible still has the compressor. Pretty stupid of me to let the spare go with the car I sold. Head ----> Brick Wall.

 

[pezzy84]

E-Golf has the tire goo and an inflator - there is space for a compact spare and some owners have bought a compact spare and related hardware to mount. Even if I got a flat in that car I would just have it towed to the nearest tire shop instead of messing with the tire goo.

The Sportwagen has a full size spare, now thinking of it all my past VW's were full size. It was convenient on my '03 Golf TDI as the spare was an exact matching Michelin Energy MXV4+ to the factory tires, got a flat around 15k miles so plopped the spare on, threw the hubcap on the spare then the flat was replaced and that turned into the spare.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

My Ranger, Escalade, and Bronco have full size spares. My Accord has a donut spare, which I had to use once. My Sienna is AWD, which means it didn't have any spare from the factory. The FWD Siennas have a donut spare stored underneath the van, but AWD ones have the rear driveshaft running right through that space. So Toyota decided to just forget the spare and equipped the AWD vans with run-flat tires instead. I bought my van used, and the previous owner had non-run-flat tires installed. I bought a used donut spare from a FWD Sienna and I keep it stored in the rear cargo area. Haven't had to use it yet. Even though it didn't have a factory spare, it does have a factory jack and lug wrench to change a tire.

Is the Bridgestone DriveGuard in your Sienna's tire size? It's a runflat that's supposed to better than other runflats and almost feel like regular tires.

 

[Wolf359]

The lug comments struck a chord...
Too often I have found lugs that must be 200 pound feet. Seriously.
And I ain't 18 with a bullet any more.

You need to get something like the Milewaukee 2767. About 1400 foot pounds in reverse. Serious overkill for a tire lug nut.

Milwaukee M18 FUEL 18-Volt Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless 1/2 in. Impact Wrench with Friction Ring with Free M18 5.0Ah Battery-2767-20-48-11-1850 - The Home Depot

Give users the control over fasteners with this Milwaukee M18 FUEL Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Impact Wrench with Friction Ring with Free M18 Battery.

www.homedepot.com

At one point Home Depot had the Ryobi P261 1/2 inch impact driver with 4 amp hour battery and charger for $99, but that deal is gone and now it's up to $210 and out of stock. Will probably come back at some point. Only had 300 foot pounds of torque though but probably enough for a car lug nuts which are usually around 100 unless the service guys forgot to reset their air guns and set it for much higher.

RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless 3-Speed 1/2 in. Impact Wrench with 2.0 Ah Battery and Charger Kit-P261-P163 - The Home Depot

RYOBI introduces the 18V ONE+ Cordless 3-Speed 1/2 in. Impact Wrench with 2.0 Ah Battery and Charger Kit. The 3-Speed 1/2 in. Impact Wrench is more compact and more powerful than the ever before. With

www.homedepot.com

Middle ground is probably the Ridgid 1/2 inch impact for $180 that has 620 foot pounds of torque. Pandemic seem to have driven the price up, you could get the impact wrench, battery and charger for about $150 in the past. Now $180 just for the driver and battery, no charger.

RIDGID 18-Volt OCTANE Cordless Brushless 1/2 in. Impact Wrench with 4.0 Ah Lithium-Ion Battery-R86011B-AC840087 - The Home Depot

Compact and powerful, this GEN5X Impact Wrench from RIDGID is great for tire rotation, brake repairs and exhaust repairs.

www.homedepot.com

The Milwaukee is probably the best deal now as that hasn't really changed it price, but it's overkill for tire lug nuts unless you have some other use for it.

 

[Astro14]

Last time I needed the spare (Tundra) it turned out to be an underinflated full size.

I drop the spare annually on the Tundra.

This allows me to keep the chain hoist free and check the pressure. I tried mounting it so that the valve stem was facing down, but the hoist fitting wouldn’t engage properly, so, it’s mounted as Toyota intended, valve stem up and inaccessible.

I inflate to max sidewall pressure, too, by the way. That way, it’s still above the recommended pressure when I check it the next year. I can always check and adjust the pressure down a bit once it’s mounted.

 

[4WD]

good reminder to lower spare … on the long list of less than 99F outside jobs …

 

[blupupher]

Full size in the F150's, donut spares in all other vehicles.
I would never have a vehicle without at least a donut spare (maybe if vehicle was equipped with run flats).
If I had a choice, I would prefer a full size.