PSA check the pressure in your spare

"LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com" (limitedtimeonly) 08/23/2019 at 06:44 • Filed to: I'm smart except when I'm dumb, Maintenance, Spare tire

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My wife’s car picked up a screw in a tire. Fortunately it lost its pressure in our garage, so I had all tools for an easy swap to the spare . . . Including my air compressor. Which was needed because the 5 year old spare had 12 PSI instead of 60.

I know that this is a common user error, and I regularly manage the tires on the cars, and I still am lazy enough to have failed to maintain the spare.

Don’t be like me, folks.

[Update:] And . . . Plugged, and back on the car.

Glad that this happened two months before my office moves away from the cheap tire shop nearby. Although looking at the photo I realize that the guy did not use the correct jacking point for this car. And when I get home I’m going to check the torque on the lug nuts and the pressure in the tire. (Trust but verify)

PartyPooper2012 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 06:59

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60 PSI?

DANG! 

random001 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 07:08

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Spare?  Who has a spare?

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > PartyPooper2012 08/23/2019 at 08:02

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Typical for a spare tire.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > random001 08/23/2019 at 08:03

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Any time I look at buying a car that doesn’t come with a spare I get nervous. It’s becoming so much more common, though.

random001 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 08:05

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I have never had to use a spare in my life.  The i3 doesn’t have room for a spare, either...

ttyymmnn > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 08:20

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Last summer, the guy at Discount Tire checked the donut in my 2003 Odyssey and said it needs to be replaced. Apparently those things have a life span? 

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > random001 08/23/2019 at 08:31

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Let’s see . . . in 28 years of driving I’ve put spare tires on 3 or 4 times for my cars, and 2 times for my wife’ s, I think. The worst was when I had a Prius and had to put the s pare on twice for that car in only 5 years . Either the road debris was particularly bad, or something about those tires.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 08/23/2019 at 08:34

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Oh, yeah, just like regular tires, they have a date stamp and a life span, and can decay/become brittle/crack/etc.

I shudder to think of the condition of the spare under my Ranger after 11 years of neglect and exposure before I sold it. Fortunately, despite spending a lot of time on home construction sites at the beginning of my Ranger ownership, I never had to put the spare on that, if I recall correctly.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 08:39

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What is a spare?

ateamfan42 > ttyymmnn 08/23/2019 at 08:47

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Commonly overlooked is that the rubber on the spare ages just like regular tires. Rule of thumb is that (regardless of tread), tires on the car should be replaced after 6 years and a spare in the trunk (which doesn’t get the UV bath from the sun) after 10 years.

I just bought a new spare for my Miata because the original was made in 2003. 16 year old rubber isn’t to be trusted. Plus it had developed a slow leak (probably the valve stem), so it was definitely time to replace.

ttyymmnn > ateamfan42 08/23/2019 at 08:52

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I seem to recall him saying that replacing just the rubber would be expensive, replacing the whole donut much less so. I have not looked into it since, but we are driving out to Big Bend at Thanksgiving so I should get that taken care of before then. The van is 16 years old, as is the spare.

random001 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 08:53

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Suicidal Prius?

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > random001 08/23/2019 at 08:56

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Could be.

punkgoose17 > ateamfan42 08/23/2019 at 09:16

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Oof. All my spares need replaced then, 15, 14, and 14 years old.

hedbutter > ttyymmnn 08/23/2019 at 09:25

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When i got my comanche last summer, it came with the original spare from 1990 . It surprisingly still held air. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 09:37

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Funny you mention that, my spare was down to 15 psi when I checked it about a month ago.

Sammyno55 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 10:06

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28 years of driving for me as well. I seem to average a flat tire every 3 years or so. I drive lots these days (45K miles a year) and have swapped every car I've had since the '90s to full size spares for this reason. 

Sammyno55 > ttyymmnn 08/23/2019 at 10:08

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I got a 2002 Acura in 2017. The spare had never been removed from the trunk. It was cheaper to buy a full-size steel wheel and tire than to replace the donut.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > random001 08/23/2019 at 10:09

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Hey now, my 2017 F-150 has a full-size spare. The 2016 mustang in the household didn’t come with one, but a compact spare and tool kit  was available as an accessory that we picked up.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Sammyno55 08/23/2019 at 10:10

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Yes, I figure that part of why I expect to change tires is because I travel about 18k miles per year. I’m surprised that you get flats so rarely for your annual miles, but most of those are likely on relatively debris-free highways, I guess.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 10:11

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This. I make it a part of the inspection I do with every oil change on my cars, so they get checked 3-4 times/year. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen cars on the side of the road on a flat spare after someone changed a tire, or that every used car I’ve bought came with basically a flat spare.  

ttyymmnn > Sammyno55 08/23/2019 at 10:15

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I would love to have a full-sized spare, but there’s nowhere to keep it. It won’t fit in the well in the passenger compartment. 

Sammyno55 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 10:15

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While we are on this topic, does any know if there is an easy way to monitor the spare tire pressure? Like a TPMS remote thing? Both my cars have the spares mounted in the hatch with the valve stem down. It's a pain to check them, but I do before any long trip or occasionally when the car gets a good detail. 

Sammyno55 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 10:40

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I mostly drive highway miles, actively avoid debris if I can, never drive on the shoulder or lined merge areas (I know that area has a name but I don’t know it. It always has an assortment of debris in it.) I do feel lucky to have as few flats as I’ve had considering the mileage I’ve driven. I’m still going to carry a full-size spare all the time, though because it’s a small price to pay to just keep on driving.

As an aside, the last flat tire I had was on a rural south east Alabama road at 3AM on a Sunday morning. It was pitch black, and way beyond cell coverage. I ran over a piece of horse bit that did a number on the tire. I pulled over and swapped the tire in about 10 minutes. Nobody passed me either direction during that time. Glad I had a spare instead of an inflation kit. 

Sammyno55 > ttyymmnn 08/23/2019 at 10:44

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I guess when the full-size comes off the van , it goes in the back. 

benn454 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 10:44

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 For donut spare, at least.

benn454 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 10:46

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 Happened to me too when one of my tires slipped a belt a couple months back. Luckily, I was at work and just aired it up before putting it on. 

ttyymmnn > Sammyno55 08/23/2019 at 11:06

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Yup

facw > Sammyno55 08/23/2019 at 11:07

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There are pressure sensors your can buy that replace the valve stem cap. Sucks to buy a 4-pack for one tire, but I think they sell motorcycle versions?

facw > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com 08/23/2019 at 11:09

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I don’t do this, I feel like I have a compressor to air it up if I need it, so unless it’s flat to the point where the tire might be damaged just sitting there uninflated, it’s not worth the hassle. Plus, in 21 years of driving I’ve never needed to put on the spare, so it seems like a low probability thing.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > facw 08/23/2019 at 11:11

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Risk/reward judgments can be very individual.

Sammyno55 > facw 08/23/2019 at 14:09

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Thanks for the heads up on that one. I'll look for the motorcycle one. I have 2 cars that park in the same garage and I could put one on each spare! TIL!