With all the advanced technology in todays world, why do we still carry a spare tire? My mechanic told me about a tire called Nail Guard that if you run over a nail you just yank it out and keep on going. He said with Nail Guard tires you can toss your spare. Of course a sidewall puncture will stop you, but then there are dozens of things other than tires that can and sometimes do stop you. When I think about it, in 175,000 miles of driving an '84 F150, I only got one flat tire that would have stranded me without a spare, but had to be towed several times over ignition modules and associated electronic parts. Seems I would have been better off if I had carried a spare ingition module rather than a spare tire. (Of course, none of this applies to off-roaders.)

 

You make a good point. My '60 has no spare at all, and I do not forsee myself trying to find one for it. My T-bird has "spare in a can" in the trunk also.

Wayne 60 F-350
e-mail
http://home.pacbell.net/whomrig

 

I carry no spare. I carry a tubeless tire repair "kit" -- the reamer, the inserter (I guess that's what those little tools are called) , the repair strips (5 ea.), and the glue; plus one of those compressed air cans for tires. I figure I can pull the tire off (If I cannot repair while still on vehicle), repair it and put back on easier than getting the spare out. Never used them as all my leaks have been slow and I can repair them at home.

I even carry the kits in the cars that do have a spare.

Raul
w/ 81 F-100, I6, SROD, Carter 1V non-feedback carb, no A/C, no PS, no PB, but it gets me where I need to go

 

I carry a spare tire and stay away from "cheap fixes" I'd rather get a tire patched. Also i'm not sure about some of those tires with puncture features how they hold up under a load.

 

Since I am considering nail guards, I will post a question on the merits of special run flat, nail guard, etc. tires on the "Suspension, Tires, and Wheels" forum.

Questions to all:

How many times have you broken down away from home and had to be towed or go home for tools to fix it yourself?

How many flat tires have you had away from home?

Based on those answers, if you still think carying a spare tire is important, then do you also carry jumper cables, and various spare parts such as ignition module, fuel filter, ignition coil, fuel pump, serpentine belt, etc?

 

I carry an ignition mod., fuel filter, and a spare. Of course when I'm in the truck, most of the time it is in the boondocks somewhere....Filter and mod. have been used before as well....

 

If you do carry a spare, don't park it to close to the exhaust pipe. I really sucks when you go to pull out your spare and there is a hole melted into the tread.

*****
68 F100 2wd
390 w/C6
Blue

 

I carry a spare if I've got one. However, I also have the plug kit which covers most of my "nail through the tire" problems.
As for other stuff I carry, yes I have the jumpers, a length of hose, some basic tools, a v-belt, spare oil, antifreeze, atf, psf, ether, a few lengths of 14 gage wire, and of course, the chains in the back. Most of it was left in the trucks during a repair at home and never taken out. Figured it might come in handy someday. Besides, it'd get buried in the garage otherwise.

 

Yeah, tires and cars/trucks are a lot better than they used to be. I have been driving for almost 30 years now and in the maybe million miles I have driven, I have needed a spare only 3? times. I have had to use the spare in a can many times but usually they got me on the way.

But I still carry a spare and a tire in a can and jumper cables, flares, first aid kit, tool kit, spare fan belt etc, since the times when I really needed it, I really needed it.

The 3? times I needed a spare were twice on my brothers pickup, within the same month we had 2 blowouts. First time I was driving. Second time I was asleep in the back wrapped in my down sleeping bag. Yehaw, visions of feathers floating across the freeway drifted through my mind as I made my peace with the maker. Fortunately we never lost control or had an accident. Unfortunately my brother was/is? an idiot and did not have the proper lug wrench to pull the tire off, so both times we waited in the cold dark dessert, literally 100 miles from nowhere, for a tow or a good samaritan(Marine on his way to Vegas to get hitched, thanks). You would think after the first blowout, my brother would get a lug wrench, like I said, idiot. I always wondered why he had two blowouts in a month when I have never had one.

Third time I needed a spare was with wife's van. Had a puncture so just went to the cubby hole to get the spare in a can, nuthin. Jeez I forgot to put one in there. So had to use the spare.

All other deflated tires were nails, worn out tires, and once a knife sticking in the tread on the freeway, huh? East LA what can I say. Spare in can worked for me every time, at least enough to get me home or to a tire shop.

I do like those little plug kits too. I have read that the best way to plug a tire is to plug and patch it from the inside. But since I don't have the tools to do it from the inside, the plug has worked fine for me.

A note on the spare in a can. Some of them use flammable propellants, so they can be explosive if the mechanic is smoking when he lets the air out to repair it. Tell him about it before he starts working.

Jim Henderson

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 28-Jun-01 AT 07:32 PM (EST)[/font][p]The nailguard tires were starting to come out right before I quit my old job at a tire shop. Anyone who has ever handled one of these tires knows that they are a lot heavier than a normal tire due to the sticky bead sealer like material they use on the inside to protect the tire from nail. From my experiences with these tires is that they will eventually leak, maybe not from one nail, but all it takes is the right object to due the trick, and when they do they are a pain to repair. You have to scrape all of that mucky stuff off in about a 1 inch diameter circle around the hole so you can patch it. I have also seen the plug kits leak to and quite often. The shop I worked at only used inside patches and for large holes patches that had a plug on the end also.

EDIT: One more note about Flammable can sealants. I have seen tires explode from this stuff in high enough temperatures when run for a long period of time. The fix-a-flat in a can stuff is only meant for a quick fix until you can get the tire repaired or replaced.

People who say it can't be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

 

Thanks Boss_358. Good info. Perhaps there are other tires that are puncture resistant, or run flats. Likely all will have more weight and more difficulty working on them, though. Wonder what the police use. They surely don't carry a spare, since they are generally local and have radios.

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 29-Jun-01 AT 09:54 AM (EST)[/font][p]TallPaul, now that I think about it, Michelin has a series of tires that are actually run flats. I beleive they came on lincolns and Cadallacs and at the times only came in sizes that were standard on those cars. Remember that more than just those cars use those size tires though. They may have expanded the sizes though but I am not sure. They came on these cars obvously becuase of the cost. They are expensive, but they have really stiff sidewalls enabeling you to drive at what I remember is a maximum of 50 miles an hour for a certain amount of miles which I can't remember now. I guess they do live up to the challenge but yet again they are only supposed to get you to a place where you can get the tire fixed. I think good year makes a run flat to but I can not be sure. When I think of nailguard tires I think of uniroyal, becuase thats what they call thier punture-proof tires and thats the first tire I saw that stuff on. Uniroyal is a owned by Michelin and I think they have possibly the best technology when it comes to tires even though I don't run them. They just don't meet my personal needs and interest. They also seem to be aimed more towards luxury car area.

EDIT: I don't know what police cars run for tires, I have never worked on one. I have worked on thier personal vehicles though.


People who say it can't be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

 

Thanks again Boss_358. Run flats sound better than nail guard and with their limited speed and distance are not unlike the requirements of the mini spares in cars. Glad to hear the good word about Uniroyal as I just put four Uniroyals on the rear of my motorhome. I would suspect police use run flats as would any of the bullet resistant, armored autos, and the President.

 

What kind of Uniroyals did you use? I don't know about there truck tires but I know they make some pretty decent passenger car tires, like the ASC and AWP. Just to clear up something when I was talking about tires being for luxury cars I was just referring to Michelin in general. It is just something about their tires that just seems to be too overdone for me. I run BFG's which is also owned by michelin but I believe that is as far as that goes. I also like cooper tires too and note that this is one of the only all American made and owned tire companies left. Other wise everything else is more likely a branch from one of the few major tire manufactures. I can only think of 3 or 4 but there might be couple more out there somewhere. Goodyear, Michelin, and firestone/bridgestone are the only ones I can think of. Dunlop I think was, but I believe they were purchased by goodyear a couple years back and dunlop also had a few branches of course.

People who say it can't be done should not interrupt the person doing it.

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 29-Jun-01 AT 11:59 AM (EST)[/font][p]I have been driving my '79 F-150 for five years, and I have never carried a spare!It's amazing the fixes you can get out of by carrying tape, string ,and assorted size nails(to fill holes, until you can get home! As for these new tires,I wouldn't trust the fact that you could get a puncture and not even know about it! My friend drove home on a flat (10 miles!!), and couldn't understand why her car seemed to be "pulling to the left" LOL!