OT - Full Size Spare - Or Is It?

Whatever works for you. I call first and if I'm told there's going to be a wait I have the come along in the second car, and just drop off the car getting the work done. Call me when it's done. But there's a Just Tires less than a mile away.

Reply to
Vic Smith
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How do you know it's a "real tire"? Sure, it may be 'standard load' but does it really have the same amount of "carcass", tread plies, sidewall plies, same amount of tread depth, same tread compound, etc. It's pretty close in size but about 0.1" different in diameter. And at what inflation pressure did it have "standard load"? Same pressure as the other tires or did it need to be pumped up to 60psi like the donut spares needed to be?

My guess is it's not a "real tire" but was specifically built as a temporary, limited duty, spare with all that implies.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

That's what we do if one of our vehicle needs work that requires the vehicle to be left at the shop. With three vehicles and three drivers working, doing without one vehicle for a day - especially just for a tire - is a pretty big inconvenience. I'd rather throw the spare on and drive than arrange transportation, etc.

Like you said, whatever works.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

When my daughter got her driver's license I taught her how to change a tire. You may want to consider doing the same... :)

Reply to
Larry W

I called a local VW dealer. Spoke to a service rep. He said that they have also wondered why they mark the spare as 50 MPH only. He said they have never gotten a clear answer from anyone. He said it's a real tire on a real wheel, so there is no reason that he can think of that it should be marked as limited use.

However, here's an additional oddity: He was surprised that the rental had a different sized spare tire than the 4 on the car. He said that typically the spare is the same tire as the ones on the car, yet still marked as limited use. So, I did a little research. The Bridgestone 205/55-16 came standard on the VW Jetta SE, while the 195/65-15 were standard on the Jetta S. Why the SE I rented had a spare from an S is beyond me.

There's another dealer I can call tomorrow. I'll let you know what they say about the markings on the spare.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

She knows how to change a tire. She actually changed it a couple of the 6 times. I don't mind doing it, but I know she can do it if she has to. Of course, she also has AAA so while I wouldn't expect her to be changing a tire on the side of the highway, I know that she could if she had to.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

A "repair kit" is useless if you damage a tire by hitting something on the road, if you damage a sidewall or cut the tire, or damage the rim, or don't get stopped before the tire carcase is damaged. Also useless if a valve stem is damaged ( 3 of the last 4 flat's I've had would have been more than a match for a "repair kit" - and the other I repaired on the car with a plug.

Reply to
clare

For years my youngest daughter changed her own seasonal tires. I was usually around in case she had trouble. Now she's got a truck mechanic for a boyfriend, and he comes over and changes them, and even gets mine out of the attic of the shed for me, and helps put the takeoffs back up.

Reply to
clare

You don't need to lie, Malformed, when you could just as easily shut up. You've demonstrated, time and time again, that those are the only choices a lefty has.

Reply to
krw

Buy one and quit yer bitchen. :-)

Reply to
Irreverent Maximus

I used to average about 3 tire changes a month when I towed stuff all over the south. Mostly trailor tires, but the cordless and floor jack made my average roadside stop less than 10 minutes. My wish list does have a cordless impact on it, but I don't have such a need for it anymore, other than man-toy desire, of course.

Reply to
Irreverent Maximus

Hi, You know what? When I buy new vehicle one condition is getting a full size spare tire on a matching rim. The dealer has to include it on a deal. Up front I tell them that is what I want/need on my new car.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Buy one and quit yer bitchen. :-)

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I also require a key operated lock on the passenger side door.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I hope that includes an acceptable mounting device/storage area. :-)

Reply to
Irreverent Maximus

Doesn't that limit your choices of vehicles? Many vehicles do not have room to store a full size spare. Or do you give up the room required to store it outside of the built-in storage location?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I've taught my daughters just in case. But when the shop puts on the lugnuts with an air wrench, it's usually impossible for them to break them loose, and often for me. One time we couldn't get them off jumping on a cheater bar.

I guess there's supposed to be a torque setting on those things but it must be routinely ignored.

Question: do you guys put the bolts/nuts (depending on the car) on dry with the recommended torque? Or do you lube them and reduce the torque? I normally never put a fastener on dry, but I've been unsure about wheels.

Reply to
TimR

puts on the lugnuts with an air wrench, it's usually impossible for them to break them loose, and often for me. One time we couldn't get them off jumping on a cheater bar.

those things but it must be routinely ignored.

on the car) on dry with the recommended torque? Or do you lube them and reduce the torque? I normally never put a fastener on dry, but I've been unsure about wheels.

This has as much heated opinion and toilet paper over the top or under the bottom. My opinion is to lube the threads and mating cone point with grease or Never-Sieze. Torque with clicker torque wrench, and recheck the next day and the second day. Others will quote Aristotle, Mack, Ford, or just tell me that I'm mistaken.

I've had a wheel fall off twice. Once when it started to rain the day I was working. I slipped the lugs on finger tight, and neglected to torque them. This was about 1980 model Chevette, with steel rims.

Second time was a 98 Blazer with aluminum rims. I put the lugs on with torque wrench but didn't recheck the next day and on day two. The lugs were under snap cap, and I didn't see that they were loose. I thought I had a backwards radial on the other corner, and didn't visually or wrench check the one that was loosening.

Both of those were my neglect, and I take responsibility.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

The only time I've had a wheel loosen up is when a service center put the wrong wheels on my vehicle.

I had my dead Subaru towed to a service station late on a Saturday night. I didn't make an appointment because they were closed until Monday. I had used the service station before and since my car was dead, I decided to have it towed there with the plan to call them Monday morning. I told the tow truck driver to put the car behind the station, pointed towards the service bay door so that they could push it into the shop when they were ready.

I called them first thing Monday morning and they said they were wondering what the car was doing behind their shop, balanced on 3 concrete blocks with no wheels. To this day, I believe the tow truck driver was involved with the theft of the wheels and brand new tires, but there was obviously no way I could prove it. He would have been the only one who knew the car was behind the station, unless someone else went back there looking for vehicles to mess with.

Anyway, the service station located some used wheels (the wagon wheel style) and new tires and put them on the vehicle. I picked it up after the repair was done and proceeded to drive 300 miles to my parent's house for the holidays. The car felt fine while driving on the highway but when I slowed for a toll booth, the steering wheel started shimmying. I pulled off of the road and found that a couple of lugs were loose on the front wheels. I tightened them up and continued on my way. When I got to my parent's house, the car felt funny again, so I checked the wheels and found that _all_ of the lug nuts were loose and some of the studs were stripped.

It turned out that the wheels they put did not fit over the hub correctly. They were being held onto the car with just the lug nuts, with no support from the hub. I had to take it to a shop to have a few of the studs replaced. It took them a few days to locate the correct wheels so I was stuck without a car and delayed in getting home.

My insurance company covered the original theft of the wheels and the service station covered the cost of the replacement wheels and stud repairs after I threatened to report them to any and all groups and authorities I could think of.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I do not torque and I rarely lube. I lube if I feel the lug nut binding when I'm taking it off or putting it back on. If it comes off easily, it typically goes back on easy.

This is the technique I learned years ago:

To loosen the lugs, I jack the vehicle up just enough to take most of the weight off of the tire, but not enough to loose contact with the ground. Once the lugs are slightly loose, I jack the vehicle up until the tire is off the ground and then remove the lug nuts and tire.

I reverse the procedure when installing the tire. I snug the lug nuts enough to draw the tire up against the hub and then lower the vehicle until the tire touches the ground. Once the tire has a little weight on it, I tightened the lug nuts until I feel that they are "tight enough".

I've never had a lug nut become loose using this procedure and I've always been able to get the lug nuts off when I've wanted to.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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