space-saver spare

You are always better with a full sized spare. They just put the donut in there to save a couple pounds and help the CAFE they could report. That 500 miles is on a new one. If it has been dry rotting in your trunk for 10 years it might blow out on you the first time you drive on it, particularly if the pressure is low.

It is good for a maximum prip of 50 miles at 30mph. It is a HEAT thing. I know of lots of them on horse drawn buggies in the Linwood/Wallenstein area that have hundreds of miles on them - over 5 to 10 years. (the "Dave Martin" Mennonites are thrifty and buy them up from local scrapyards for something like $5 each)

But I use all the extra space in the well, and I don't want to spend the money.

Aha, it's not 10 years old. It's 16 years old!

We call them Maypop tires. They may pop at any time.

Well, I gave up on the mail-order tires, even though they were called quiet, because I have to go to DC or Va on Monday and they wanted 4 days to ship them.

So today I went to my usual used tire store. Usually it has 4 to 7 customers there at the same time, but this time I was the only one there.

And I was ready to buy a 3rd tire, for a full-sized spare, when he patiently explained I need a full=size rim. The last time I did this, I kept the space-saver and it's rim so if I went on a trip and needed the space, I could take out the full size and put the space saver back in.

And then for about 10 years after that I had no flats.

So I'm back where I used to be but I probably won't have another flat for a few years.

That's something that's really changed since I was a kid 50 plus years ago. It wasn't at all uncommon to see people changing tires along the road. Roadside flats are somewhat rare now compared to back then.

For sure.

There was a little island between incoming and outgoing lanes as I left a shopping center, and I was too close to see it, thought I'd passed it, and I drove up on it. I would have thought I'd ruin the front tire but instead I ruined the back one, even though I was going more slowly when I drove over the island with it.

Drove a quarter mile and it sounded funny. Pumped it up, not sure if it was gettting bigger. Drove a half mile and it started to roar. And was hot. Another quarter mile for a place to change it. Biggest problems changing it, taking all the stuff out of the trunk first and putting it back, no jack handle in the trunk. I was sure I checked for that after I bought the car, used. Had to use a screwdriver to raise and lower the scissors jack. Then when putting everything back, I found the handle attached under the masonite cover of the spare tire well!

If this is a used tire place, didn't he have an old tire on a rim? If not, that is what junk yards are for. As ling as it is the same size and the bolt pattern is the same it should work for a spare assuming the offset isn't ridiculously different.

Apparently not. He was very nice when he said I couldn't use my rim. I'm sure if he had one he would have sold it to me.

Next time I'm at a junk yard. I haven't had to go as often as I used to.

Haven't had one since 1972 - and only one in '70/71 before that. ANd theone in '72 got me to a repair shop before it went totally flat so I had it repaired and kept going. Only used my spare ONCE in 50 years.

That was what I suggested.

Yup, same here, maybe even longer than that. I have used a can of fix a flat a few times to get me home and once I plugged a tire at a 7-11. I did have to put a donut on my Honda once but it was flat too. I managed to get enough air in it with a can to get to a gas station for the full 50#, then to the tire store.

I wish. My last flat was in a left-turn lane on a busy road at morning rush hour. Drove over a bent piece of metal that was invisible in the low light conditions. Luckily I was able to limp to the nearest parking lot and call AAA. The guy nearly lamed himself getting the full-size spare out from under my SUV. I'm glad I didn't even attempt it. This was two or three years ago.

That's an unlucky corner for me. I also had my alternator fail catastrophically in that same spot. It immediately discharged my battery and my car was dead; couldn't even use my emergency flashers.

Cindy Hamilton

I had the same thing with the one I had to mount the donut for. I was at a spot on the interstate where there was no safe shoulder for almost two miles and by the time I could get far enough off the road to look at it, my tire was toast. If I could have got to it right away I might have been able to save it.