Protecting spare tire

[GregMacd]

Got a flat this weekend, that was so bad that it ripped open the tire. I then found out that the spare tire, which was mounted under the vehicle for the last 10+ years, was deflated. This caused the tire to separate from the rim, which allowed small gravel and pebbles to be wedged in between the rubber tire and the aluminum rim. I was able to remove most of this with a flathead screw driver and pliers, but did knock some of it inside the tire. After reinflating the tire, air continued to slowly leak out. I needed to use a portable pump to keep the air pressure up until I made it to a tire repair place.

In my other car, the tire is inside the trunk and protected from the elements. Does anyone have any advice on keeping the spare tire in good condition if you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to rarely use it?

 

[dsmud4u]

Place inside of space is not an issue or pick up a bumper mounted swing-arm to mount instead. Although it seems most of the problem is from lack of PM. If you don't wheel it often and nothing too serious it should be fine down there.

 

[Mrtwooooo]

My advice is next time you get new tires get a new matching spare and everytime you do a tire rotation do a 5-tire rotation so your spare is always being used and put into the rotation.

 

[Pascoscout]

I've seen plenty of flat spares come from the inside of a car too. I like mine mounted on the swing out cause I can look at it and easily check the pressure on a regular basis.

Use your spare as stated above or at least inspect it regularly. Trying to cover it in some way under the truck is only going to trap more dirt and debris and make you forget to take a look at it. Tires need to have air added periodically (some more than others) since they are not 100% sealed. Most people forget that and just assume the spare will be fine when they need it even if it's sat for 5+ years. You should be replacing the spare after 7 years regardless of if it's been used or not.

 

[Rusty Marlin]

My advice is next time you get new tires get a new matching spare and everytime you do a tire rotation do a 5-tire rotation so your spare is always being used and put into the rotation.

This^^^^.
Why would you not rotate your spare in when rotating tires?
Every oil change there are a few basic maintenance items:
1) Blow out the air filter and check the hoses for cracks.
2) Check wheel bearings and TRE's via shaking the mounted wheel and tire
3) Rotate the tires, and while the tires are unmounted check your brake pads for even wear.
4) Lube your shaft
5) Grease your balls and
6) Check your nuts

 

[ppc]

FYI..

I realise the picture is of your flat tire, is only stored temporarily but it is upside down. Having the finished side of the wheel facing up will keep it in better condition away from the elements.

 

[Howard705]

ALL TIRES LEAK. Some more quickly than others. CHECK IT every few months. Leaving it flat for 5 years of course it will fall off rim- collect crap- rust - etc. California doesn't have elements. The Rust Belt has elements. 10 years it will dry rot etc. All tires do.

 

[bpenn1980]

Sorry for thread hijack, but related to rotating spare tire in. I've put about 5k on a new set of BFG AT 285's. Tire circumference of spare is 104.25" compared to 103.75" on the "in use" tire. Assuming 0.5" (0.5%) delta in circumference is acceptable, but I'd like the smart guys here to confirm. Thanks!!

 

[BILT4ME]

Sorry for thread hijack, but related to rotating spare tire in. I've put about 5k on a new set of BFG AT 285's. Tire circumference of spare is 104.25" compared to 103.75" on the "in use" tire. Assuming 0.5" (0.5%) delta in circumference is acceptable, but I'd like the smart guys here to confirm. Thanks!!

You're fine.

It's not until you stat seeing more than 1/2" in diameter that issues start to crop up. The faster and longer you drive at time causes the differential gears to rotate, generate heat, and cause things to fail.

I know for a fact that a 3" different diameter tire on 1972 Chrysler Town and Country station wagon, driven at 110 MPH for 13 miles will cause a rear differential to fail.

 

[manofthewoods]

My advice is next time you get new tires get a new matching spare and everytime you do a tire rotation do a 5-tire rotation so your spare is always being used and put into the rotation.

Agree completely

 

[LandLocked93]

Got a flat this weekend, that was so bad that it ripped open the tire. I then found out that the spare tire, which was mounted under the vehicle for the last 10+ years, was deflated.

Bruh.

 

[Mark W]

No big deal. s*** happens. Just take better care of your s***. Your spare is part of your s***.

Mark...

 

[Pascoscout]

Sorry for thread hijack, but related to rotating spare tire in. I've put about 5k on a new set of BFG AT 285's. Tire circumference of spare is 104.25" compared to 103.75" on the "in use" tire. Assuming 0.5" (0.5%) delta in circumference is acceptable, but I'd like the smart guys here to confirm. Thanks!!

There must be another factor in the size difference, like pressure. Heck new BFG usually only half just over a half inch of tread depth to begin with. Unless your doing burnouts all the time a half inch of wear should take a lot longer than 5k miles.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Sorry for thread hijack, but related to rotating spare tire in. I've put about 5k on a new set of BFG AT 285's. Tire circumference of spare is 104.25" compared to 103.75" on the "in use" tire. Assuming 0.5" (0.5%) delta in circumference is acceptable, but I'd like the smart guys here to confirm. Thanks!!

You'll be fine. ½" is no big deal.
Your differentials are working every time you take a bend anyway.

These things should give an idea of how much difference is acceptable for short term running. Hell of a lot more than ½" difference.

I've seen them labelled max 50mph, max 50 miles.

 

[bpenn1980]

There must be another factor in the size difference, like pressure. Heck new BFG usually only half just over a half inch of tread depth to begin with. Unless your doing burnouts all the time a half inch of wear should take a lot longer than 5k miles.

That would be awesome. I cant even do donuts on ice with the damn xsfer case doing its thing...but its not 1/2" of tread depth, its 1/2" of total circumfrence. So string around the outside of the tire is 1/2" difference in length between the two. Much smaller difference.

 

[DivByZero]

To expand this topic slightly, what do people do about protecting their spare tyres on rear tyre carriers? Most 80's I see (including mine) that carry tyres on the rear don't have covers, like this:

I didn't bother too much with the idea of covering the spare on mine, but I recently had an incident that's making me re-evaluate that. I bought three spare wheels for my 80 from a guy here locally a few months back, with used but serviceable tyres on the rims. Since my rear tyres were shot, I swapped in two of his for mine to get me through until I can replace all the tyres with new ones. I drove like this for weeks around my local area. First time on the highway though, it drove fine for around 30 minutes or so. Enough to get me where I was going and start the trip back. About 10 minutes away from home though, I noticed a slight wobble developing. Being close to home, I decided I'd continue on and check it out when I got there. Then it got worse. I pulled over. I couldn't immediately see what was wrong, but I inspected my drive train, satisfied myself it wasn't anything serious or mechanical in nature, and decided to slow down a bit and limp home. It got worse and worse. By the end, it felt like I was driving over a brick every tyre rotation, but I got into the driveway. Then I saw what the issue was. My rear passenger side tyre was no longer round:

Best as I can figure, this was used as a spare on the back of the 80 of the guy I bought it off, and it was parked in the sun. The UV hitting the top of that tyre day in and day out for years did a number on the rubber. The top section which was most directly exposed here fared the worst. The tyre looked perfect, and drove fine at first, but as soon as I got it up to a good temperature from a proper highway run, with a decent hill climb and descent, the uneven weakening of the tyre from the UV exposure caused it to let go in this odd way. The tyre didn't blow out, it still holds air, but I deflated it as soon as I caught the problem to make sure it didn't explode, because it wasn't looking healthy. As a result of this, I'm reconsidering one of those spare wheel covers.

 

[LINUS]

@GregMacd

What @Pascoscout says works best IMO for our PNW/ cloudy region.

And yes, lots don’t realized between UV ^ ozone exposure, tires really degrade after the 5yr mark.

As for those who live in sunbelts, an RV-style fabric tire cover for mall crawler times (leave it home when you hit trails) - keeps UV’s off the outer sidewall & upper tread.

I had a black one made at a local upholstery shop I like/use that has a real drawstring I tie a hatchet knot into over the elastic style that sag every 3yrs.
That & he had a scrap of blue fabric/black vinyl circle to match my boat’s colorways.

He likes fabric or drain slots so rain / dunking the trail doesn’t trap water(saltwater) & sag the cover/corrode whatever would sit stagnant.


-For an 80, even just getting the tire on a external swingout sans a full bumper is ~$500-ish if you buy - I want to say **maybe** Trailgear or at least AJK Overland @NLXTACY vendors/vendored - 1 stop shop solution & gets the spare where you’ll actually look at it regularly.

—————

If you expect your spare to live much longer, I’d at minimum dismount it, JB weld the pebble scoring in the rim beads & smooth, let dry & really clean the bead ring of sand/dust/grit on the tire.

Or buy a extra stock wheel & get a new tire if that mis-match I see PF is 5+ yrs old.

Tread is pretty asphalt-oriented anyhow compared to your others.

 

[Wrencher93]

To expand this topic slightly, what do people do about protecting their spare tyres on rear tyre carriers? Most 80's I see (including mine) that carry tyres on the rear don't have covers, like this:

I didn't bother too much with the idea of covering the spare on mine, but I recently had an incident that's making me re-evaluate that. I bought three spare wheels for my 80 from a guy here locally a few months back, with used but serviceable tyres on the rims. Since my rear tyres were shot, I swapped in two of his for mine to get me through until I can replace all the tyres with new ones. I drove like this for weeks around my local area. First time on the highway though, it drove fine for around 30 minutes or so. Enough to get me where I was going and start the trip back. About 10 minutes away from home though, I noticed a slight wobble developing. Being close to home, I decided I'd continue on and check it out when I got there. Then it got worse. I pulled over. I couldn't immediately see what was wrong, but I inspected my drive train, satisfied myself it wasn't anything serious or mechanical in nature, and decided to slow down a bit and limp home. It got worse and worse. By the end, it felt like I was driving over a brick every tyre rotation, but I got into the driveway. Then I saw what the issue was. My rear passenger side tyre was no longer round:
View attachment 2807757
View attachment 2807758
View attachment 2807759

Best as I can figure, this was used as a spare on the back of the 80 of the guy I bought it off, and it was parked in the sun. The UV hitting the top of that tyre day in and day out for years did a number on the rubber. The top section which was most directly exposed here fared the worst. The tyre looked perfect, and drove fine at first, but as soon as I got it up to a good temperature from a proper highway run, with a decent hill climb and descent, the uneven weakening of the tyre from the UV exposure caused it to let go in this odd way. The tyre didn't blow out, it still holds air, but I deflated it as soon as I caught the problem to make sure it didn't explode, because it wasn't looking healthy. As a result of this, I'm reconsidering one of those spare wheel covers.

This type of thing was my reasoning for getting a spare tire cover when I recently had new tires put on. 315's are too expensive to just let one get cooked by UV.

 

[Pascoscout]

To expand this topic slightly, what do people do about protecting their spare tyres on rear tyre carriers? Most 80's I see (including mine) that carry tyres on the rear don't have covers, like this:

I use a cover from Bestop. With a jack mounted like that you'd have to poke a couple holes to let the mounting bolts pass through. I don't put many miles on my truck so I don't rotate in the spare. The tires get replaced from age long before they wear to a point that it might matter. The cover keeps my spare looking like new and is easy to remove to inspect and air up the spare.

 

[MtnAddict]

Tires are a consumable. Buy 5, rotate, replace… Tire covers do no good when 4/5 are on the ground and exposed. In the elements and used, they are only good for about 5ish years anyways depending on mileage/climate.