Flat tires on the tow vehicle.

[skyfree]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Does anyone carry a tire plug kit? Used a few over the years for nails or screws. No good for sidewall damage, but that is less likely. If you carry this and a small compressor you can be back on the road without changing to a spare. Works especially good on larger trucks where there is space in the wheelwell to see the object and ream the hole. Harder on a car because you need to position the tire so the object is facing front or back using the space between the road and body to work.

Slime Reamer plugger tool 20204 - Read Reviews on Slime #20204

Uhhhh... sidewall damage too. Just use a lot of plugs. This was someone in my off-road crew last month about 85 miles from the nearest town. This repair lasted hundreds of miles with no air loss.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by skyfree

Uhhhh... sidewall damage too. Just use a lot of plugs. This was someone in my off-road crew last month about 85 miles from the nearest town. This repair lasted hundreds of miles with no air loss.

Wow, even with the Cooper Armor-Tek3 reinforced sidewall. Must be doing some serious rock crawling. Not many options that far down the path from home. This is good to know.

[azjack]

My '32 Roadster doesn't carry a spare, but I do carry a BMW motorcycle kit that includes plugs and the little pressurized bottles to fill the tire. I just carry a few extra bottles for the larger tires and a can of fix-a-flat as a back up. In my TV I also carry the 12V compressor for the additional air I have needed a few times due to temp and altitude changes.
Jack

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

Had one blow out on the f250 coming home from working ,on freeway . Seems picked up a screw right in the middle of tread on Michelin E tires . Blew the whole side walls out . Tire was slowly leaking while we were working...

The blow-out would presumably have been the result of driving at high speed with very low inflation, which in turn was the result of the screw. That's a good reason to do at least a cursory walk-around of the vehicle before starting (which I do about half the time ), a good reason to pay attention to how the vehicle is handling (although modern vehicles are remarkably tolerant of underinflation), and a good reason to have a tire pressure monitoring system (which most vehicles have now).

[Brian B-P]

This idea of stuff stored all over the vehicle is bizarre. Yes, a pickup truck (with the spare under the back of the box), or SUV with the spare on the hatch, must have the jack and tools inside somewhere... but does any vehicle actually put the jack and the wrench in entirely different places? I guess I haven't owned anything that poorly designed.

I find the biggest issue is that with those annoying security nuts on the wheels, the key has to be somewhere. I just use regular nuts now and avoid that problem.

Certainly, getting familiar with the equipment before it is needed is a good idea, although the manual is always there in case.

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

...... but does any vehicle actually put the jack and the wrench in entirely different places? I guess I haven't owned anything that poorly designed......

Brian,
I had to use the owner's manual (for the 1st time ever) to find the jack, on my Prius. You have to slide the driver's seat forward, then you'll find the jack under a plastic cover fastened to the floor under the seat. Tools are in the back of the car. The good about the car: it accelerates sufficiently for So.Calif. freeways, and I get 44 mpg, even the way I drive.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

I had to use the owner's manual...

My son had to go online to find the battery in my car. And my neighbor across the street still hasn't found his on his brand new Jeep.

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by KarenH

My son had to go online to find the battery in my car. And my neighbor across the street still hasn't found his on his brand new Jeep.

Well, let's see: the choices are (based on cars I've owned or worked on); Under the hood-left or right side--front or rear; under the back seat like Prius's and old VW's; in the trunk like my mom's Mercedes was. I guess the only other place is under a front seat--whichever seat doesn't have a jack under it!

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by KarenH

And my neighbor across the street still hasn't found his on his brand new Jeep.

Originally Posted by dfandrews

I guess the only other place is under a front seat--whichever seat doesn't have a jack under it!

Yup, assuming it is a Grand Cherokee it is under the front passenger seat. Since it is inside the cabin it is an AGM battery. Should also be remote terminals under the hood for jump starting.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by SFDavis50

Does something like this exist for big heavy duty tires? Seems like removing the spare would save weight behind the axle and I'm not sure I would be able to change a flat or blown tire on that beast anyway. Granted, the first time I take a trip without a spare Murphy's Law will kick in but I am interested in ways to avoid having to reinstall the spare tire. Let the flames begin.

There are big cans of Fix-A-Flat for truck tires, but I'd be reluctant to leave my spare tire at home. As an alternative, could you relocate the spare tire on your F150 to make it easier to access? For example, I've seen trucks with rollbars that have spare tire mounts. Since you'll be pulling a 5.0 TA, you'll have to leave your truck bed uncovered, so you might have room for a spare tire mount of some kind in the truck bed.

[Mike Lewis]

I have had one high-speed blowout that I remember: in the early 1980s I was driving from my parents's house (now my house) in Florida to D.C. in my 1968 Camaro SS convertible when I had a blowout. I was driving 70 mph. I maintained control of the car, pulled over, changed the tire, and continued on my way. I was lucky on that day, as I have been on several other occasions. I hope my luck holds out.

[SFDavis50]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

There are big cans of Fix-A-Flat for truck tires, but I'd be reluctant to leave my spare tire at home. As an alternative, could you relocate the spare tire on your F150 to make it easier to access? For example, I've seen trucks with rollbars that have spare tire mounts. Since you'll be pulling a 5.0 TA, you'll have to leave your truck bed uncovered, so you might have room for a spare tire mount of some kind in the truck bed.

My truck has 20" aluminum wheels and lower aspect ratio tires but the spare is a steel (lots of thick steel) 18" rim with more rubber on it. I have often wondered if the 18" wheels would be better for towing but overall i'm pretty sure the spare tire is much heaver than the driving tires. I don't think the tire will fit between the rails and front of the bed and it would block some of the rear view window. I'll probably remount the spare for the trailer pickup trip but when I start looking for new tires (almost 50K miles on the existing tires but still good tread) I may think about leaving the spare at home.

[Mike Lewis]

A long time ago, when I was a teenager or in my early 20s, I used to fantasize about going to Alaska. I remember reading an article at the time, possibly in The Milepost, about how to prepare for an Alaska trip, or travel in the Far North, or something like that. Anyway, it suggested carrying TWO spare tires, an extra starter solenoid, and I think it suggested having a vehicle with a manual transmission so you could push-start it if necessary. Made me feel like Jack London reading it.

Nowadays the Alaska Highway is much improved from what I hear, tires are much more durable, and I don't know where the starter solenoid is on a modern vehicle. Also, I don't know if you can push-start a modern vehicle that has a manual transmission. Can you?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

I had to use the owner's manual (for the 1st time ever) to find the jack, on my Prius. You have to slide the driver's seat forward, then you'll find the jack under a plastic cover fastened to the floor under the seat. Tools are in the back of the car.

Interesting
I guess they ran out of space in the back due to the hybrid system battery.

Originally Posted by KarenH

My son had to go online to find the battery in my car. And my neighbor across the street still hasn't found his on his brand new Jeep.

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Yup, assuming it is a Grand Cherokee it is under the front passenger seat. Since it is inside the cabin it is an AGM battery. Should also be remote terminals under the hood for jump starting.

Fortunately, there's no need for an owner to know where the battery is. Anyone fixing the car should have no problem finding it, especially since they'll likely have access to a technical manual, and there's no need to access the battery for either regular maintenance or boosting.

In the Grand Cherokee, both the battery location and the use of those terminals are described in the owner's manual (although it would take time to find the battery location if not looking for boosting information):

The battery in your vehicle is located under the passenger’s
front seat. There are remote locations located under
the hood to assist in jump-starting.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by SFDavis50

My truck has 20" aluminum wheels and lower aspect ratio tires but the spare is a steel (lots of thick steel) 18" rim with more rubber on it. I have often wondered if the 18" wheels would be better for towing but overall i'm pretty sure the spare tire is much heaver than the driving tires.

I wouldn't bet on it. Much of the mass of the wheel is in the bead area, so larger diameter substantially increases weight. For the same overall diameter, the tire for a larger wheel has shorter sidewalls but longer and so heavier beads, so it isn't necessarily lighter.

In the sizes and type (not LT) currently used on the F-150, in a sample model of tire, the 275/55R20 is two pounds heavier than the 275/65R18, despite the 20" having lower load capacity.

The 18" tires would have more load capacity, but the 20" tires will probably provide better lateral stability.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

... Anyway, it suggested carrying TWO spare tires, an extra starter solenoid, and I think it suggested having a vehicle with a manual transmission so you could push-start it if necessary. Made me feel like Jack London reading it.

Nowadays the Alaska Highway is much improved from what I hear, tires are much more durable, and I don't know where the starter solenoid is on a modern vehicle. Also, I don't know if you can push-start a modern vehicle that has a manual transmission. Can you?

I can't remember the last time I heard of a starter solenoid failing, so it's not the part I would carry as a spare. Also, it's built into many starters... who would carry a whole starter?

The problem with push-starting is that the electronic systems (engine computer, ignition, fuel injection) all need adequate electrical power - continuing long enough for everything to get initiated - for the engine to start, and you're not likely to get that from the alternator during a push-start. If you're really lucky, you'll have enough battery power despite not having a functioning starter. I haven't tried it with a car built in this century, and I expect that all owner's manuals will say not to do it... which doesn't necessarily mean that it won't work.

[SFDavis50]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

I wouldn't bet on it. Much of the mass of the wheel is in the bead area, so larger diameter substantially increases weight. For the same overall diameter, the tire for a larger wheel has shorter sidewalls but longer and so heavier beads, so it isn't necessarily lighter.

In the sizes and type (not LT) currently used on the F-150, in a sample model of tire, the 275/55R20 is two pounds heavier than the 275/65R18, despite the 20" having lower load capacity.

The 18" tires would have more load capacity, but the 20" tires will probably provide better lateral stability.

Good to know. Thanks for that information. I'll just keep using the 20" and not consider paying for 18" wheels. I'm well within the load capacity and tow capacity anyway and I just installed a set of Sumo Springs. Without the spare tire mounted and almost empty of gas there is a space the width of my pinkie finger between them and the axle. Definitely a rougher ride on an empty vehicle but not too bad.

[Effie]

Last week I was camping in Zion national park. As I was reading this thread a Range Rover pulled next to me towing a nice Airstream Flying Cloud, not sure if it’s a 23 or 25 (could probably be identified from the picture below). Now to the interesting part, the passenger side rear wheel was a space saver spare with a sticker limiting driving speed to 50mph. The plates on the Rover where from Florinda but the owners kept to themselves so I don’t know how far they drove with this tire, note that this is probably well over 5000lb trailer.

[thoer]

I'm glad you saw them parked instead of on the highway Effie!

[escape artist]

Hi: Effie... Just goes to show... those AS's cost so much there's no money left for emergency's. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie