Do you keep your spare tire in the trunk?

[masCh]

Hey guys. I've been contemplating for many months even years to take out the spare wheel in the trunk because I need the space. I carry lots of stuff like wires and cables and related equipment. The thing is, for the past 4 years I've never had to take out the spare tire to change it and I travel about 30-40K mileage per year. I know the concern is, "peace of mind" or "when you need it at least you have it" but are there any simpler solutions? Perhaps those repair kits you can buy in case you have a puncture? Do you keep your spare tire in the trunk?

 

[bmw7833]

Yes, i taken out too, coz got no spare rim for my M5 rim, only 4 pc when i bought it.

 

[astroboy]

Ever since the tubeless tyre is introduced, I never experience doing a road side emergency replacement because whatever sharp object that puncture your tyres, provided they continue to stuck in the tyre (most of the time), take a long time of perhaps weeks to flatten the tyres.

I have a good eye on under-inflated tyres and I do visual check on all my tyres before getting into the car. The moment I see a flabby tyre, I will go to the next petrol kiosk to pump up. If the variance between tyres is huge, maybe the rest are at 29psi and one of them is at 25psi, that's a good indication to continue monitoring that particular tyre or get the tyre shop to inspect.

I never remove any metal object found stuck on the tyre by myself. Always go to a tyre shop and ask them to remove. Most of the time, the object did not penetrated the thick tyre surface but if it penetrated, you are at the tyre shop already and they can fix the lobang on the spot for RM5.

Yes, I support removing the spare tyres if I really need the room. Your car will travel lighter, pick up better, FC improves and to be on the save side, put in a can of tyre puncture patch refill in the car. U should be alright!

Come to think of it, how do I perform a tyre rotation without a spare wheel at home? I need additional jacks..

 

[masCh]

Interesting. The thing is I also changed to 17" rims thus they wont work very well with my 15" spare.

I travel a lot at night Alor Star - KL, Alor Star - Terengganu etc, I jsut worry about a flat at 3am in Grik/Jeli or some place with no people. Never happened before but worry about it though.

But that tyre puncture patch may do the trick.

 

[jarance]

yup, still keep spare tyre for the peace of mind especially for the peace of mind.

have invertered the tyre for extra space to keep jumper lead and battery water. Use to keep spare water but found it is not neccesary after top overhaul.

BTW, some people says that the spare tyre is to keep the weight ratio and CG of the car. Don't know whether this is true or not???

 

[astroboy]

The puncture refill can is good to use when emergency but really I would try to avoid using it. Can't rest my mind knowing there's foreign compound in my tyre, thus possibly upset my tyre balancing in the future.

"...to contribute improved weight ratio and CG of the car..." true and that's the handling department, not pickup, FC and speeding department..

 

[masCh]

I dont think you can ever get perfectly balance C-o-G.

The number of passengers contribute too..

 

[cempaka]

Keep in mind the puncture can may not be useful if your sidewall gets shredded, which can happen. Better to keep the tire, especially with your travel patterns. My previous car never needed the spare for almost 200,000 km, but I was sure glad I had it when I had a blowout on the way to being a groomsman at my friends wedding. :wink:

What you could do is find a smaller thinner spare, which will save space and still allow you to limp another 100km or so.

There's always run-flats too heh.

But really, if space is needed that much, it's better to just get a removable roof rack with a pod rather than remove the spare tire.