Do you drive with a spare, run flats, or neither?

[jeepman3071]

I was driving West about 3 days ago (I drive everywhere. I love the highways. Cincinnati/Covington KY on down, the Continental US is my oyster. Anyways) My beautiful, sure-footed, non-Turbo borderline showcar (means DD car, some slight imperfections) - got smacked in the front by a flying re-tread two cars in front of me. Thankfully it just marred the license plate a little bit and all was okay, but it was a clear blue sky day. The kind of day to not speed, because conditions are perfect for the Staties to give out tickets etc. And I drive almost as much as you, some days more if I am road tripping to New England (which is every weekend lately.)

I agree that things can happen.

Ahh yes, the flying re-tread, known as the "road gator". That sucks! I previously worked in the auto insurance world. The damage I saw from some of those things was incredible.

 

[Pew]

I was driving West about 3 days ago (I drive everywhere. I love the highways. Cincinnati/Covington KY on down, the Continental US is my oyster. Anyways) My beautiful, sure-footed, non-Turbo borderline showcar (means DD car, some slight imperfections) - got smacked in the front by a flying re-tread two cars in front of me.

I almost ran into an entire re-tread at night on I-25 in Wyoming a couple years ago. It was sitting in the middle of the left lane as I was about to move over after passing a truck. It would have destroyed my entire front bumper and everything else up ther. I can't believe these things are legal.

 

[JT20]

I almost ran into an entire re-tread at night on I-25 in Wyoming a couple years ago. It was sitting in the middle of the left lane as I was about to move over after passing a truck. It would have destroyed my entire front bumper and everything else up ther. I can't believe these things are legal.

I pulled over on I-70 to see if my precious vehicle had some dent over that nonsense. I had to brake and everything. Thankfully everything was A-O-K just the plate got smeared with black rubber. I believe I got lucky. I almost had an 18-wheeler put a road marker through my windshield on I-270 once. Bounced it across the road like a tennis ball too.

Where I-76 meets I-71 is a little iffy as far as lane assignment etc. I-80 is a cool road. High elevation.

I set the cruise, but I am cautious.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

DD Subaru - Winter tire in the back during summer, all season in the back during winter. I'd like to get a 5 tire rotation setup for the all seasons but need a matching wheel.

Car Trailer - One Matching 185/80-13 D rated spare, then I have 2 extra 175/700-13 spares that I carry just in case. I really do not trust these 13s

Pickup - Full sized, non matching spare. So it has to go on the front to protect the limited slip

Jeep - Matching set of 5. Has auto locker so it has to have the front tires exactly the same.

This is why I Like Walmart for tires. Because they torque it right, no air gun!

Subaru is stupid for using a donut with AWD which is sensitive to tire diameter. Even worse, they stopped letting you disable the AWD (they did this specifically for spare tire use)

Will a full-size spare fit in the spare tire well?

My 18 Forester will fit a factory 225/60-17 in the sparetire well. Just have to remove the foam surround.

 

[JC1]

I have the donut sized on both vehicles. This is a reminder to check the tire pressure in the spare.

 

[DGXR]

I carry a full size spare in the pickup and a space saver spare in car (as they both came from the factory). I check the pressures every 6 months.