Donut spare tire & tire Sealants

[willbur]

Greetings All-
Summer time and lots of travel to get ready for...

Anybody have an idea how long those spare tire donuts last? They just sit in a trunk for years and years. Replace? Can one go safely faster than the 50 mph max listed on the sidewall? Do this on an interstate and get run down.
Tire sealants- How long do they seal after inflating a tire? Effective?

 

[BigCahuna]

I just had to put my wife's spare donut tire on her car, after she knocked a hole in the sidewall. Her car is a '11 Equinox. It looked like brand new, no dry-rot that I could see, and was only down about 10 pounds from the max pressure on it. Only had it on fro a day and about 50 miles. No problems to report with it. First time it was ever used, and I don't plan on replacing it with any other tire.,,,

 

[skyactiv]

The sealant does you no good if you blow out the sidewall. And if you order a new donut spare, how old will it be when you get it? Will it have been sitting in a warehouse for 5 years?

 

[Lubener]

The donut spares are for temporary use. As long as they are not cracked, I wouldn't replace it. It will get me home which is all I am concerned about.
I would never use a tire sealant in any tire of mine.

 

[michael007]

I got a fresh donut when ordering from Maxxis for my HR-V. I think the old one was made by Continental.

Had to use the old spare when out of town on a Sunday and rode 300 miles or so on it.

https://shop.maxxis.com/products/compact-spare-tire?variant=40406598746247

 

[SwampSurvivor]

They say 50MPH max on the sidewall, but the weight and speed rating are usually at least 81 MPH and more pounds than the standard tires on the car.

 

[Jetronic]

They say 50MPH max on the sidewall, but the weight and speed rating are usually at least 81 MPH and more pounds than the standard tires on the car.

But they are bias ply (all the ones I've seen anyway) and not radial + they are definitely not using the same compound as the other 3 tyres. Diameter is often off aswell so you really are rolling the dice going fast on them. straight line is likely okay, but we haven't got much of that here.

 

[willbur]

The donut spares are for temporary use. As long as they are not cracked, I wouldn't replace it. It will get me home which is all I am concerned about.
I would never use a tire sealant in any tire of mine.

Thanks- a friend tells me he just bought a '23 Kia CUV and it came with no spare but just a can of sealant. He wanted a donut but can't even order one

 

[MSCH]

Greetings All-
Summer time and lots of travel to get ready for...

Anybody have an idea how long those spare tire donuts last? They just sit in a trunk for years and years. Replace? Can one go safely faster than the 50 mph max listed on the sidewall? Do this on an interstate and get run down.
Tire sealants- How long do they seal after inflating a tire? Effective?

the one and only time I ever used q donut spare in my life was in my old Chevy Cavalier and I know the donut was older than 5 years, and I drove 150 miles on the thing at expressway speeds.. which was funny, because it was a front tire that went, and thats where the donut ended up... so the thing was leaning low to the right and I know the donut had to spin a lot faster than the stock sized tire on the other end of the drive axle.. but I made it where I needed to go and called it a day.

 

[BigCahuna]

Thanks- a friend tells me he just bought a '23 Kia CUV and it came with no spare but just a can of sealant. He wanted a donut but can't even order one

I would be concerned about using a canned sealer, as it might ruin a expensive tire pressure monitor in the tire. You can always hit up the local tire shop or junkyard for a spare tire. Unless you work on construction sites, how often do you really use a spare?. We used my wifes spare once in 12 years.,,,

 

[Shel_B]

I just had to put my wife's spare donut tire on her car, after she knocked a hole in the sidewall. Her car is a '11 Equinox. It looked like brand new, no dry-rot that I could see, and was only down about 10 pounds from the max pressure on it. Only had it on fro a day and about 50 miles. No problems to report with it. First time it was ever used, and I don't plan on replacing it with any other tire.,,,

My experience is similar except that the temp spare was used for about a week around town. I did one small stretch of freeway driving and kept the speed to about 50-55mph.

 

[racer12306]

One of the biggest issues for tires is UV, and since donuts are out of UV rays, it's not going to age as fast as a normal tire.

Thanks- a friend tells me he just bought a '23 Kia CUV and it came with no spare but just a can of sealant. He wanted a donut but can't even order one

That's becoming more common.

Our Pacifica came with a deflated compact and an inflator which is also a deflator. It was actually kind of impressive the one time I had to use it.

Simple cost reduction item on the part of the manufacturer. Probably assessed how many people would actually change a tire on the side of the road and came back with not enough people to spend the money on designing a place for the tire to be held and then actually providing a wheel and tire.

 

[Shel_B]

One of the biggest issues for tires is UV, and since donuts are out of UV rays, it's not going to age as fast as a normal tire.



That's becoming more common.

Our Pacifica came with a deflated compact and an inflator which is also a deflator. It was actually kind of impressive the one time I had to use it.

Simple cost reduction item on the part of the manufacturer. Probably assessed how many people would actually change a tire on the side of the road and came back with not enough people to spend the money on designing a place for the tire to be held and then actually providing a wheel and tire.

Saving weight in order to help increase mileage is another.

 

[twX]

I suspect that part of the reason for the 50 mph limit is because nobody ever checks the pressure in spare tires, so they are almost always underinflated. At the proper inflation pressure of ~60 psi, they should handle 70 mph just fine. If you're still concerned, put the spare on the rear of the vehicle so it's not as heavily loaded. If it's not really hot to the touch after driving 10 miles, it should be fine.

Tires are generally good for 10 years or so, and a tire sitting in your trunk is not exposed to UV or chemicals. If there's no visible dry rot, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

I keep an air compressor and a tire plug kit in my car. I'd sooner plug the tire than use tire sealant. I have a donut spare as well, but I might just remove it for weight savings.

 

[willbur]

I would be concerned about using a canned sealer, as it might ruin a expensive tire pressure monitor in the tire. You can always hit up the local tire shop or junkyard for a spare tire. Unless you work on construction sites, how often do you really use a spare?. We used my wifes spare once in 12 years.,,,

thanks- live in a new construction area. Lots of stuff on the roadway

 

[Nick1994]

It's a crapshoot, seems they can last a long time, or sometimes not long at all.

This was the never before mounted donut for my 2015 Genesis in 2020. It still held air, it looked like this 6 months after I last checked the air in it. Went to top it off again and...

 

[wbwanzer]

How do you think that happened?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

They say 50 mph, but most people use them at highway speeds higher than that, and for months rather than days

My car has a full-size spare, and even when I don't have one, I replace it with full-size.

I hope you're not talking about using tire sealer in a donut

Fix-A-Flat doesn't work at all, and just pisses out the hose before it even gets in the tire.

Slime is much better. The metal can's slime is white and looks like Fix-A-Flat, but it actually works. However, you're still better off with the green stuff in the plastic bottle.

 

[Bighorn2500]

I found an OE steel Durango wheel at the junk yard for $10 and had a fullsize tire mounted and balanced. $125 investment total, piece of mind to replace the temp spare.

 

[willbur]

They say 50 mph, but most people use them at highway speeds higher than that, and for months rather than days

My car has a full-size spare, and even when I don't have one, I replace it with full-size.

I hope you're not talking about using tire sealer in a donut

Fix-A-Flat doesn't work at all, and just pisses out the hose before it even gets in the tire.

Slime is much better. The metal can's slime is white and looks like Fix-A-Flat, but it actually works. However, you're still better off with the green stuff in the plastic bottle.

but I need an air compressor with Slime. Fix a Flat pumps up the tire