Spare Tire vs Tire Inflators

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MasterSolenoid

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What's in your vehicle ?

Well, two Weeks ago I bought a 'new' 2021 Ford Escape after driving my Ford Ranger for 19 years.
Totaled in an accident (other persons fault).

The 2021 Escape came with a Tire Inflator (I've always had a full size spare).
I have come to accept the Tire Inflator for various reasons.
1) A full size spare is to 'wide' to fit in the dedicated area .... plus the added weight of spare and Jack
2) Because my vehicle is all-wheel-drive, a donut tire is to small in diameter (at least I think so / by about 3 inch)
3) I bought a 'spare' Tire Inflator so I will have two / plus two cans of 'slime'
Note: The tire inflator and green slime had good reviews on youtube.
4) I have had to change a flat tire while driving only once in 40 years / several slow leaks that I found in my driveway.
5) I have a good digital tire pressure gage and compressor in my garage and fill out a spread-sheet (record PSI) once a Month
Note: That's an easy way to find a slow leak.

I know alot of people insist on a full size spare, but tire inflators are here to stay, at least for cars and SUV's.

Question: Anybody have good or bad experiences with Tire Inflators ?

I did a search on here, but thought with more vehicles having them, it would be good to bring up.
 
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If using the "slime" to temporarily inflate a tire, how difficult is it for the tire shop to remove that stuff when trying to repair the tire?
 
tombalas said:
If using the "slime" to temporarily inflate a tire, how difficult is it for the tire shop to remove that stuff when trying to repair the tire?
Click to expand...
That's up to the Tire Shops to keep up with the times / just let them know it's in there.
18 oz can of Slime shows:
1) Water clean up
2) Sensor safe
------------------
Sold two different ways:
1) Pressurized can that is suppose to inflate tire and seal.
2) Non-pressurized where you remove the valve stem, squeeze sealant into tire and then inflate.
 
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I used slime to keep some lawn tractor tires going for a year or so beyond their serviceable life (side wall cracking). it worked like a champ and plugged the leaks BUT when the tire finally split and I HAD to replace it, That was some disgusting brown diarrhea looking stuff inside the tires. Really hit my gag reflex dealing with that stuff and I'm not easily grossed out. That #@!! was nasty!

Never again.
 
danez_yoda said:
I used slime to keep some lawn tractor tires going for a year or so beyond their serviceable life (side wall cracking). it worked like a champ and plugged the leaks BUT when the tire finally split and I HAD to replace it, That was some disgusting brown diarrhea looking stuff inside the tires. Really hit my gag reflex dealing with that stuff and I'm not easily grossed out. That #@!! was nasty!

Never again.
Click to expand...
I understand pushing it to its limit in a lawn tractor.:)
Just understand in a vehicle, the directions show: .... repair the tire in 3 days or 100 miles.
 
MasterSolenoid said:
I understand pushing it to its limit in a lawn tractor.:)
Just understand in a vehicle, the directions show: .... repair the tire in 3 days or 100 miles.
Click to expand...
You know how people get when the "fix" something. leave it alone if its working. a year later......
 
I had a BMW MCoupe. Had a can of goo and inflator. Got a good size screw in the tire about 6 miles from home. I had to stop and inflate about 8 times to get home without ruining the tire. took about an hour to go those 6 miles.
I paid $500 to get a optional wheel, tire and jack in my Chevy SS sedan.
Now in New Mexico I’m often a hundred or more miles from home…from anywhere!
 
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My Lexus UX 250h has nothing. Where any of this would go, under the hatch, is completely empty.

The UX 250h has run flat tires, famous for NVH and reduced MPG. I am pleasantly surprised with my results.
 
The Aviator has a full size spare, and I added a repair kit. The BMW has a repair kit and inflator. The Mini has runflats. I'll probably ditch the runflats and get a repair kit and inflator. There's no room for a spare, not even for a donut, on the S Roadster convertible. In the past I have always managed with sticky string type plugs. While not a proper repair I've never had a problem with plugs only.
 
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Two have full sized spares, two have doughnuts. I tried to swap a full sized into the ‘11 Camry wheel well but nope, doesn’t fit, darn it. Sometimes I carry a tire inflator in my main vehicle, I like having one around but I’ve been too cheap to buy a good one so far. Not sure I like the notion of not having a spare at all, Murphy’s law and all. To be fair though, I could count on one hand the number of flats I’ve had in 20 years.
 
I don't carry a spare unless i am traveling out side of my AAA tow range. The space where my spare would normally have gone has electronics' now. When we do go on long trips I carry the spare. It is a space saver. but I dismounted it had the wheel powdercaoted and the spare is in a nice completely enclosed spare tire case.

I really do not care for any of the flat-fix in a can. The wheel clean up is a royal PIA. Don't be fooled it is a mess to get the wheel cleaned up.
I will say I also carry a can of fix -a-flat but if I did use it I would replace the tire no matter how small the puncture was. That's just me!
 
NitroM3 said:
I don't carry a spare tires in my cars cars (explorer I do) unless I am traveling outside of my AAA tow range. (my policy is 300miles) My Mazda which is also the daily driver the original factory space where my spare space saver would normally have gone in the trunk was made room for part of my custom stereo system now. When we do go on long trips I carry the spare. It is a space saver. but I dismounted it had the wheel powder-coated and the spare is in a nice completely custom diamond pattern vinyl material case l with a soft carry handle to completely enclose spare tire .

I really do not care for any of the flat-fix in a can. The wheel clean up is a royal PIA. Don't be fooled it is a mess to get the wheel cleaned up.
I will say I also carry a can of fix -a-flat but if I did use it I would replace the tire no matter how small the puncture was. That's just me!
Click to expand...
 
What exactly is the tire inflator? A can of air? Anyway, I carry a real tire inflator, a Ryobi tire inflator. I just keep it in the trunk. Also has a donut spare. Both cars are AWD and they come from the factory so donuts also work on AWD.

www.homedepot.com

RYOBI ONE+ 18V Cordless High Pressure Inflator with Digital Gauge P737D - The Home Depot

RYOBI introduces the 18V ONE+ Cordless High Pressure Inflator with Digital Gauge (Tool Only). The Cordless Power Inflator is the perfect tool for tires and small inflatables ranging from 0 PSI to 150 PSI. It features an easy to read digital gauge that provides pin point accuracy. The cordless...
www.homedepot.com
 
I've had less than 10 flats in my life of driving. At most they were inconvenient. I prefer to have spares in the vehicles, but not all of mine have them. Some of my vehicles have a tire but no rim. The theory would be to have the tire mounted if needed, but otherwise it's a wasted cost and weight. All have 2 cans of fix-a-flat each. That might come in as a faster safer handier method.

The garbage jacks that come with cars makes me reluctant to want to try them on the side of the road. I also have roadside and won't plan on personally jacking a car on the side of the road. Seems very dangerous, reserved for dire emergencies. I put 1 jackstand in each vehicle in the event I must.

Given that flats are rare in my driving life, it makes sense to save the money, the weight (100 pounds with tire, rim, jack, stands, etc.), the space, etc. and not have a spare. I do keep spare tires at home.

When driving far from home or away from civilization a spare, good jack, stand, lights, reflectors, etc. are all very necessary.
 
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My Jeep and Camry have full sized spare tires. The Jeep I replaced the tire in 2017 with a new Goodyear Wrangler (I run BFGs on the Jeep). It'll get another brand new tire for the spare in 2027, I don't want to deal with a bad spare away from home.

I just had a new set of tires put on the Camry, and the wheels match the spare wheel too. I had Discount Tire throw the best tire from the old batch (2019 tire) into the trunk and called it good.

My Genesis had a donut, which had never been used but the tread separated while in the trunk. I had a new tire put on the wheel.
 
CharlesInCharge said:
Some of my vehicles have a tire but no rim.
Click to expand...
Split rims?

CharlesInCharge said:
The garbage jacks that come with cars makes me reluctant to want to try them on the side of the road.
Click to expand...
At the moment my daily has one of the cheap HF floor jacks in it. I’ve been using my trailer weekly. It and a bike rack do a good job of killing trunk space, lol.
 
I dont think I could stand an inflator and goo set up. I have a mix of full size spares and donuts in my current vehicles. The donuts I have are the same outside diameter as the regular tire so the AWD like in the Audi and Cross Sport are good. Only thing with donuts is they should be on the rear, and not used at more than 50 mph for 50 miles if I remember correctly so a roadside mini rotation may be in order unless you are just going a short distance. This should get you to a tire shop if out on a road trip.
I would rather have run flats than the inflator and goo set up.
 
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