I checked the pressure in my spare and it was flat. Filled it up and the wife drove off in the car. When she came back, she reported she heard a load hiss like an air leak. Looked at the spare and it was flat. Dropped the spare and looked at the tire. it had a bulge about 6" wide and the bead was away from the rim. Replaced the tire and the rubber was removed down to the cords which were rusty. This spare had never been on the ground! The wife bought the car brand new. I was wondering if the tire was defective from day one. I was sure surprised by this and glad we never needed to use the spare in the last 11 years!
Dead BF Goodrich Spare
- Thread starter cntinuum
- Start date
TangoBravo
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 208
Its not likely that it was defective. Tires age and go bad even under a car and even not when being used. Any idea how old the spare is?
TangoBravo
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 208
Yeah guess you got me there. So what your saying is you have an 11 year old tire that has never been maintained or inspected and your wondering if it was defective 11 years ago?
Should have been no surprise at all.cntinuum said:
The Owner's Manual suggests a monthly check of the spare pressure. That also involves checking the latch mechanism and the winch to make sure you can actually get the spare down when you need it. Many owners who ignore the spare, also find a corroded locked-up latch and they they are in deep doo-doo at the side of the road. If your wife always travels in nice neighborhoods in the daylight with cell phone coverage, within a distance from your home that's covered by your current AAA membership, you can safely ignore the spare. Otherwise you really need to do more to keep her safe.
Have you ever taught her how to change a tire alone? Made her practice?
Also, now you have me worried - are you current on ALL fluids including the transfer case, whose service interval is a surprisingly short 50K and which needs new fluid EVEN IF you never use 4WD mode?
When Mrs. Roadie and I were first married in 1973, we were driving along on a nice April day in New England. I was telling her about HS Driver's Ed, where the policy was that boys had to be able to change a tire in 15 minutes, and girls (100%, no exceptions) had to change one with no time limit. She shared that her Driver's Ed didn't have that as part of the training. So help me, I pulled over INSTANTLY into a mall parking lot and told her: "Change it. Here and now. I'll give you advice, but I'm not touching a tool."
She succeeded. It helped she's not a frilly-dress sort of woman.
Did the same years later for our daughter. Expecting less from our women leaves them vulnerable.
She succeeded. It helped she's not a frilly-dress sort of woman.
Did the same years later for our daughter. Expecting less from our women leaves them vulnerable.
navigator
Member
- Dec 3, 2011
- 504
the roadie said:When Mrs. Roadie and I were first married in 1973, we were driving along on a nice April day in New England. I was telling her about HS Driver's Ed, where the policy was that boys had to be able to change a tire in 15 minutes, and girls (100%, no exceptions) had to change one with no time limit. She shared that her Driver's Ed didn't have that as part of the training. So help me, I pulled over INSTANTLY into a mall parking lot and told her: "Change it. Here and now. I'll give you advice, but I'm not touching a tool."
She succeeded. It helped she's not a frilly-dress sort of woman.
and also tell them that if they aren't in a good place to change the tire and can't call someone then drive slowly on the flat to a safe place.
I'll buy a tire/wheel to keep them safe.
Yes, TB has 150K on it and I just changed the transfer case fluid and rear differential fluids. Need to get the time to change the front diff.the roadie said:
I have only been in charge of the maintenance for the last 3 years. The rest has been done by the dealerships.
I guess they don't make tires like they use to. I can understand that a tire might lose air over time. The sidewall falling apart from no use was surprising. When I replaced the tire and stowed it, I did place the stem down so the pressure could be checked. When I took the tire to Americas Tire, they didn't seem too surprised to see the failure. Told me tires should be replaced every 6 years. I am thinking that when new tires are put on, the best of the 4 coming off should be the new spare. My brother lives in Anchorage and changes his tires every 2 years for improved traction.
I don't live in an area where corrosion is an issue. This rig is never driven off road unless it onto to grass to get washed.