Alternative For Carrying A Spare Tire

[congerz83]

I would never go anywhere far w/o a spare... When I can, I always upgrade to full size spares as well. It's just getting harder to carry every time I go a size bigger on my Grand Cherokee ....

To me NOT having the peace of mind of a full-size spare is just... in a word... retarded.

[David T]

Things change. Cars no longer come with cranks or tool kits or extra parts. Tire technology has come a long way. You used to have at least one spare, some old cars had two. They all came not only with the spares but a hand pump and a tool kit with tire irons so you could fix the flat on the side of the road. Most owners also carried an extra inner tube or 2. Nowadays even though many cars still have a spare, very few owners know how or will try, to change the tire. Not only do the car companies save weight, more importantly they also save $$$$$ not supplying a spare tire. If having a spare is that important then consider run-flats. All new cars now have tire pressure monitoring technology because no one was checking tire pressure and causing too many roll-overs.
David Teitelbaum

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

Run flats are extremely low profile -- not an option on a DeLorean unless the owner also changes the rims.

[Chris4099]

Run flats are extremely low profile -- not an option on a DeLorean unless the owner also changes the rims.

Bill,
There are plenty of RF tires out there that are not considered "extremely low profile". At least I don't consider a normal size passenger car tire on a 16 inch wheel "low profile" (RF are available starting at 16 inches). However you are right that one would need to change out the wheels on a D to run them. DMCH did this with their concept D years ago with the custom interior. They enlarged the trunk space by removing the spare and putting RFs on.

[chenderson2k]

What if you have a blow out? I see blown out tires all the time on the side of the interstate. Anyone who says tires never blow out is wrong.

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

Apparently most tire shops don't mount run flat tires on non TPMS vehicles. To fake out a shop a DeLorean owner would not only have to acquire two different TPMS rims of suitable size (with our particular 4x100 bolt pattern), but would also have take those rims to the shop loose because our cars don't have TPMS electronics in the dash.

Making a full size spare from a junkyard rim (1980's Chryslers used the same bolt pattern) and a standard radial tire is certainly cheaper and arguably easier.

[Chris4099]

There are plenty of aftermarket TPMS systems out there. You can even put them on our stock wheels if you wanted to. The reason shops may require them for RFs is because you can have a giant hole in your tire and not even know it as it doesn't effect handling.

For me, carrying around a compressor and fix-a-flat is easier then a spare, but to each is their own. As long as I make sure I don't have low pressure in the tires, the chance of a total blowout is very minimal. My last 5 flats, I didn't even need a compressor (never used the can of fix-a-flat yet). Just noticed by chance a nail in the tire, so I drove to the shop and had it fixed. No need to take time out to put on a spare.

I'm not saying carrying around a spare is stupid, it's just fine. However, not carrying around isn't stupid either. Just multiple ways to address situations. It just happens to be more people are moving away from the spare method and using other means.

[Bill Robertson's Sock Puppet #1]

If the Internet is to be believed: compared to traditional tires, run flats ride harsher, wear out faster (in the real world my mother's Scion does burn through tires about every 25,000 miles), and cost significantly more -- some things for owners to keep in mind as they evaluate options.

[kings1527]

Things change. Cars no longer come with cranks or tool kits or extra parts. Tire technology has come a long way. You used to have at least one spare, some old cars had two. They all came not only with the spares but a hand pump and a tool kit with tire irons so you could fix the flat on the side of the road. Most owners also carried an extra inner tube or 2. Nowadays even though many cars still have a spare, very few owners know how or will try, to change the tire. Not only do the car companies save weight, more importantly they also save $$$$$ not supplying a spare tire. If having a spare is that important then consider run-flats. All new cars now have tire pressure monitoring technology because no one was checking tire pressure and causing too many roll-overs.
David Teitelbaum

There are plenty of aftermarket TPMS systems out there. You can even put them on our stock wheels if you wanted to. The reason shops may require them for RFs is because you can have a giant hole in your tire and not even know it as it doesn't effect handling.

For me, carrying around a compressor and fix-a-flat is easier then a spare, but to each is their own. As long as I make sure I don't have low pressure in the tires, the chance of a total blowout is very minimal. My last 5 flats, I didn't even need a compressor (never used the can of fix-a-flat yet). Just noticed by chance a nail in the tire, so I drove to the shop and had it fixed. No need to take time out to put on a spare.

I'm not saying carrying around a spare is stupid, it's just fine. However, not carrying around isn't stupid either. Just multiple ways to address situations. It just happens to be more people are moving away from the spare method and using other means.

Both are great points. I think times and technology do change and it's a very rare scenario for a tire to have a blowout when proper maintenance and upkeep has been performed.

[SoCalDMC12]

If the Internet is to be believed: compared to traditional tires, run flats ride harsher, wear out faster (in the real world my mother's Scion does burn through tires about every 25,000 miles), and cost significantly more -- some things for owners to keep in mind as they evaluate options.

I had run flats on my Mini Cooper... they rode more harshly, wore out quickly, and would have cost more to replace. I switched them for regular tires (and a can of fix-a-flat) and am much happier now. Ride quality improved significantly.

BTW: In the 28 years I've been driving, I only used a spare once.