Dreaded flat tire and I dont like it a bit :(

I've actually heard people say that. Way to often too! People get paid to clean this stuff up so why do I care.

 

I own 4 acres on a county road, this last spring when the snow melted I had 7 tires and rims in my ditch. Need less to say I was quite pleased! Not!

People just do not care any more about their neighbors.

 

Around here you'll see dumster diver's ruminations spread around local green trails. Things like cables, small appliances, tv's, clothes, shoes, you name it. The sad thing, virtually all this stuff is readily recyclable. We have Returnit that takes bottles, tetrapacks, Styrofoam (all types), tvs, computer components, various small appliances. And for scrap metal and cables, stuff like old lawn mowers, barbeques, there's one outfit: Happy Stan's, that'll take it all.

 

Well, my wife wont drive out in the middle of nowhere without me. And, I am glad she would just call someone to fix it...life is too short to worry about flats.

 

can't argue with that logic.

 

When we got our 2012 PIP, we purchased a spare wheel (over $600) and keep it behind the passenger's seat. A PITA, but better than being stranded somewhere. And, we got AAA to have someone change it when necessary. I'll not buy another PIP due primarily to this no spare issue. It's totally nuts. We have 4 summer tires and 4 winter tires, so use one of these on the spare wheel.

 

agreed. but i will buy another, and keep a mini spare in the hatch like i do now. but i won't like it.

 

Are the people upset about no-spare tires constantly blowing them out or something? The only flat I have had in over a decade was on my Leaf. I hit a giant pothole and it popped the almost new crappy ecopia tires. I drove super slow a block over and had the tire store put on a new tire. No matter where I am in town, I am always close to a tire store. And with AAA, it is hard to imagine you are more than 100 miles from a tire store. I don't even know or care if my Leaf has a spare.

 

i haven't had a flat in 20 years or so. i still like the security of a spare when i'm out of range of my binky. i don't want to hope i get a cell connection, wait for triple a or toyotacare, get a tow to the nearest idiot, yadda, yadda, yadda. i want to jack 'er up, change 'er out, and be off. it's cheap insurance if you have the space. mine is on the deck, no prolemo 99.9% of the time.

 

hycam still has a full spare and a pretty decent trunk. not bad for 40+ mpg. if they ever come out with a plug in and no spare, i'll do the same thing. i'm not driving through georgia without a spare.

 

I discovered I picked up a screw when I found the car sitting on a flat tire in the driveway so now I am reconsidering my stand on "no spare tire".

 

you have one though.

 

I think we bought the car at nearly the same time. How many miles you got on her now? Those are my highways, add on 80 and occasionally 580 when 880 gets stuck. I'm looking at 61k miles in front of me. My tires still look pretty good. Low tire pressure came on a year ago. I risked limping it along and I had it patched at America's Tires for free.

 

Got a low tire pressure indication on my dash on Saturday. Checked the tires and the right rear tire picked up a screw. Measured 27 psi. So I decided to try out my tire repair kit that I keep in the trunk cubby, which consists of:

- tire plug kit
- foot pump (I don't use a 12v powered one for fear of blowing the circuit. Those that draw under 10A are slow anyway.)
- two pliers (one to pull out the nail/screw, and the other to cut the tire plug)

I was at home and I have jackstands, a much better jack, tools, etc., but wanted to simulate a repair job on the road. Using the factory scissor jack, which comes neatly packaged underneath the driver's seat, I proceeded to remove the tire, plug it, and reinstall. Bottom line is that it worked like a charm. Things I already knew, from past experience, is that it's a lot easier to ream the puncture and install the plug when there is air in the tire and to jack the vehicle just barely enough to remove the tire (no higher). Lessons I learned were:

1) Store some latex gloves to avoid dirty hands.
2) The foot pump's pressure gauge overestimated by 7 psi (40 psi displayed was actually 33 psi).
3) The scissor jack is a bit flimsy, but it does the job. Best if you have any passengers to have them exit the vehicle and stand off the shoulder at least 100-feet in front of the car. You should do this anyway regardless of the type of emergency.

 

Another good item to have is a pair of lightweight wheel chocks, at the tire diagonally across from the flat. Plus a small square of wood/plywood, in case you're jack is sitting on dirt or gravel.

I had a sim. situation, except had the temp spare to fall back on. The scissor jack worked (but it's STILL a POS), plug-repaired in out of the cold at home, and reinflated the reapired tire with a bicycle pump.

 

I don't understand the fear of getting a flat. I've had probably a dozen in my 15 years of driving. Heck, I've had a stalled truck in the dead of winter up a logging road, and jogged 8 miles to the nearest town at 1am while it's snowing, wearing just a tee-shirt and jeans. No big deal. My point is that a flat is much less perilous than many people imagine. Heck, I'd give anyone a ride if they flagged me down (taxis do this too ).

Can anyone share a story of where the inability to continue on with a spare resulted in personal injury or great financial loss?

I'm not too thrilled about the goo that comes with the Prius. I've had 100% success with plug kits, so I think I'll give the goo to my dad to use in tractor tires and just keep a plug kit in the car. I can't imagine why Toyota would choose goo over a plug kit, considering plugs are

The only time I've had a flat that couldn't be mended with a plug is when I rolled the '69 Beetle and grass/dirt lodged into the bead. A spare came in handy that time, especially since that was before regular folk had cell phones.

Now I'm thinking about removing the spare from the Camry and Acura. I don't roll vehicles anymore, so I can't imagine needing a whole replacement wheel.

 

try it with 8 feet of snow on the ground, on a 2 lane road that's only 1 1/2 lanes wide at 9 degrees.

 

Stay warm my friend!

 

no prolemo, arrived in orlando today, went for a walk, a swim, and dinner al fresco. 63 at 10 pm.