<VV> Spare tire

[Dave Keillor]

I, too, was going down the no-spare-tire road until two incidents just a
few months apart changed my mind.  I hadn't had a flat tire in years, so
I was thinking that a spare was mostly a waste of space, and I could get
along with a compressor and fix-a-flat.  After all, several new cars
have taken that approach.

The first incident was a huge pothole on a Minneapolis freeway that got
me plus about 10 other cars.  It was about 10 pm on a Friday night and
the hit blew the tire and bent the alloy rim (my wife's Alero).  I
didn't relish changing the tire on the side of the freeway, so I called
AAA.  The service truck changed the tire (minispare), and I drove the 80
miles back home on the minispare.  Had I not had the spare, the car
would have had to be towed until a wheel and tire could be located.

The second incident was on the back roads of New Mexico in a rented Kia.
A tire went flat and before I realized what had happened (it was a
gravel road), the tire was shredded.  There was no cell phone service in
that area and we were truly in the boondocks.  The minispare was enough
to get us the 50 miles or so to civilization and a new tire.

So, I still have spares in all my cars.

Dave Keillor
 
-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Edelstein and
Payne
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 7:39 AM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: <VV> Spare tire

     I don't carry spare tires anymore in my vairs (or my BMW's).  Each
car has one of those small air pumps that plugs into the cigarette
lighter (or power port these days) that you can get at your local auto
parts store for less than $15.  Most flats are due to a nail or screw,
and if you pump up the tire, you can drive a pretty fair distance.  Has
worked for me a number of times.  For the REAL BAD problems, each car
also has a bottle of green slime --- to be used only in EXTREME
emergencies as it's hell to clean up.

     Got to thinking about this when I bought my wife the M Coupe, and
it had no spare, but just a pump (much higher quality than what's in the
other cars) and green slime.  Not having a spare saves a fair amount of
wieght ---  about 40 pounds in my M5.  Now there was the time that my
son ran a tire low on the Vair and then hit a chuck hole or something
and ripped about a 3-4 inch gash in the side wall of the tire when the
rim pinched it.  Did wish there was a spare in the car that time.

             Travis Payne    65 Monza coupe
             Raleigh, NC     65 500 coupe  
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