Spare tire or not?

[DustyRhodes03]

It's important for the obvious reasons, and if you're doing any amount of trail driving or off-roading, you'll want a spare.
If you're mostly town cruising then I'd say it's more of a "meh" issue. Plenty of the vehicles I've driven or owned haven't had spare tires. It can lead to an annoying situation sure, but again, "meh" lol

That being said I like having mine for the extra weight in the winter . And aesthetically I think a Jeep looks odd without the tire on back.

 

[K0LCB]

I believe it’s better to have and not need than need and not have! JMHO

 

[billiebob]

I get a flat every 10 years, in a snowstorm on the highway, at midnight on the highway, 40 miles into the bush..... everytime 10 minutes later I was mobile...... and glad I was not waiting for a deck truck. I cannot imagine the advantage of removing the spare. Even a flat in the WalMart parking lot is less hassle if you have a spare.

IF I spotted you with no spare on a trail, I'd likely take a picture, have a good laugh and offer to send in AAA when I got home. NO way would I give you my spare for less than $1K.

Spare or no spare, hopefully you have a plan for when you get a flat.

 

[billiebob]

but what if you get two flats?

Generally speaking, a flat is caused by a trail/road hazzard or aggressive driving. When I get a flat, I adjust my driving style and my awareness of what I'm driving over. The odds of a second spare are pretty rare unless you are an idiot. But that is another reason for AAA and VISA.

If you are talking about taking it off for a specific run, like a day at the beach with the top off, windshield down, or a trail run with yer buddies, totally different from running every day without a spare..... and forgetting you don't have one. Maybe there are times no spare makes sense but I doubt there is any advantage to never have pack one.

 

[LONGJP2]

If you ever had to wait on someone, on a trail, because they didn't have a spare (or a plan), some of you might change your mind.
You don't want to be that guy.

 

[jjvw]

I've had four flats on my Jeep that I recall. All were trail related. Two were fixable without a spare.

 

[InOmaha]

A lot of new cars do not have spares anymore...... thank the epa for that.

My wifes spider 124 does not even have the space for one.

I run my jeep with a spare because I don't want to have to find a place to store it.

My daughter's mini cooper spare tire(s) are stacked in my garage taking up real estate.

I've used the spare on my Toyota and my Honda once each in the last 10 years. The Honda donut spare is really not a tire, but it was a pothole sidewall puncture large enough that blowing it up wasn't an option. I had to move the spare to the back and a back tire to the front. With my Toyota, it got me and forth to work that day with the tire dropped off and ready for pick up on the way home.

I've had a flat in my rental before and filled it with the fix a flat and compressor from where the spare used to be located. I bet they toss the tire or fix it from the outside rather than open it up with all that goo in it. I bought a full sized junk yard spare and jack setup for my daughter's car since it was a previous rental. Another coworker had the same tire get a flat on a different work trip to the same place. I bet it's the Indian burial ground we built the plant on or something.

My parents had a blowout on a highway once on a Friday night in the middle of no where (as most of Nebraska is outside of a couple of cities) and all they had was the little donut. Without it the local service station could of had a tire delivered by Tuesday or Wednesday. Look at your tire size, look at where you may go and carry appropriately. I doubt my small hometown has a tire like mine anywhere in it. So with a blowout, I'd have to buy whatever fit the rim and was close to the same OD, at likely somewhere around twice the price of shopping stores here in the "big city", only to toss it later when I bought a new matching tire; rather than rotate in my matching spare and going home. Then ordering a matching tire online and dropping the rim off at a place to have it installed.

Currently, I carry a jack and a spare, but I need to get a collapsible tire iron or socket wrench in there or I'll have to rely on the kindness of strangers or AAA.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

As expected there are two sides to this topic. I'm not sure I'm on either, maybe I'm on both.

Back in my CJ5 days I never even thought about why it never had a spare. I did get a flat once. I don't think it was off road, all I remember was replacing it with a used tire with similar tread and very close to the same size. That tire was better than the Firestones on it, I'm pretty sure it was a Sears brand tire from the 1980s but I can't remember the name.

As for other flats, I've had more than I can remember. Every one of them was on the road.

 

[KimsJeep]

I like the looks of the spare being on there.

As far as needing it in town, no I don't. Hubby would just bring me another car if I got a flat. LOL Seriously, he did that one time I had a flat in my PT. He brought the Miata to me so I could continue on to work. LOL (He's a tow truck driver).

As far as off roading, I would not feel comfortable if I didn't at least have some chance to get home if I got a flat. (hubby wouldn't be able to bring me a different car in that kind of situation. LOL)

 

[rasband]

I’d love to not carry one, but there are enough ways to lose a tire that can’t be easily fixed on a trail that I don’t foresee not having it anytime soon.

I'd be tempted to get it off the gate though. Not so much for the style but the weight back there could be better balanced brought in the tub and to remove that overhang when getting rowdy.

 

[Airjunky]

I've had plenty of flats over the years, a couple on Jeeps, a couple while off road, several on trailers. Not having a spare seems like going unprepared to me. I carry a pump & flat repair kit too but have only used it a couple times...... only because the reason for the flat has to be very specific for it to work.

 

[Ruby Rubicon]

Not my jeep or photo,but this is the only reason I would take my spare off, and it would be thrown inside the jeep like he did... But I would never elk hunt in a jeep unless it was my only vehicle.

 

[WDE]

I believe it’s better to have and not need than need and not have! JMHO

Amen

 

[Jramos013]

Either wait for a tow truck or change a tire and be on your way in 15-20min....... lets put it this way, if you remove the tire because ir "looked ugly" the you deserve to be on the side of the road waiting for that tow truck.

 

[Mumblewood]

One of my friends will have his wife, 2 kids and a dog. Tools and cooler in his Jeep so he opts to leave his spare tire at home from time to time to keep some weight off the back, but only if he knows that someone else has one he can borrow, we all understand that so we’ve always got him covered. Also I don’t do it much anymore but I would often leave my spare sitting on my trailer back at camp.

 

[ranwilrw]

That was my point earlier. If you're on a trail tough enough to rip open side walls, who's to say one spare is enough. If you get a standard flat, one can use a tire repair kit. I carry a repair kit and have on board air. If the trail was so rough I had a good chance of shredding a side wall, and did, and had one spare, I'd replace the tire and do a u turn back home.

My Jeep feels a lot lighter on it's toes without a 90+ pound tire back there. It's also really nice to open the tail gate with nothing on it, and the greater visibility without it there.

It's a personal choice though. Nothing wrong with running a spare at all, I just made the decision not to.

Also if I'm on a trail bad enough to rip sidewalls I'm turning round.

 

[Rockomuchaco]

I have a spare, but should probably look into carrying a jack too

 

[Airjunky]

Also if I'm on a trail bad enough to rip sidewalls I'm turning round.

Sometimes you actually don't know it going to happen. Its like an....... accident

 

[gg1]

I took my spare off to clean the mount. I figured I would leave it off for a couple of weeks to see if I liked it off or to put it back on. A 33" tire and wheel with mount is pretty darn heavy off the tail of a Jeep and it is very noticeable when going up long steep grades and I just like how responsive my TJ is without all that extra weight. I also prefer the look without it as it is just smaller and lighter. Ended up leaving it off and don't plan on putting it back on. Who needs that weight? I have AAA, don't run off road and never more than 100 miles away, so I just don't see the point of having one other than a look thing. I could just carry a plug or two and on board compressor, but it would have to be one heck of a spike to puncture one of my tires, so chances are very slim I'll get a flat.

 

[ranwilrw]

Sometimes you actually don't know it going to happen. Its like an....... accident

I'm in cottonmouth, copperhead, and rattler country, I'm more likely to get snake bit than have a flat, but I don't carry a snake bite kit either, just watch where you're stepping with both foot and tire.