mike_s
Contributor
when was the last time you checked your Spare Tire?
No..... I don't mean the one around your waist but the one in your car?
The reason I post this is that I just returned from a dive trip and ran into such a problem. It's a good way to screw up a dive trip on the way down or back, and could make you miss the boat.
I had a tire on my vehicle have the tread 'seperate' from tire enough to make the tire wobbly. It was still holding air, but definately not safe enough for highway speeds with a hump in it..
After cranking down the spare (which required unloading all kinds of gear to get to the jack and tools), inspection of the spare revealed a crack in the sidewall almost big enough to stick your small finger into. The tire was holding air, but with a crack in the sidewall would definately not hold a full size SUV going 70mph + down the highway without blowing out....
Now normally I try to "inspect" my spare tire about once a year and check the air pressure in it. (when was the last time you checks your spare tire air pressure?) However, I never lower it down to inspect it, just check the air from below and give it quick look over. The crack was on the side of the tire that faced the vehicle where you crank it up under the SUV.
Now... to make matters worse, imagine if this was at night or on a Sunday when tire stores aren't open!!! Well, it was Sunday when this happened!!! I thought we were spending the night in a hotel all because of a $120 tire. I mean you never find a tire store open on a Sunday. (and there are no such things as service stations really anymore, at least here, they are all convience stores now that sell gas).
I was prepared to face the consequences when the wife check the GPS NAV system and low and beyond there is a tire center 1.3 miles away according to it's database. Luckily it listed their phone number also. I quick phone call and **gasp**, they were open on a Sunday!!! They didn't have the matching tire for my vehicle, but were able to sell me a tire for my spare to continue home and not have to get a hotel. (I've got a full size spare so highway speeds are no concern for it).
I'm figuring it could have been worse. It could have been cold, raining, snowing, or Christmas Eve and no one was open. So I'm posting this to remind you to check your spare so you don't have to deal with this type problem when you least need it.
So...
1). Check your spare tires air pressure often, like at every oil change
2.) unload and inspect your spare tire at least once or twice a year.
Hope this is a helpful reminder to all.
No..... I don't mean the one around your waist but the one in your car?
The reason I post this is that I just returned from a dive trip and ran into such a problem. It's a good way to screw up a dive trip on the way down or back, and could make you miss the boat.
I had a tire on my vehicle have the tread 'seperate' from tire enough to make the tire wobbly. It was still holding air, but definately not safe enough for highway speeds with a hump in it..
After cranking down the spare (which required unloading all kinds of gear to get to the jack and tools), inspection of the spare revealed a crack in the sidewall almost big enough to stick your small finger into. The tire was holding air, but with a crack in the sidewall would definately not hold a full size SUV going 70mph + down the highway without blowing out....
Now normally I try to "inspect" my spare tire about once a year and check the air pressure in it. (when was the last time you checks your spare tire air pressure?) However, I never lower it down to inspect it, just check the air from below and give it quick look over. The crack was on the side of the tire that faced the vehicle where you crank it up under the SUV.
Now... to make matters worse, imagine if this was at night or on a Sunday when tire stores aren't open!!! Well, it was Sunday when this happened!!! I thought we were spending the night in a hotel all because of a $120 tire. I mean you never find a tire store open on a Sunday. (and there are no such things as service stations really anymore, at least here, they are all convience stores now that sell gas).
I was prepared to face the consequences when the wife check the GPS NAV system and low and beyond there is a tire center 1.3 miles away according to it's database. Luckily it listed their phone number also. I quick phone call and **gasp**, they were open on a Sunday!!! They didn't have the matching tire for my vehicle, but were able to sell me a tire for my spare to continue home and not have to get a hotel. (I've got a full size spare so highway speeds are no concern for it).
I'm figuring it could have been worse. It could have been cold, raining, snowing, or Christmas Eve and no one was open. So I'm posting this to remind you to check your spare so you don't have to deal with this type problem when you least need it.
So...
1). Check your spare tires air pressure often, like at every oil change
2.) unload and inspect your spare tire at least once or twice a year.
Hope this is a helpful reminder to all.