Spare tire?

Not sure where to ask this question.

How often in your experience have you used your spare tire while off-roading because of a punctured or flat?

 

In ~15 years of street and off road, I've never gotten a flat with my E rated BFG 265/75r16 KO's...

I'll never not carry a spare though.

In addition to your spare, you should definitely carry a tire plug kit, and an emergency replacement valve:

https://www.colbyvalve.com/

 

Thanks for the reply. This was where I was going with this. Not that I am saying you shouldn’t carry a spare. We all carry them for off road use and some even have aftermarket bumper with tire carriers on them. One could say it’s a lot of dead weight especially if you have a aftermarket bumper with a tire carrier on it. In my opinion I feel that a tire plug kit is more useful and gets more use.

It’s also goes inline with having a winch, a lot of dead weight. However I think you would get more chances to use your winch than a spare tire.

I’m new to the off road community and I don’t hear much about people getting flats on the trail or the need to replace a wheel with a spare. This is why I wanted to have a open discussion about it. Not trying to say it’s wrong/right bad/good about carrying a spare. I wanted to see who has used a spare tire on the trails from their time of experience with off roading.

 

I always care a plug kit and a spare.

I was driving down to the ORV park one night and blew a tire on the street down to the park. Two holes bigger than what a plug kit would allow to adequately repair. Threw the spare on that I had.

 

The main thing is to play the "what if" game.

I hear about plenty of people getting flats, it's not that uncommon, which is why *most* people carry a spare. Hell, the Aussies usually have 2 spares + 2 more for their trailers, lol.

Not that long ago I saw a pic of an abandoned 3rd gen Taco on a not too difficult trail near Mammoth Mountain with a flat tire with no other obvious damage. Presumably the person didn't now how to change it (?) and had to get a ride/walk into town.

I also see a lot of "overlander" dudes rolling around with a brand new looking hi-lift jacks on their rigs, yet still have their stock bumpers. I'm curious how they plan to jack up their trucks with those plastic bumpers...

This goes to show that simply having a spare and some cool looking tools means squat if you don't have the knowledge for how to change a tire and use the tools (safely).

There are some people who choose not to carry a spare. Generally, they're either dumb, or they have made the choice that their plug kit and sidewall patch kit is sufficient, and they don't want the added weight. Those are generally rock crawlers in full on tube-chassis buggies (at least that I've seen). A lot of times, you can plug a tire faster than you could change out the spare.

 

Seeing its a 3rd gen Tacoma I'm not surprise. Not all but it seems like most of the ones growing up these days don't have basic mechanical skills.

Now that you mention it I have notice some rock crawlers not carrying spares, maybe too big for their rigs?

Australians off road scene seem too "overland" for me, but this is just want I have seen on IG and YouTube.

I don't carry a spare with me on this truck when I'm in town. I don't daily it and if I have a flat I'll just call AAA and get a free tow up to 100 miles.

 

Eleven flat tires in 17K miles. I always have a spare, a plug kit, and an air compressor.

Ode to a tire.

 

11 flats in 17k, that's at least 1 flat every 1500 miles. How did you go through so many?

I've only had 2 flat tires I can remember in my entire driving experience. One was in a state car and one was on my motorcycle. I've changed out flat tires for other people though.

 

Goodyear Wrangler Adventures.

Most of these occurred on small, sharp rocks. P-Rated tires don't belong off-road.

 

11 flats on 11 different wrangler adventures? If so how come you didn't switch up your tires after the 2nd flat?

 

Eleven flats on the original five tires.

Tires don't grow on trees.

 

Ok I just wanted to understand your claims.

I don't know your financial situation but I also consider time is money and having a different set of tires is better than dealing with the risk of flats, especially on the trails.

 

Have you tried planting the 5 you got??

 

Yeah, you're probably right.

 

Spare tire is like a fire extinguisher, you don't need one until you really need one.

 

Like carrying condoms? Some use them more when going out while others don't or rarely.

 

Owned my truck for 2 years, this is 2018 in Death Valley, about 40 miles from anywhere. Tire is slashed about 1-1.5" in the tread. It's not repairable. Glad I had my spare.


Oh, I like my Mac thinks there is a face in my wheel.

 

3 Flats, mostly sidewall.

Edit* 4+? One in Baja, One Calico, One Pancake Rock, One from a crazy blond that ran a red light...

 

Yeah, not many places you can stuff a 40"...lol