[TWX]

I like capable full-sized tires - build the space to carry it. Placed correctly, that could aid rear-end collision protection. But designers would have to be given 'leave' to leverage that sort of thing.

I was rear-ended in the '97 Stratus on the freeway and pushed into the car in front of me, a few days after I'd replaced the donut spare with a full-sized wheel and tire. I think that the spare effectively saved the quarter panels from buckling. The rear bumper's core of foam or plastic or whatever it was pushed into the spare tire well, which slightly deformed as it pushed into the tire, and the tire slid just a bit until it made contact with the front part of the well, and then the tire squeezed just a bit, and that was that. Had the donut been there I expect that the rear-quarter of the car would have tweaked under the C-pillars and that it simply would have been totalled. The body shop was able to pound the spare tire well back out, repair the trailing edge of the trunk opening, and replace the rear bumper cover and bumper insert.

 

[aldo90731]

Aldo, it's nice to hear I'm not the only one with an anti-Goodyear bias!

Even the crappy firestones that came on my Caliber didn't have problems, like the Goodyears we've had. Granted they all wore way too fast.

The Goodyear F1 tires are supposed to be one of the best performance tires available, so Chrysler is not cutting corners by mounting these at the factory.

I can see how SRT is in a bind: they need to install tires that enthusiast recognize as high-performance, even though they may not be the most durable. If they were to mount Firestones or Falkens at the plant, we will hear enthusiasts complaining about SRT being cheap.

Personally, I am at the point where I'll take off those Goodyears as soon as I get the car --looks like a nail got ahead of me this time, though... :angry2:

 

[Christopher]

To the best of my recollection over the past 25 years w/most recent first which would have been 2006:

Two flats in my Stratus a couple of weeks after I got it. After I got out of work. Everything closed. Required a flatbed home.
Flat in my Spirit after sitting overnight. Put spare on and drove to get replacement as tire would not hold air.
Flat in my '82 Charger on Memorial Day weekend. Put spare on and drove home. Last time the car was driven.
Picked up a 6 inch spike in the sidewall in my Citation on Memorial Day weekend.
Flat in my Citation sliced open in the car wash. Put spare on and drove home.
Flat in my Citation hitting debris. Miles from help. Put spare on and drove until replacement could be obtained.

In 4 of these cases, a spare saved the day. In the case of the spike through the sidewall, we were hundreds of miles from home in rural PA and managed to find a tiny tire store that happened to be open and got us on our way. With the Stratus the tires held air upon inflation long enough to get to a tire store.

This does not count tires that slowly lost air and needed to be periodically reinflated due to air leaking around rim or what I may have forgotten.

 

[JavelinAMX]

Funny, but not infallible, especially if you have changed a road wheel, or added a track link at 3 in the morning...

Re: Tracks ...

You don't need a Jack, though. Tracks work well Off-Road. The wear guarantee can be quite impressive, especially when compared with the average tire wear guarantees found with tires from name brands. Finally, they'd look great on a Chrysler 300C . A lot of people talk about how cool it is to hear a great exhaust note - and I'd totally agree ... well, these could add another characteristic sound that people could get real jazzed about. I think I overheard Sergio and Crew leaning toward them in the last Tire and Wheel discussion in Auburn Hills. I can't be absolutely certain. It was right before they gave me five minutes to pitch my idea for offering as standard equipment on the 2014 Viper the normally aspirated 1.4L coupled with the DDCT. At the heart of that pitch was the need to include a Throttle Governor to restrict the engine output upper limit to 3500 RPM. I came away from that meeting with a new perspective : Serge is a pretty cool dude. Anyway, as I was leaving the Board Room after the Pitch, I think I caught a glimpse of Ralph sketching a new 300C with Tracks for the attendees. It was right about that time I was thankful that I remembered to eat a small container of yogurt that had a healthy dose of beneficial Probiotics ...

 

[JavelinAMX]

So, the they'll lean away from supplying the tire and jack.

Does this mean the cavity normally molded-in for those bits will be going, too?

 

[UN4GTBL]

So, the they'll lean away from supplying the tire and jack.

Does this mean the cavity normally molded-in for those bits will be going, too?

If you look at the new Cherokee, it's a "storage" space when the compact or full size spare isn't ordered.

 

[aldo90731]

So, the they'll lean away from supplying the tire and jack.

Does this mean the cavity normally molded-in for those bits will be going, too?

You will get a spare track curled up in that empty cavity :glare:

 

[MoparNorm]

You will get a spare track curled up in that empty cavity :glare:

:lol:

I think the poll was a good idea. It disproved the assertion that flats no longer happen and nearly 50% of responders have experienced a flat in the past year, to year and a half, many with multiple flats.
The manufacturer with a good marketing department, could reap a benefit by offering a spare tire and touting that fact.

 

[aldo90731]

Agree.

And like some on here have stated: a tow is not a solution (1) if you get a flat after hours, (2) if you get a flat on your only vehicle, or (3) if you get a flat when you are out of cell range.

 

[TWX]

Agree.

And like some on here have stated: a tow is not a solution (1) if you get a flat after hours, (2) if you get a flat on your only vehicle, or (3) if you get a flat when you are out of cell range.

Pretty much.

I had to replace a tire on my pickup when the pickup had a flat and another tire turned out to have a bubble in the tread (and I originally thought it was just a crappy truck, silly me!) and on a Sunday the only tire place open that I would at-all trust was the Firestone/Bridgestone service center. No Costco, no Discount Tire, no Big-O, etc. In hindsight I suppose that Walmart might have been open for tires, and probably pepboys, but after pepboys broke a lug on the Cordoba and then tried to hide that they did it, I won't let them touch anything on a car ever again if I can absolutely avoid it. No three-stooges of the auto repair industry for me...

Over on the poll, almost half of respondents have had a flat in the last 12 months, and more than 60% have had a flat in the last five years. More tellingly, no one has said that they've never had a flat or haven't had one in 25 years, with 22 respondents as of writing this. That tells me that the ability to properly stow at least a bare-minimum of a spare tire is essential, even if the wheel and tire itself is undersized, light-duty, or even optional equipment. Someone may purchase a vehicle when they live in the heart of a major city with at least one shop open off-hours that can do tires so they wouldn't absolutely need a spare, but if they moved then that might change and if the vehicle can accommodate one, then they could correct the situation even if they have to pay dealer prices to do so.

 

[Dave Z]

I'm still amazed at the idea of having more than one flat in a month.

Again, though -- my wife's Escort could get a flat tire and a bent rim on a perfectly smooth road, I think. I have never seen such a POS on wheels that wasn't made in Italy before 1990. Yes, I'm including Yugos.

At 20,000 miles, the car was just about dead. Every major system had problems. Only the body was in good shape. Fuel injector acting up, engine having issues, -- oh, the transmission was still good, but the suspension was shot. We'd replaced three wheels, I think, and countless tires. The car was costing us around $500 a month with no car payments.

Going to the Neon saved us $200 a month for three years and around $450 a month afterwards. It was rock solid reliable in comparison. Never a single flat. Had the windows adjusted six times at the dealer, then one final time at an independent glass shop for $75, and they never had a problem again. Brake pads and rotors, 105,000 miles or so and they didn't really need replacing. Shocks, struts were OK at the end; replaced one engine mount.

 

[MoparNorm]

Agree.

And like some on here have stated: a tow is not a solution (1) if you get a flat after hours, (2) if you get a flat on your only vehicle, or (3) if you get a flat when you are out of cell range.

Or..get a flat off pavement. Most tow companies either refuse to leave the pavement or charge a hefty premium for doing so.
$250 cash being the quoted price by some.

 

[TWX]

I wouldn't even consider going offroad without at least a full-diameter tire rated for full-duty. It's okay if the tire is narrower for me, I'm unlikely to try to cross the same kind of terrain that many serious offroaders will attempt so it's not as critical if the tread width is a little narrower...

I can see why it's good when multiple-vehicle trips have the same kinds of vehicles. When I was a kid our friends had an Izusu Trooper one year newer than ours, basically the same vehicle. We went four wheeling with them a few times, and while we never got so stuck or broke down that we couldn't pull one out with the other with a strap, there would have been two spare tires that would fit either truck so long as only two tires in total failed. With a caravan of Wranglers of the same era, there'd be more spares than any one vehicle could mount on all four corners if it came down to that, just to get back out to the road again...

 

[aldo90731]

Pretty much.

I had to replace a tire on my pickup when the pickup had a flat and another tire turned out to have a bubble in the tread (and I originally thought it was just a crappy truck, silly me!) and on a Sunday the only tire place open that I would at-all trust was the Firestone/Bridgestone service center. No Costco, no Discount Tire, no Big-O, etc. In hindsight I suppose that Walmart might have been open for tires, and probably pepboys, but after pepboys broke a lug on the Cordoba and then tried to hide that they did it, I won't let them touch anything on a car ever again if I can absolutely avoid it. No three-stooges of the auto repair industry for me...

Over on the poll, almost half of respondents have had a flat in the last 12 months, and more than 60% have had a flat in the last five years. More tellingly, no one has said that they've never had a flat or haven't had one in 25 years, with 22 respondents as of writing this. That tells me that the ability to properly stow at least a bare-minimum of a spare tire is essential, even if the wheel and tire itself is undersized, light-duty, or even optional equipment. Someone may purchase a vehicle when they live in the heart of a major city with at least one shop open off-hours that can do tires so they wouldn't absolutely need a spare, but if they moved then that might change and if the vehicle can accommodate one, then they could correct the situation even if they have to pay dealer prices to do so.

Yes, you raise a good point: having no choice on what tire --or a set of matching tires-- to get as your car happens to be sitting on a flatbed.

In my particular case this week, having that temporary spare tire gave me the extra leeway to able to order the exact tires I wanted --and at a price I wanted, instead of having to buy whatever tire(s) the shop had available right then and there.

The shop offered to give me a loaner tire, but they didn't have any in stock that fit my car. When you drive a vehicle with a uncommon tires and/or tire sizes (like SRTs and Wranglers do), chances are they won't have a matching tire in stock to sell to you or lend you at that moment, and you find yourself having to make a pretty expensive purchase decision at the point of a gun... --sort of speak.

 

[MoparNorm]

I wouldn't even consider going offroad without at least a full-diameter tire rated for full-duty. It's okay if the tire is narrower for me, I'm unlikely to try to cross the same kind of terrain that many serious offroaders will attempt so it's not as critical if the tread width is a little narrower...

I can see why it's good when multiple-vehicle trips have the same kinds of vehicles. When I was a kid our friends had an Izusu Trooper one year newer than ours, basically the same vehicle. We went four wheeling with them a few times, and while we never got so stuck or broke down that we couldn't pull one out with the other with a strap, there would have been two spare tires that would fit either truck so long as only two tires in total failed. With a caravan of Wranglers of the same era, there'd be more spares than any one vehicle could mount on all four corners if it came down to that, just to get back out to the road again...

You just brought up a MAJOR irritant that Jeepers have with Chrysler, Daimler and now Fiat.
For decades all* Jeeps were on a 5 on 51/2" bolt pattern.
*The FSJ used Chevy axles, so they were 6 lugs, but all alike.
Then came TJ, which was 5 on 4.5", too small, but matched XJ, but not Grand which was 5 on 5".
Then came JK, which is 5 on 5", so tire matching and vehicle type, is critical to getting the spares matched.
With wheels getting bigger and bigger, they never should have stopped using 5 on 51/2".
To make mattes more confusing, the J8, which is JK based, uses 5 on 51/2" wheels, just like the old CJ.
I've been on many trips when a vehicle had 2 or three flats, or failed tires and borrowing was required.

 

[dak4x4]

My 06 Dakota has a full size spare tire on a steel rim. However the rim does not match the other 4 steel rims. The spare rim was black while the other 4 are silver, and is of a way different design. To make the best of it, I painted the black rim silver.
I prefer to do 5 tire rotations, but don't want a odd ball rim on the truck. This is nuts! If your gonna have a full size spare on a truck, give the customer a matching rim!

Now to the tires. I was in a Wallmart parking lot one saturday and noticed a shiny metalic spot on the tread of the left front rire. It was a piece of metal imbeded into the tire, ground flat by the road. I resisted the urge to pull it out with plyers, lest I deflate the tire and be changing it there. So rode it home and in the driveway, got plyers and pulled it out, and put on the air compressor. What a surprise. It was only 1/4" inches long, and the tip of a galvanized deck screw. Best of all. the tire was not leaking due to the shortness of the screw.

I puzzled over how a such a short piece of a screw can exist on the road, and then impail a tire. The answer is obvious. The screw threads prevented it going any farther into the tire by straight line force, and the rotation of the tire broke off the rest of the screw. If it was a nail, it would be a flat for sure.

In conclusion, it is better to have a tire screwed rather than nailed..... :flashred:

 

[MoparNorm]

I think that a large percentage of flats and embedded objects are caused by sheet metal, tek screws and "Grabber" screws. At least the ones I see and repair.

Not too long ago a local construction company lost a 35 lb box of screws on a freeway, it was chaos!

 

[GasAxe]

Yup, nails, screws or other bits of steel account for the majority of my flat tires. Pot holes cutting the sidewall or breaking belts account for the rest. In the 15 months I've had my Ram I've had three flats. No problem with the OEM jack.

 

[JavelinAMX]

You will get a spare track curled up in that empty cavity :glare:

Ha!!

I hope it's color-coordinated ...

 

[JavelinAMX]

I was rear-ended in the '97 Stratus on the freeway and pushed into the car in front of me, a few days after I'd replaced the donut spare with a full-sized wheel and tire. I think that the spare effectively saved the quarter panels from buckling. The rear bumper's core of foam or plastic or whatever it was pushed into the spare tire well, which slightly deformed as it pushed into the tire, and the tire slid just a bit until it made contact with the front part of the well, and then the tire squeezed just a bit, and that was that. Had the donut been there I expect that the rear-quarter of the car would have tweaked under the C-pillars and that it simply would have been totalled. The body shop was able to pound the spare tire well back out, repair the trailing edge of the trunk opening, and replace the rear bumper cover and bumper insert.

Think of the out-of-pocket price of a full-size spare; but then think of the other costs - you just pointed out several others. This aspect of car ownership is too critical to play the sort of games the Mfr's are contemplating or actually doing now.