Spare tire under a vehicle is a good idea?

[Remobz]

I seen quite a few vehicles that have the spare tire placed underneath the vehicle. The spare tire is subjected to constant dirt, grime and many other things that I cannot think of right now. Also, imagine driving on hilly and rocky terrain constantly.

Heck, I even knew a guy that had the cable snap that holds the tire up while he was driving.

Here are a few examples of what I mean.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1333519-1994-f-150-xlt-spare-tire-holder.html

A silly design don't you all think?

 

[master_shake_]

yep.

mini vans with stow and go seating are even worse.

they're up beside the exhaust just in front the center row seats.

not awkward at all.

 

[jlee]

You do realize that all of your tires are already exposed to all that same stuff...

 

[MixMasterTang]

You do realize that all of your tires are already exposed to all that same stuff...

Get outta here with your logic!

 

[Squisher]

It's not so much the tire, but the cable/crank mechanism does suffer. Lowering and raising a tire definitely gets harder to do on older trucks. A hose down and greasing up the cable is probably not a bad thing on trucks over 100K mi.

 

[twinrider1]

Buy a Honda Ridgeline. They store the spare tire in a compartment in the bed.
Which is fine, unless your bed is full of stuff at the time.

 

[JulesMaximus]

They're also easy to steal.

 

[master_shake_]

You do realize that all of your tires are already exposed to all that same stuff...

some of the spare tires on pickups i have seen will blow you away.

literally the rim they are on is so rusted they are about to break.

and maybe one is 50 holds air.

 

[skyking]

My truck is a former logger's crew truck, 230,000 miles of up to the mountains and back, down nasty roads, etc. The spare is filthy but functional. I'd rather not have to unload the entire contents of my car/truck alongside the highway to change a flat. I've had to do that before when traveling with my hatchback and it is a pita.

 

[Charlie98]

All of mine have worked fine... making sure the spare tire is serviceable is part of your job, along with checking the oil and all that. I rotate mine out every 5 years or so just to make sure it's serviceable when I need it (I keep my work trucks 10 years... we just sold our 'family' truck... a '97 F-150.)

The cable system is better than the old system... which was lifting the entire wheel up on a crossmember, and lifting that up and securing it.

 

[LTC8K6]

I have the factory full size spare with the matching chrome rim under my 08 Grand Cherokee. It seems to do fine under there. I haven't seen any problems with the tire or the mechanism. It's out of the sunlight, which is good. I check it now and then.

Now that you mentioned it though, I will take it out completely and take a good look at it soon.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Buy a Honda Ridgeline. They store the spare tire in a compartment in the bed.
Which is fine, unless your bed is full of stuff at the time.
http://blogs.cars.com/.a/6a00d83451b3c669e20176170dfc2c970c-pi

A reason to get a wannabe truck is it doesn't put a full size spare underneath but rather a little donut in a little pocket? OK... Nah, that doesn't outweigh having a real truck from literally anybody else.

They're also easy to steal.

It would be easier to steal one of the other wheels on the truck than drop the spare, and you'd get a lot nicer wheel and tire that way too. Only part you can really get to on my spare is the end of the cable and hoist that is actually holding up the tire. Doubt someone wants to crawl under the truck and drop a full size 32" cruddy tire on a steel wheel on their head.

I'm sure people do steal spares, but it is probably pretty far down on the list of things to steal.

 

[jlee]

some of the spare tires on pickups i have seen will blow you away.

literally the rim they are on is so rusted they are about to break.

and maybe one is 50 holds air.

A lot of people forget that spares need maintenance too. When I bought my GX470, the spare had sidewall cracks due to age.

 

[JulesMaximus]

It would be easier to steal one of the other wheels on the truck than drop the spare, and you'd get a lot nicer wheel and tire that way too. Only part you can really get to on my spare is the end of the cable and hoist that is actually holding up the tire. Doubt someone wants to crawl under the truck and drop a full size 32" cruddy tire on a steel wheel on their head.

I'm sure people do steal spares, but it is probably pretty far down on the list of things to steal.

I see a lot of trucks missing the spare though. Maybe some of them just took them off and tossed them in the bed?

This thread reminds me that I need to check the air pressure in my spare tire. It has been 3 years since I bought the car.

 

[Remobz]

Actually, all you people reading this for the first time and have the same spare tire setup please check it now!

I am turning this thread into a public service announcement now

 

[thedarkwolf]

I had the cable snap on my 89 dodge caravan. Luckily I was going slow and on a very low traffic road so I just stopped and threw it in the back where it stayed for the rest of the time I had it. Over the 12 years I had the van I used the spare a lot. Seems like a ran over something ever year. Think I had one tire with 4 plugs in it by the time I wore it out and replaced them all.

 

[pcgeek11]

My truck has a chain hoist that holds the spare under the bed.

 

[boomerang]

I seen quite a few vehicles that have the spare tire placed underneath the vehicle. The spare tire is subjected to constant dirt, grime and many other things that I cannot think of right now. Also, imagine driving on hilly and rocky terrain constantly.

Heck, I even knew a guy that had the cable snap that holds the tire up while he was driving.

Here are a few examples of what I mean.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1333519-1994-f-150-xlt-spare-tire-holder.html

A silly design don't you all think?

My car doesn't have a spare at all! I bet that would keep you awake at night. That's got to be worse than "many other things that I cannot think of right now".

 

[Demo24]

Where else would it go? May be cleaner in the trunk, but it can be a huge pain to get them out sometimes.

 

[bruceb]

Pickups usually have them under the bed. Hard to get to and it does use a crank handle to lower it (on GM at least). But they do get dirty and you will as well, if you need to use it. Some cars have the 65PSI Donut Spares, some cars have Fix-A-Flat and some come with an Air Compressor which can help if it is a small leak. Most of these solutions, except the Donut will not help if the tire has a big hole or a gash. None of them will help if you lose 2 tires at once. That did happen to me in NYC on the FDR Drive. Something was in the roadway, you could not see it in time. Took out my 2 right side tires. And I was not the only car that got snagged by that.

 

[IronWing]

This thread reminds me that I need to check the air pressure in my spare tire. It has been 3 years since I bought the car.

I changed a flat on my truck once. As I lowered the truck down with the spare installed, it just kept coming on down until the bead popped. "Ironwing, you dumb***" was a thought that came to mind. :biggrin:

My old Subaru had the spare next to the air cleaner.

 

[Thump553]

IronWing: That spare must have been a real delight to get out-especially if you were wearing good clothes at the time, too short and/or weak, etc.

But it's a whole lot better than the current modern practice of no spare tire at all and throw a spray can of tire sealant under the car seat. I was looking at new sedans last fall and at least half the models we looked at fell into the no spare category.

 

[slag]

All of mine have worked fine... making sure the spare tire is serviceable is part of your job, along with checking the oil and all that. I rotate mine out every 5 years or so just to make sure it's serviceable when I need it (I keep my work trucks 10 years... we just sold our 'family' truck... a '97 F-150.)

The cable system is better than the old system... which was lifting the entire wheel up on a crossmember, and lifting that up and securing it.

Exactly. Plus, when you get your tires rotated every 7k miles, the shop needs to pull the spare down, check the air in it, and put it back up. The device should not seize up between 7k mile rotations. While they do that, its easy to put a squirt of fluid film or even wd40 on the cable before they crank it back up.

 

[slag]

IronWing: That spare must have been a real delight to get out-especially if you were wearing good clothes at the time, too short and/or weak, etc.

But it's a whole lot better than the current modern practice of no spare tire at all and throw a spray can of tire sealant under the car seat. I was looking at new sedans last fall and at least half the models we looked at fell into the no spare category.

I owned a couple subaru brats with the spare in the same place. It wasn't bad, plus the tire is a 14 inch one IIRC so its not that heavy.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I hate when they put the spareunder the car. Pain in the ass to get to and half the time some fuckface steals the damn thing so you dont have it when you need it.

I want a spare in the trunk when I buy a car, I dont care if its a little shitty donut, but I want a spare easy to get to and safe and secure so that its actually there when the time comes.