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Do spare tires need replacement?

My spare in the 92 9 series once inflated to "spec" began to separate in the tread...whilst in the trunk! Folks, as a representative from the Tire Industry, I can tell you that's TOO DAMN LONG to count on ANY spare tire.

Since I run FWD rims on my DD with appropriate 25mm spacers, I just picked up a C series spare from a late 2000 vehicle. 17 inch rim which clears my brake upgrade..... and the Michelin tire still has vents on it (never seen pavement). I believe they charged me $12 from the local Pullapart. All that, and it fits nicely in the spare well. Junk those old spares!

A public service message from TOYO & NITTO Tires ;-)
 
The Volvo space saver spares were made by Firestone years before and years during the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire debacle. I'm sure they didn't build Volvo spare tires with any more quality than the tires they were selling to Ford. :lol:
 
Yeah, I went to fill my 92 original space saver spare and it had shredded it self apart. I had no idea at the mesh inside of those things could be so sharp!

Found another one at the junk yard for now.
 
Yeah, I went to fill my 92 original space saver spare and it had shredded it self apart. I had no idea at the mesh inside of those things could be so sharp!

Found another one at the junk yard for now.

Find a pizza cutter in the JY that's not expired and put it on the wheel.

Michelin says 10 years and the other manufacturers say less but they don't agree so they do nothing.
 
For those of us with 15" spares (PV/Amazon/1800/140 cars, late 240's, 700/900 series cars), find out where the VW Beetle/Bug guys get their tires. Pick up a 165SR15 tire from wherever they go. Have that installed on your spare rim. The minispare rim used on the later cars is essentially a 140 steelie painted black with 25mm offset instead of 40mm offset and with a large enough centerbore to avoid jamming the front brake rotor when it's torqued down.

-J
 
I use 205-60-15 on my wagon. The spare is a 205-60-15 all season tire on a 740 steel wheel. The only drawback is that it is heavy. The VW tire as a spare is a good idea since it is light but is a bit tall unless you are using taller tires and wheels like 16" and larger on a 240.

Back in the 80s on my 62 beetle I had the usual 165-15 tires. I got some wider chrome steel wheels and put 205-60-15 on my beetle. The handling was greatly improved but the gearing was so much shorter I hardly had a highway gear for fourth. lol.
 
^Yeah, I could see that being a problem. 205/65R15 might be closer in diameter for a Beetle, as well as a non-turbo 245...

-J
 
Hmm.. This made me think, still have the original 1982 spare wheel in my 244. Problem would be fitting a full sized one in the spare tyre wells, though.
 
I went to a local tire store and asked for a tire that approximated the height of the 35 year old spare. No problem. Owner looked up the height and width of the rim and produced an inexpensive replacement. It sorta looked like a compromise between the original spare and a real tire. It had to be ordered but that only took a couple days.
 
Just as an update from me, I got one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019XCW1AC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And had Firestone put it on and balance it for me. Looks great, fits in the tire well just fine. Hopefully it'll last a good long time, and with any luck will see little use :p

Here you can see my original spare tire that's been sitting in the car port rusting and rotting, as well as the once-good spare that has been in my car for a while but ended up shredding too. As you can see the new tire is visually the same size. It also has real tire tread, rather than donut tread.
RLrOyXNl.jpg


Tire installed:
hepdYeJl.jpg


And in place!
rd8vRicl.jpg
 
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