Ever wonder if a 30 year old spare works?

[rush91]

On my way home from a Sunday drive, stopped for gas and noticed my passenger rear tire was flat.....I was about an hour from home, I don't have AAA or a road side tire kit. So out comes the 30 year old dounut. Changed the tire and drove about 60 miles home. No issues at all. The spare was my hero of the night!

[WARP TEN]

Happened to me once with the Quasar '93 in the late '90s. The TPS light came on and I used the spare and put the big tire in the tire bag. Boy did it look funny with a 13" wide tire on one side and a 4" wide one on the other! When I got to a gas station they discovered a 1/2" mending plate about 2" long embedded in the tire sideways; tire was toast. When I got the diagnosis I called my local tire dealer for the 315 Goodyear. When he called back a while later he said, "I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is there is one available in the country, in a warehouse in Indiana. The bad news is that it is the most expensive tire we sell." Oh well. One thing to note: The spare is supposed to have 60 psi of pressure, so it is always a good idea to check it occasionally if you still carry the spare. Just in case. Once I checked it and it was down to 25 psi.--Bob

[Stingray1967]

Wow, you got lucky!! My original spare that I looked at after buying the car last November wouldn't hold air to save its life. Glad you made it home safely!

[WARP TEN]

Wow, you got lucky!! My original spare that I looked at after buying the car last November wouldn't hold air to save its life. Glad you made it home safely!

On my Polo '95 in 2016 its original spare tire still held 60 pis of air, at least for a pretty long time. I wonder if your spare's rim might be corroded. Ever have a tire shop dismount it to see? If the tire isn't cracked that might be the issue, as might a failed valve. Had a leaky valve on one of the regular tires my '95. While I would not want to drive very far on a 30 year old doughnut spare, it is still good to have in an emergency. Assuming you still have the spare tire carrier in place. --Bob

[Stingray1967]

Thanks Bob, here is what I know. 1994 ZR-1, 21,500 miles when I bought it. It looks for all the world like the original spare tire and wheel combo. It has the correct markings. I didn't check the date code on the tire, but believe it to be original.

I took it out of the spare tire housing and it had decades worth of road dust on the tire. I put the tire in my garage sink to clean it after airing it up. It "spat" water at me around the circumference of the wheel (right on the bead) for roughly 35-45% of the circumference on one side, and about half that on the other side. In other words, it leaked like a sieve.

I agree that having a spare tire is a good idea. Here is my glide path.

Swap the front spring on the car (it is sitting too low has a base coupe front spring in the car right now).
Swap the four road tires with recently acquired Goodyears.
Have the car aligned.
Address the spare.

I guess I could have the shop address the spare tire right now. Nothing holding me back from that.

[Mystic ZR-1]

OMG...
Put on the spare and screw up the tire crayon markings they
put on at the factory 😀 What would NCRS say?
Murphy?s law says you?ll have the flat tire at the worst
possible time and location...
Carry a can of tire goop, a tire plug kit with pliers to pull out the nail
and a cheap 12v compressor.
Of course none of this is any good if you
rip a hole in the tire, refer to Murphy?sl law above...
AAA card, just like your AMEX card, don?t leave home without it.

[rush91]

Wow, you got lucky!! My original spare that I looked at after buying the car last November wouldn't hold air to save its life. Glad you made it home safely!

Thanks! I got very lucky, as in there was a gas station at the next exit. She started swaying that butt back and forth, like the tire was loose or ready to fall off... I just had them mounted last Thursday and didn't see any nail or screw in the tire after I got it off. So not sure what the issue is yet...?

I busted out the owners manual out of glove box and went step for step. Kind of neat how GM includes everything one needs, and where they stored things at. I also noticed, that the tire says " Must inflate to 60 PSI".....But our tire gauge that was original to the car, only goes to 48 PSI lol....

[rush91]

OMG...
Put on the spare and screw up the tire crayon markings they
put on at the factory 😀 What would NCRS say?
Murphy?s law says you?ll have the flat tire at the worst
possible time and location...
Carry a can of tire goop, a tire plug kit with pliers to pull out the nail
and a cheap 12v compressor.
Of course none of this is any good if you
rip a hole in the tire, refer to Murphy?sl law above...
AAA card, just like your AMEX card, don?t leave home without it.


That's 30 years worth of patina :fahne:

[BigJohn]

That's 30 years worth of patina :fahne:


I have a cousin named Patina, but she is older than 30!

[ZWILD1]

I have really had good luck and never used the spare in any of my Corvettes. This includes trips to Bowling Green with the cars. My 96 was a daily driver for at least 3 years. I removed my spare and cleaned it up with car wash preserving the markings and installed it back just the way it was. I took detailed picks of it when I removed it so I could reinstall the jack just the way it was placed at the factory. The Michelin PS'2 I purchased from Tire Rack actually come with a road hazard policy. The T155/70D17 is still available as it is used on new Toyotas and Lincolns.

I worked for an independent tire dealer from late 82 until 1990. I saw some crazy stuff pulled from tires drivers ran over. Things like 2x4's, large portions of lawn mower blades, large bolts that went in head first, sections of glass bottles, and just about anything you can think of. I prefer to patch a tire when it's in the center section of the tread. We used a cone shaped plug installed with a gun. Although I have seen the plugs cut by the tires steal belts over time. Also with a puncture that breaks the tires steal belts a separation may develop. When you strike a curb with the side wall a bubble or bulge may develop. This is caused by the inside layer of the tire breaking. We call that an impact abrasion which voids the warranty as does any puncture. I highly recommend getting a road hazard policy especially for tires that cost a couple hundred dollars.

[rush91]

I have really had good luck and never used the spare in any of my Corvettes. This includes trips to Bowling Green with the cars. My 96 was a daily driver for at least 3 years. I removed my spare and cleaned it up with car wash preserving the markings and installed it back just the way it was. I took detailed picks of it when I removed it so I could reinstall the jack just the way it was placed at the factory. The Michelin PS'2 I purchased from Tire Rack actually come with a road hazard policy. The T155/70D17 is still available as it is used on new Toyotas and Lincolns.

I worked for an independent tire dealer from late 82 until 1990. I saw some crazy stuff pulled from tires drivers ran over. Things like 2x4's, large portions of lawn mower blades, large bolts that went in head first, sections of glass bottles, and just about anything you can think of. I prefer to patch a tire when it's in the center section of the tread. We used a cone shaped plug installed with a gun. Although I have seen the plugs cut by the tires steal belts over time. Also with a puncture that breaks the tires steal belts a separation may develop. When you strike a curb with the side wall a bubble or bulge may develop. This is caused by the inside layer of the tire breaking. We call that an impact abrasion which voids the warranty as does any puncture. I highly recommend getting a road hazard policy especially for tires that cost a couple hundred dollars.


I've never had a flat tire in 30 years of driving, until I got my ZR-1....Since owning it, I have picked up more bolts, screws, and metal strips than one would imagine. And I had no idea that is where the jack bag went, mine was in one of the storage bins.

[carman49]

After I bought my 90 last fall, I checked everything out, like where the spare is and how to get at it. I found that the 30 year old spare had probably never been lowered and had "0" psi in it. I aired it up and it held air, so I put it back in place, hoping never to have to use it. I have to replace the Nitto tires that are now on it (10 years old) and it's good to know that I can also buy a new spare and replace it too.

[lfalzarano]

Don?t forget to change out the valve on the spare.


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[GOLDCYLON]

I recently replaced mine On my 91 but they are special order only from Discount Tire mine was rotted