What do you do if you get a flat with a bigger tire than your stock spare?

[Qxxx4]

SERIOUSLY! i see all these people with much bigger wheels/tires than stock...what happens if you get a flat??

[bmlawless]

You call a tow truck. I learned this one the hard way when I lost the transmission on my Subaru in college. The previous owner had mis-matched tires on the front and I guess the difference in sizes chewed things up inside.

In all seriousness, you can run with the different sizes as long as it's on a non-drive axle. If you got a flat on the rear axle of a rear wheel drive vehicle, you would need to move a good tire from the front to the rear and then put the spare on the front. On our Q's, I wouldn't do it, but if you had to, make sure it is in 2WD rather than Auto. On a car with full-time AWD, you really shouldn't do it.

I always buy a full set of tires when I change sizes. I usually get a used tire for the spare to save some $$. The last spare I bought was $10 for a 31x10.5-15. It's pretty worn, but it will get me home. If you have tall, wide tires, you can buy a tall, narrow tire for the spare so it will fit underneath. What's important is the diameter.

[Qxxx4]

so say im 200km from home and i get a flat, im guessing that fix-a-tire-in-a-can stuff that temporarily seals the puncture would be useless in a big tire. I guess my safest best would be to put a bigger profile tire on my stock spare to match the larger size

i bet alot of people dont think about this when upgrading lol

[InfinQX4]

Thought about it, and am concerned especially if it happens on the trail. Seems spare placement limits the size too, and that doesn't help. Suppose you need to air down the spare to get it up there, and carry a compressor...which isn't a bad idea anyway.

[Chuck Tribolet]

You call a tow truck. I learned this one the hard way when I lost the transmission on my Subaru in college. The previous owner had mis-matched tires on the front and I guess the difference in sizes chewed things up inside.

In all seriousness, you can run with the different sizes as long as it's on a non-drive axle. If you got a flat on the rear axle of a rear wheel drive vehicle, you would need to move a good tire from the front to the rear and then put the spare on the front. On our Q's, I wouldn't do it, but if you had to, make sure it is in 2WD rather than Auto. On a car with full-time AWD, you really shouldn't do it.

I always buy a full set of tires when I change sizes. I usually get a used tire for the spare to save some $$. The last spare I bought was $10 for a 31x10.5-15. It's pretty worn, but it will get me home. If you have tall, wide tires, you can buy a tall, narrow tire for the spare so it will fit underneath. What's important is the diameter.

Tire size won't affect the transmission. It just doesn't know. The diff doesnotice.

If you have an open (not limited slip) diff you can drive reasonable distanceswith different diameter tires on the back. If you have a limited slip, keep itdown to a few miles to get to a shop that can fix the flat.

Me: I got five tires with roughly the same diameter.

[bmlawless]

Tire size won't affect the transmission. It just doesn't know. The diff does notice.

Maybe it was the differential, I was 19 at the time. All I know is I was left in the middle of nowhere in Idaho with Larry, Darryl, and Darryl charging me $600 and taking a week to get it moving again.

Spare tires on Craigslist are about a dime a dozen (almost).

In regards to the fix-a-flat, I wouldn't rely on it. When I've been out with people and they flat on the trail, it's either a slice from a rock, a puncture from wood, or a tire that's come off the rim. the stuff in a can doesn't help. If you can't fit your spare underneath, strap it to the roof. You could also do something like this if you have a hitch.

[K03sport]

On a 2WD it is easy...you put the spare tire on the front and take one of the good front tires and put on the rear, if a rear one goes flat.

Vice versa on a FWD car.

As far as a 4WD or AWD...you pretty much screwed on an AWD vehicle because the diffeential will get toasted due to the different rolling diameters, ie the case with the Subaru or Audi quattro.

As far as 4WD, I guess it might depend on if the front hub/shaft are locked and spinning inside the diff. If your front wheels can free spin (manual hubs), then you might be able to get away with it, but if the front shaft is locked to the hub and spins in the diff, then you'll have problems.

The best case is to have a spare that is the same as the tires you are running and rotate it on the truck every 1000 miles or so.

The last resort would be a can of fix-a-flat. Tire shops hate that stuff. Not sure if the green slime is any better, but either produt and an air compressor should get you where you need to to get it fixed.

Then there is always a good ole trust plug kit. But they are too effective is cold temps and I'm sure a pain to work with at night.

Do you plan on getting a flat soon and your spare is a different size?

[WINNIPEGS_MOST_WANTED]

Plug kits are a cheap investment.

I've plugged two tires in the past and both plugs held for the remainder of the life of the tire.

[Qxxx4]

yeah I plan on upgrading my wheels therfore a bit larger diameter overall. I dont plan on getting a flat, i do mostly highway miles but hey it happens. I think ill get a can of runflat in case and look for a larger profile spare tire and keep it with little to now air (great idea) only problem is my air compressor would take a good hour to fill from scratch lol its a little dc powered compressor, does the job for quick topups.

Ill see what happens. right now im really trying hard to find the rims from the 02-04 pathys with the 6 spokes. for some reason i LOVE them. and since their 17, i could get a lower profile tire, keep the same diameter, not worry about flats, brake wear, speedo changes, it just makes it all easy. but those rims are so damn hard to find here in toronto!!!

[screwinitupagain]

Here ya go:zerothread?id=360434

I rocked the smaller sized spare around that night (or early morning depending on how you see it) & the next 2 days until I could get to buy new tires. Its really not that big of a deal with our R50's. If you are trying to rock out like a 30" tire & the rest are 35" tires then there will be a problem but if you run 31's or 32's & need to run the 30" spare that comes with the vehicle its not gonna matter for a bit. Trust me.