DRIVEN TO DRIVE

If your vehicle has been designed to carry a spare wheel, DO NOT remove the spare wheel from the vehicle. Spare wheels are neither small nor light and some people have been know to remove them to create extra space or to save weight, but the spare wheel is an integral part of the crumple zone designed to protect the vehicle’s occupants in the event of a rear end impact.

Spare wheels come in 3 different styles -

1. Full size wheel and regular tire.
2. Compact wheel and temporary tires.
3. Full size wheel and temporary deflated tire. The tire has to be inflated using a canister of compressed air.

Here are some tips about changing tires -

1. Make sure that regular tires on spare wheels are always inflated to about 5 lbs pressure above the operating pressure. If you ever have to use this tire, reduce the pressure down to the operating temperature before driving on it. It’s easier to deflate a tire than to find air to pump it up to the correct pressure.
2. Make sure that a temporary tire on a compact wheel is properly inflated – usually as high as 60 lbs. These tires were NOT designed to operate over 80 km/h (50 mph) or for more than 100 km (60 miles). The purpose of these tires is to get you and the vehicle safely to a place where the deflated tire can be repaired.
3. Spare wheels that have a deflated tire need to be inflated using the canister that is provided.  Always inflate the tire BEFORE mounting it on the vehicle. If for some reason, the canister of air is empty, you will have wasted you efforts by mounting it on the vehicle.
4. Regardless of what type of spare wheel you have just mounted on you vehicle, don’t forget to reload the old wheel. Don’t leave at the side of the road.  Also, drive away carefully. If anything feels wrong, it probably is!  I have seen people try to drive away while their vehicle car was still up on the jack!

Some tire manufacturers are now introducing run-flat tires. If these tires lose air due to a puncture, they are designed to serve one purpose and one purpose only, and that is allow you to drive to a place of safety so that you can either change the wheel or have the tire repaired. They were not designed to run under normal driving conditions. If they were then they wouldn’t need air in the first place.

Get familiar

Tire and wheel technology has advanced considerable in the past few years and the likelihood of ever getting a flat tire is very small, but it does happen.  When it does and a wheel has to be exchanged – trying to read the instructions in the light of a fading flashlight on a cold wet and windy night at the side of a country road is no fun whatsoever.  A good idea is to get familiar with the jack, the jacking points, and how to remove the spare wheel from the vehicle.  You might ask – how difficult can it be?  Let me explain – there are spare wheels on some vehicles that are absolutely no fun to remove, even when the vehicle is sitting in the driveway on a warm sunny day.  Just make sure you are familiar with the process beforehand.

One last Warning

Never, under any circumstance change a wheel at the side of a highway.  The risks are far too high.  Wait for a tow truck to arrive.  If the tow truck operator wishes to change the tire for you, they will park the tow truck in such away to protect everyone from the highway traffic.  The best alternative is to have the vehicle towed to a safe area and then change the wheel.