Michael Benno

Thinking about the age of my collapsable spare (28yrs). Do you think it is still a safe and suitable solution for getting me home or do you think it would be wise to go with one of those All-in-one flat repair kits like Fixaflat or Slime, or something better?

I do have AAA so towing and roadside assistance is convenient. I use my car for some daily driving and the occasional road trip.

Thoughts would be appreciated.

Mike

docmirror

Use fix-a-flat for a slow leak.

Never - ever trust the emer collapsible spare. It's dangerous, and only for show at this point.

jcorenman

Mike,

Opinions vary, and there have been some threads in the not-so-distant past. Doc's view is one end of the scale, but we've actually used the spare and didn't die. It was a situation where waiting for AAA to carry us to lord-knows-where was a highly unattractive alternative. Read the directions, keep the speed down, no hooning.

If you stray far from town then what you need, in my view, is a kit of tools: A can of Slime if faced with a slow leak and you don't mind the tire-guy being thoroughly annoyed with you. A spare and a compressor if the tire is toast (which is more common that not). We also carry a plug kit in the GT (our road-trip car), so if it is something like a nail in BFE then we can patch it and carry on.

NoVector

My spare worked fine a couple years ago--and collapsed again afterwards. I figured it would be over an hour 'til AAA arrived so I might as well do something productive with my time. And I drove super slow with the spare on...

What I didn't trust was the jack. Definitely use the emergency brake and chock the opposite wheels as it's way too easy for the car to roll on that jack's narrow base.

RKD in OKC

Used my spare and it worked great. Only problem is now it airs itself back up enough while in the spare tire well you can't get the freakin thing out!

alex70

Never used the spare when I had my 928's

I have started carrying a plug kit though in my current car/truck. I think having a few methods of repair at your disposal is wise.

GeorgeM

A plug kit is an essential road trip item, regardless of whether you trust the spare.

Side story: A couple of years ago, I was picking up my trailer from storage and apparently ran over something in the lot that punctured both tires on the left side of my truck.... both of them!

If I didn't have a plug kit, I'd have been screwed. Fortunately, the guy running the place had an air tank and a big compressor in the shop and he shuttled air back and forth, expediting the refill until I had enough air in the tires to drive over to the shop and complete the refill.

95carrera

I was wondering this same question as I was getting to my battery this weekend. Why even carry this thing, the air pump is long gone and I have AAA so I may just ditch my spare and carry a can of fix a flat instead.

davek9

I carry one of these and not the original pump and spare for trips.

https://www.hanutt.com/r?t=RcGZCGqdp...797cDVuQ%3D%3D

FLYVMO

"The British Rubber Manufacturers Association recommends that unused tires not be put into use if they are over six years old and all tires should be replaced ten years from date of manufacture. Our experience has been that when properly stored and cared for, most street tires have a useful service life of between six to ten years."

A question probably best addressed to Porsche regarding their spare tire lifespan, but I would not (and don't) rely on a +25 year old tire to get me anywhere. To go on a road trip without the above mentioned items such as plug kit and sealant, and only rely on the spare tire is, less than smart in my opinion.
Quote above is from Tirerack.com. Granted the spare tire is not a "street tire" but it is a +25 year old rubber compound. We all know what the rest of the rubber items perform like on a 928. Brittle, cracking, dry... Even though not directly exposed to ozone, it goes though heat cycles as it is right above the exhaust. Why chance that it MAY work?

Randy V

The spare tire well is much better suited to placement of a subwoofer than one of those dinosaur donuts.

Don Carter

I used my spare last year for the first time after hauling it around for 22 years. It worked fine and went back into it's spot with just a bit of nudging. Of course drive slow on it, but it's just to get home or to a shop.

SteveG

Now that is an unimpeachable source. I have rubbers older than that.






"British" being the operable word here. Rubbers to a Brit are his galoshes.

R.Pires

My car didn’t have the original compressor, nor the original jack, the PO maybe sell them to someone…
After thinking of this matter for a while I decided to remove the spare tyre (it looked in very bad shape...) and use the space to carry a bag with a lot of tools, battery cables, box with relays and fuses, two cans of repair foam, gloves, tape, etc, etc.
And, of course, keep your membership with AAA (ACP in my country) always up to date

dr bob

Jim C. & The Group --

You mention carrying a "plug kit". Are you carrying a full plug kit, or a more common (and much easier to use in the field...) string patch kit?