DuoDSG

After a search of all the threads on the subject (there are many, most don't have much usable info), I bring this matter before the Brethren Court.

Just came from last weekend from a road trip to California and back. 13 hours driving each way. On the way back, just outside of Baker, CA, my front driver side tire gave up the ghost, and after we put the spare to put in to Baker to get a replacement, the spare died as well thanks to some wonderful road debris we encountered that punctured the spare.

We were all safe, thank goodness, and I was able to make it back here safely, but now my dilemma is as follows:

I'm up to get some new tires (I use Continental Extreme Contact DWS, stock sizes on my car, and I plan to stay with that) in just a few weeks, and I am in need of a new spare tire to replace the dead one. I still have the old one in the trunk, but of course, it's unusable.

So my question is this: I'd prefer to use the new tire as the full-size spare (I'll get a new rim to go with it) and use the new set of four as my primary tires. I don't plan to drive on the spare permanently in the case of an emergency (for reasons of tire wear, handling, etc), but that's a lot safer than using the donut IMO. Plus I don't know what I'd do with it otherwise, and it's brand new (it's not a Continental tire, I had to make do with what the repair shop had on-hand).

I know the full-size spare would make the trunk liner stick up (I've heard varying reports- some say it's just an inch, others more), but I'm wondering how much of a difference it would make (pictures would be great), what I can do to minimize that issue, etc...

or

if it's advisable to score an air pump and just have the full-size spare deflated, since it's the cross-section that creates the size issue.

That's what I'd like to do, but if I need to get a new spare, how do I go about scoring one?

Thanks for reading, and for any advice you may give. One love

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Measure the cross-section of the tires you now have (widest point at the sidewall) and come up from the spare tire floor that amount and then you'll be able to see how far the tire will protrude.
The full sized tire won't "shrink" much at all with the air remove, so keep it inflated to the proper amount.

I hate cars

Agreed about the non shrinkage.


I think it's a wonderful idea to have a full sized spare if you do lots of long trips. The donuts wear very quick, probably a soft rubber for decent traction with it's small size. I could tell you some stories of what we did on donut spares and bare rims but that's another thread.