Check your donuts in the trunk!

[stokester]

My Daughter seems to be snake-bit with car problems.  A couple of weeks ago I replaced the clutch and last night when returning from a visit to our house she had a flat tire.  Being a knowledgeable driver she tried to put the donut spare on to get to work the next morning.  After looking at the spare she called me as to whether to drive.  NOT!

The donut spare has never been on the road and has always been inflated to 60psi as per the sidewall instructions.  It appears the tread rubber is so thin that it gave way under pressure.  I have never seen this before.

For those of us who maintain older vehicles a full spare check may be in order.

[fatfillup]

Good advice.  Can't say that I've seen a donut fail like that but the environment inside a trunk can certainly hit extremes and age can take its toll

[muddy]

I usually keep my doughnuts in the passenger seat. That way I can reach them while drinking my coffee.


But seriously that is definitely food advice to double check your spare.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

[stokester]

I usually keep my doughnuts in the passenger seat. That way I can reach them while drinking my coffee.


But seriously that is definitely food advice to double check your spare.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

Me too! 

I see donut is the more commonly used spelling for these spares and doughnuts are for consumption. 

[stokester]

I'm possibly making too much of this but it caught me completely by surprise and would only be found when the spare is needed.

It appears this size donut spare tire is not available at any of the major tire sources.

My trip to the U-Pullit salvage yard today was to find either a same-sized donut spare or a steel rim to mount a full-size spare for my Daughter's car (got new tires yesterday from Discount Tires; good experience, great price) educated me on old spares.  I found a few Saturns with the proper sized spare but they were all in similar condition.  A look in an a different 4-lug GM with same sized regular tires found one in good condition.  This led me to look in similar cars at their donuts and condition - ALL the Firestone spares in those years were split while the Goodyear ones were not.  This Goodyear donut spare is temporary until I get a full size steel wheel (~$70 at Discount Tires) and mount a decent tire or find a source for a new donut tire.

This attached pictures show broken steel belts after dismounting the tire.