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What Spare Tire?

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PRSIST

PRSIST

Member
Sep 27, 2016
294
329
Arizona
#1
Was reading through the Model S manual and was blown away to learn the car has NO spare tire?? What, not even a donut?? Tesla sells a tire repair kit that pumps glue type stuff in your tire to seal it. Not much good if your're driving 70 mph and you shred your tire to pieces.

So here is my question to you Tesla owners. How do you deal with the lack of a spare tire? I have to say that the thought of no spare tire when I take a 2,000 mile road trip is a little disconcerting.

Have any of you checked out Bridgestone's DriveGuard all season tire that is supposed to continue for 50 miles after a flat?? I'm sure other manufacturers might have something similar.
 
#3
PRSIST said:
Was reading through the Model S manual and was blown away to learn the car has NO spare tire?? What, not even a donut?? Tesla sells a tire repair kit that pumps glue type stuff in your tire to seal it. Not much good if your're driving 70 mph and you shred your tire to pieces.

So here is my question to you Tesla owners. How do you deal with the lack of a spare tire? I have to say that the thought of no spare tire when I take a 2,000 mile road trip is a little disconcerting.

Have any of you checked out Bridgestone's DriveGuard all season tire that is supposed to continue for 50 miles after a flat?? I'm sure other manufacturers might have something similar.
Click to expand...

I wrote an article on my blog for what I use to prepare for a long roadtrip. (For this particular trip, from Southern California to Maine and back 2015.)

We have a Classic 2013 S, so our frunk is sufficiently sized to carry a full 19 inch spare tire.

IMG_20150609_161748 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

IMG_20150609_161445 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

IMG_20150609_161433 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

For newer models of Tesla... It IS a big trunk... (I'm sure the Model 3 will as well.)
 
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#4
I don't know if this will be encouraging to you or not, but today with my Volt I had a sidewall cut when I hit a pothole- and of course it was on a remote mountain road with no cell signal for miles.

What saved me was I had one of those tire plug kits, I used that to fill the cut and used a copious amount of rubber cement. Then, I used the goo and 12V inflator provided by Chevy to seal it up enough to at least hold some air. Very 3rd world repair but perhaps Capt. Jack Sparrow put it best, "There are basically two rules, what a man can do and what he can't!" :eek:

So glad I thought to spend 4 bucks and get that plug kit before a trip a few months back. Was able to limp all the way to where I got it serviced.

Didn't do a lot for my enthusiasm for at least not having a donut spare. Probably killed any ambitions I might have for getting those beautiful 19" wheels for the Model 3, too! :(
 
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#5
One of our cars (Volvo) is in the shop for a recall; they gave us a 2016 Mercedes C300 as a loaner. It has no spare tire. Could be it has an inflater kit, but I haven't looked.

Anyway it is interesting to drive a Model 3 competitor. Nice driving car, but user interface is hugely complex.
 
#7
DR61 said:
One of our cars (Volvo) is in the shop for a recall; they gave us a 2016 Mercedes C300 as a loaner. It has no spare tire. Could be it has an inflater kit, but I haven't looked.

Anyway it is interesting to drive a Model 3 competitor. Nice driving car, but user interface is hugely complex.
Click to expand...

I have a C300. There's a patch kit that was given to us by the dealership.

Also, the UI isn't complex. Its a piece of junk. The worst infotainment I've dealt with for a while. The loaner BMW I received one time had a much nicer UI/UX.
 
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#8
Seems like there is some correlation in recent years between cars carrying a spare until we had cell phone service so we could call for that super road side service. In other words, back when you had to walk to a gas station or phone booth (anyone remember what a phone booth is?) to call for a tow truck, carrying a spare made a lot of sense. Not so now.
 
#10
Akikiki said:
Seems like there is some correlation in recent years between cars carrying a spare until we had cell phone service so we could call for that super road side service. In other words, back when you had to walk to a gas station or phone booth (anyone remember what a phone booth is?) to call for a tow truck, carrying a spare made a lot of sense. Not so now.
Click to expand...

Not carrying a spare also saves weight which increases MPG/MPGe. It also saves cost for the manufacturer.
 
#11
AEdennis said:
I wrote an article on my blog for what I use to prepare for a long roadtrip. (For this particular trip, from Southern California to Maine and back 2015.)

We have a Classic 2013 S, so our frunk is sufficiently sized to carry a full 19 inch spare tire.

IMG_20150609_161748 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

IMG_20150609_161445 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

IMG_20150609_161433 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

For newer models of Tesla... It IS a big trunk... (I'm sure the Model 3 will as well.)
Click to expand...
Just curious: Did you carry a jack too? Are there specific jack points in the suspension so you don't break something?
 
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#12
The last three cars I have had did not come with a spare. All of them did come with inflator kits and I carry a plug kit also. There is also a BMW temporary spare (for the X3 I think) that fits the Model S with a hubcentric ring, so chances are it would fit the Model 3 also.
 
#14
My current car has a small donut tire that I've never used in 12 years (and probably is flat at this point). In the majority of cases I would think that a patch kit and inflator would be preferable to a spare:
  1. As noted elsewhere, not carrying a spare tire saves on weight and increases efficiency
  2. Many repairs can be made without having to jack up the car and remove the tire
  3. Most places have a cell signal and access to quick road-side assistance
  4. Don't have to remember to refill the spare tire periodically
Benefits to a spare:
  1. Some types of damage can't be fixed with a patch
  2. Remote areas where cell service and road-side assistance are spotty
  3. Cheaper to put on the spare and then take the tire in to be repaired (although I suppose in most cases even a patched tire can be repaired, right?)
 
#16
WileyTheMan said:
Just curious: Did you carry a jack too? Are there specific jack points in the suspension so you don't break something?
Click to expand...

Nope. Not planning on doing it myself, just to have spare available for service guy when he pulls up. Tesla has a tire "loaner" program that works with tow companies in metro areas. The one time I had a road hazard failure, the tow company was all out of tires, so they had to tow us to service and we took Uber home. This was on a Saturday night. They called on Sunday, sent me a loaner car Tom use for the day, replaced tire, (pay not warranty) and swapped cars with me (drove out my car to where we were and drop our car back to us.)
 
#18
WileyTheMan said:
Just curious: Did you carry a jack too? Are there specific jack points in the suspension so you don't break something?
Click to expand...
I carry a spare in the frunk for road trips. And I have a jack, breaker bar, tire iron, torque wrench, plug kit and pump. If I get a flat I'd like to be able to self-rescue and continue on with my trip, rather than wait hours for roadside service, assuming that there is a cell signal.

For those who rarely leave urban areas it might not be an issue but I often drive in places that are fairly remote.
 
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#20
skitown said:
@dgpcolorado I'm curious about the jack type you bring with you and how you like it.
Click to expand...
I use this one:

Torin T10152 Big Red Steel Scissor Jack, 1.5 Ton Capacity.

I also carry a hockey puck to place between the jack and the lift pads on the car frame. I've used the jack in my garage and it works ok, although a standard floor jack makes it a lot easier to rotate tires.

For simple punctures just carrying a plug kit and a pump ought to be enough. The jack and other tools are likely overkill for most people.
 
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