Two Spare Tires?

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mep1811

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As I read all of these replies I must say that I keep my tire/wheel weight as low as possible.. even as I type I’m shopping for a smaller lighter tire than the 285s I’m running now.. 255/85/16s will be my next tire size.. if your tire/wheel combos are so heavy that they are nearly impossible to manage alone on dry flat terrain, what will you do if you have a shredded tire on uneven, off camber, slick, rocky or otherwise inhospitable conditions? I try to keep it simple and practicle.. practicle in that no matter the conditions I will physically be able to change out a tire in any conditions..
Good point if the tire is shredded , like blowout on the highway. I had a blowout with 33's so the truck was sitting on the rim. I had to lift that wheel/axle over 10" to get the spare on. That was quite a bit of work with a highlift and a bottle jack. I can imagine how hard that would be with a 40" tire then manhandling a 100lb tire .
 

MOAK

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Good point if the tire is shredded , like blowout on the highway. I had a blowout with 33's so the truck was sitting on the rim. I had to lift that wheel/axle over 10" to get the spare on. That was quite a bit of work with a highlift and a bottle jack. I can imagine how hard that would be with a 40" tire then manhandling a 100lb tire .
I ripped a valve stem off a few years back. Bottle jack and high lift got us up and swapped out. It wasn't easy. Read your story, nice trip report. I have plans for that on the back burner, and will most definitely be carrying two spares on that kind of trip. My trailer tires and wheels match my 450 wheels and tires so in the very worst case , (three flats) I can drop the trailer and go buy new tires. Having said that, in over 25 years of running BFGs I've never had a tire failure. I'm a firm believer in solid axles, including on my trailer. Is your trailer solid axle / and how did it pull? It looks really heavy. Mine is only 1,000 lbs loaded. Thanks
 

mep1811

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I ripped a valve stem off a few years back. Bottle jack and high lift got us up and swapped out. It wasn't easy. Read your story, nice trip report. I have plans for that on the back burner, and will most definitely be carrying two spares on that kind of trip. My trailer tires and wheels match my 450 wheels and tires so in the very worst case , (three flats) I can drop the trailer and go buy new tires. Having said that, in over 25 years of running BFGs I've never had a tire failure. I'm a firm believer in solid axles, including on my trailer. Is your trailer solid axle / and how did it pull? It looks really heavy. Mine is only 1,000 lbs loaded. Thanks

I liked drop the trailer and buy new tires Where? You are better off having a spare with you rather than being a hours or days from someplace you can buy a tire.
The trailer was about 1500lbs . Unfortunately it was designed to be pulled behind a Subaru and not a FJ-60 on a 13,000 mile trip. It broke apart on the way home. Thank God I noticed in a hotel parking lot on it didn't happen on the highway.
 
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I have two 37" spares in the back of my Cummins. Aside from the "one spare gets you home but two keeps you going" philosophy the extra weight in the back helps the truck ride better.
It's amazing how a person is at PEACE in their mind, knowing that they have a good spare with them, but how that changes to anxiety when you use that spare in the backcountry. Suddenly your trip is jeopardized , wondering WHEN....the next flat will happen, and you become convinced it will happen at any moment.

I had that experience in the back country, and ELKO NEVADA was 80 miles away. 23 miles back in the mountains, the rest hwy. At the time, it was the nearest place with tire stores.

The trip wasn't ruined, as the next flat never happened , but it completely dampened the trips mood, due to the worry factor.

At the time of this incident, I had neither a tire plug kit or portable air compressor with me. Both of those shortfalls were remedied, and are a included part of my kit.
 
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Pathfinder I

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I ripped a valve stem off a few years back. Bottle jack and high lift got us up and swapped out. It wasn't easy. Read your story, nice trip report. I have plans for that on the back burner, and will most definitely be carrying two spares on that kind of trip. My trailer tires and wheels match my 450 wheels and tires so in the very worst case , (three flats) I can drop the trailer and go buy new tires. Having said that, in over 25 years of running BFGs I've never had a tire failure. I'm a firm believer in solid axles, including on my trailer. Is your trailer solid axle / and how did it pull? It looks really heavy. Mine is only 1,000 lbs loaded. Thanks
I carry Colby Tire Valve Stems, makes a broken valve stem a 5 minute repair. I've always been lucky and have been able to plug any flat I've got off road. Couple of times I had 5-6 plugs in the side wall but it got me to asphalt.
 

MOAK

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I liked drop the trailer and buy new tires Where? You are better off having a spare with you rather than being a hours or days from someplace you can buy a tire.
The trailer was about 1500lbs . Unfortunately it was designed to be pulled behind a Subaru and not a FJ-60 on a 13,000 mile trip. It broke apart on the way home. Thank God I noticed in a hotel parking lot on it didn't happen on the highway.
Well yes, two spares as I stated, then worst case scenario, drive for two days if necessary for more tires.. I’m not paranoid, two BFG spares should be plenty, but as Warn says, Be Prepared..
 

MOAK

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I carry Colby Tire Valve Stems, makes a broken valve stem a 5 minute repair. I've always been lucky and have been able to plug any flat I've got off road. Couple of times I had 5-6 plugs in the side wall but it got me to asphalt.
Yup, have all that too !!
 

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I carry two. One in the original space under the bed and one on an aftermarket steel bumper with swingout. So no valuable space wasted in the bed or roof rack.
THIS WOULD BE THE TICKET FOR US THAT ARE OUT WEST. Wrote on another thread how I used my spare, and worried that a flat tire was imminent the rest of the trip. 24 miles into the back-country, then 80 or so miles to the nearest tire store in town, ELKO. In Nevada, and other areas out West, a tire store is not on the next corner. Then comes the adage that many swing out carriers, tire or fuel, have under engineered bearings or seals in their design. Something to do research on for those of us that frequent dusty areas. Andrew St. Pierre White did a video on how the swing arm became loose as the bearing disintegrated over the trip (sandpaper/dirt-lapping).

I think I saw another video on the same issue somewhere. It might have been one of Ronnie Dahl's? or not. It seems to me, the carrier was not that old. Another problem was a 'HOLD OPEN' pin that quickly gummed up and didn't.
 
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Boostpowered

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I carry 2 spares, the factory spare under bed (a little smaller), and a full size identical spare that is part of a 5 tire rotation.
We do the same thing but ive got the full size under the bed all the time and throw the normal spare in the bed when i think i might need it.