Tire Pump and Sealant

I've dealt with no spare tire on several cross country trips in different cars, usually because there is no room for a spare or it just takes up too much space. The Rte 66 trip we took this past Spring in our 20 year old Trans Am had one of those mini spares that was as old as the car. No room for a full spare tire. We did get a flat in NM and called AAA. Off we went to a tire shop where they patched it for $25. We lost about two hours of vacation time. We have had flats on two other journeys and each time the tire was patched and off we went.

Having a catastrophic tire failure is certainly a possibility so you would need a replacement tire which could lead to some down time. We take our chances. In 44 years of vacations, only once have we had to replace a tire with a new one. I probably just jinxed our upcoming trip to Florida this winter but we have been doing rather well.

At least the Challenger has some room for a spare if you want to go that route.

 

Another good post. Thank you for sharing.

I bought my '15 Challenger in December 2017 when it was two years old -- but only had 1,367 miles on it. In my excitement of picking up my new-to-me car, I failed to notice that the inflation kit was missing. For that matter ... I failed to notice that there wasn't a spare tire under the speakers. Call it ignorance or naivety ... I'll admit that I was stupid not to look.

When the dealer couldn't come up with one, I bought a Mopar replacement inflator through an Amazon seller.

Last year, just before we left on a 2000+ mile vacation, I bought the complete kit (with carrying case and spacer) from Modern Spare. Buying a "blemished" kit saved me the cost of the carrying case. It's nice to have that peace of mind.

 

You triggered a great memory of cars-gone-by. My '73 Formula 350 and my '77 Trans Am had those space-saver spare tires. Fortunately, I never had to use the spare in either vehicle. (knock on wood.)

Part of the reason I bought the Modern Spare before our trip last year was my buddy's experience in his Charger Scat Pack. He, unfortunately, had a catastrophic blowout in the middle of nowhere on I-95 in South Carolina. Murphy's Laws were in full effect so he had to walk about a mile to get a cell phone signal so he could call for help. He said it was then just a nifty two-hour wait for the flatbed to get there. Followed by a long ride to the nearest town ... which only had one automotive shop open on a Saturday afternoon ... and only had one off-brand tire that would fit his car.

All while listening to his wife repeatedly ask, "why did you buy a car without a spare tire?" And, yes, he now has a full-size spare and a hydraulic jack that he takes on trips.

 

Since I have a winter and summer set of wheels/tires, I throw in one of the "off season" wheel/tire as a spare along with a small hydraulic floor jack and breaker bar when going for a longer trip. Thank god, never needed to use it. Trunk is so large I can still get the luggage to fit.

 

For those who have never attempted a repair on their own small tire tread leaks from nails / screws etc. the kit shown in post above works incredibly well. I've done a dozen of these repairs over the years without a failure. Having said that I did recently have an aluminum wheel crack / leak which beat me and I had to have professionally repaired (had been previously repaired and began leaking again after 6 years).

 

The tire plug kit works great, but it is sometime difficult to find the leak. That being said, I have been lucky twice in that the holes I had to repair were easily found without removing the tire. And the repair lasted more than a year till the tires were replaced.

 

Submersion in water is sometimes required.