Road trip spare tire options?

muddy12 · Dec 11, 2017

I might be taking a road trip (10hours one way) in my ram in the not too distant future. Problem is, I’m running 35’s and don’t have a full size spare.
I haven’t worried about it before, as most of my driving has been within 20 miles of home, and I always have a compressor and plug kit in the tool box.

For this road trip, I’m considering two other options.
Option 1: find a cheap 35” tire/wheel to have as a spare.
Option 2: spend a little more and get a set(4) of stock size tires(with rims) that I could swap on for the trip (this would allow me to utilize the factory spare which I still have.

Thoughts??

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mohemipar · Dec 11, 2017

You could probably stuff a 35 under the bed if it is deflated. I've been meaning to try it. Otherwise I would vote for just throwing a 35 on a cheap wheel and strap it down in the bed. This is unless of course you need all the space in the bed.. I put a K02 on a Crager Soft 8.

Swapping four wheels on and off would get old every time you wanted to take a road trip.

fljab · Dec 11, 2017

I second the cheap 35 wheel & tire and strap it in the bed if you have room. If you need all the bed, then a cheap set of Tradesman wheels (17") can be had, er, cheap! But then you need to store or resell them. The extra 35 wheel/tire would be something you could keep for future use much easier/less storage room than a set of 4.

TTU14 · Dec 11, 2017

I just hopped on my Facebook marketplace and saw a handful of people dumping their stock wheels and tires for like $400. If you've got the space to store them, that's what I would do. Besides being able to use the factory spare, you're putting miles on cheap tires instead of more expensive 35s, and you aren't taking the gas mileage hit of 35s.

muddy12 · Dec 12, 2017

Didn’t even think about the Facebook thing, great idea[emoji106].

Finding a set of stock take offs is proving to be more difficult than I thought. All I have found so far are either expensive, in need of new rubber, or too far away.
Guess I’ll just be patient and keep looking.

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Graygoose · Dec 13, 2017

I had to get a 315/70/17 and put in my bed. It wouldn't fit underneath.

patchelect · Dec 14, 2017

I understand our concerns but I offer you another alternative. In an honest assessment, how often have you had a flat in the last 20 years? I don't mean a slow leak, I mean a complete and catastrophic failure of a tire? I've been driving since the mid 1960's and while I did have a few in my early years of driving, I can't remember one in at least 25 years. Slow leaks are easily dealt with. You can always drop a quarter in an inflation machine or carry a compressor if you are so paranoid. Flats are on my list of "I don't worry about it" along with engine failure or transmission failure. Tire technology is far advanced and while a flay is always possible and a catastrophic failure is also possible, the odds are way in your favor. To cover all possible issues you may encounter you might need to tow a complete vehicle. Having a temporary spare should be more than enough security.

However, as they say

YMMV

Graygoose · Dec 14, 2017

A temp spare works, but if you have a limited slip, you need a tire of same height or it could cause damage.

LarryA · Dec 15, 2017

patchelect said:
I understand our concerns but I offer you another alternative. In an honest assessment, how often have you had a flat in the last 20 years? I don't mean a slow leak, I mean a complete and catastrophic failure of a tire? I've been driving since the mid 1960's and while I did have a few in my early years of driving, I can't remember one in at least 25 years. Slow leaks are easily dealt with. You can always drop a quarter in an inflation machine or carry a compressor if you are so paranoid. Flats are on my list of "I don't worry about it" along with engine failure or transmission failure. Tire technology is far advanced and while a flay is always possible and a catastrophic failure is also possible, the odds are way in your favor. To cover all possible issues you may encounter you might need to tow a complete vehicle. Having a temporary spare should be more than enough security.

However, as they say

YMMV

Until 6 months ago I would have agreed 100%. Till this happened on a Sunday afternoon in eastern Washington

muddy12 · Dec 15, 2017

While I agree, catastrophic tire failures are rare, I’d still like to be prepared as best as I can. On our last road trip (not in the ram though) we were 6 hours in, had just finished lunch, as we were getting back on the road, the radiator decided to come apart.
The kicker is, only 2 months prior, I had a leaking heater hose connection. Along with replacing the bad fitting, I had the cooling system flushed and pressure tested.

Guess what I’m saying is, I know I can’t prepare for every possible issue, but having a correct size spare tire seems like a good idea.

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Cummins Dog · Dec 19, 2017

Hitch hauler?

Kind of expensive though. Just an option.

zshowket · Dec 20, 2017

I looked at those to, but the backup camera did not work with that option. I made my own setup:

Fergusontd · Dec 20, 2017

muddy12 said:
I might be taking a road trip (10hours one way) in my ram in the not too distant future. Problem is, I’m running 35’s and don’t have a full size spare.
I haven’t worried about it before, as most of my driving has been within 20 miles of home, and I always have a compressor and plug kit in the tool box.

For this road trip, I’m considering two other options.
Option 1: find a cheap 35” tire/wheel to have as a spare.
Option 2: spend a little more and get a set(4) of stock size tires(with rims) that I could swap on for the trip (this would allow me to utilize the factory spare which I still have.

Thoughts??

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I'll bet lifting that off the tailgate would be a real *****. Have your jock support handy!

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Road trip spare tire options?

muddy12

Senior Member

mohemipar

Senior Member

fljab

Senior Member

TTU14

Senior Member

muddy12

Senior Member

Graygoose

Indecisive Car Owner

patchelect

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Graygoose

Indecisive Car Owner

LarryA

Senior Member

muddy12

Senior Member

Cummins Dog

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zshowket

Junior Member

Fergusontd

FTD

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