Using a 15" as a spare

[jomondnv]

I'm going to put 16" tires and wheels on my 2007 30' Classic. Can I keep the 15" spare I have? Is it an issue to use it as an emergency for a 100 miles if needed?

[lsbrodsky]

Many of us have just kept the 15 for a spare.
Larry

[ckottum]

That's what we have done, unable to come up with any good reason not to. Three other factors.

The Michelin 16" tires have proven to be near blowout proof on Airstreams, at least the event is extremely rare.

And if and when there is a flat for any reason, Airstream in the Owners Manual states you can also remove the flat tire and run at a lower speed for some distance until the flat tire is fixed. Our reasoning is if you can run with no spare tire for some distance, surely is would be reasonable to run with the 15" spare tire.

We don't spend money if we don't need to as a matter of principle.

cheryl

[SteveH]

I ran a 15" spare with five 16"ers for 100 miles last summer, and nothing bad happened.

[BoldAdventure]

I opted for no spare. The Michelins don't seem likely to blow out so I carry a Mushroom Style Tire Plug Kit and Air compressor. (We'll see if this bites me in the butt)

[switz]

The other end of the spectrum, we have been told to have two spares each for both vehicles on the 2016 Alaska Caravan.......

[Larry C]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

I opted for no spare. The Michelins don't seem likely to blow out so I carry a Mushroom Style Tire Plug Kit and Air compressor. (We'll see if this bites me in the butt)

It'll be interesting when you have a blowout, and the tire comes from apart if the "mushroom" style tire plug kit helps....and don't kid yourself, it will happen.
Good luck

Larry

[cwf]

Oh.. And the "repair kits time out. So, but a new one and use the almost expired one to do some "practice" repairs on a tire before you replace the tire... Trust me, learn before you need it..

I carried a drill bit to clean out the punctures...before plugging

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by switz

The other end of the spectrum, we have been told to have two spares each for both vehicles on the 2016 Alaska Caravan.......

We've been to Alaska and back twice with Airstreams, and didn't use either spare, but then again, we weren't on a caravan, so....

I'm sure it can't hurt, all except the room they will take.

[TomKirk]

Originally Posted by lsbrodsky

Many of us have just kept the 15 for a spare.
Larry

This is a much better option than the "donut" spare you see on today's cars.

As others have said, you can drive considerable distance on a 15" spare. You can't really do that with a donut.

Tom

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by Larry C

It'll be interesting when you have a blowout, and the tire comes from apart if the "mushroom" style tire plug kit helps....and don't kid yourself, it will happen.
Good luck

Larry

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Like type II diabetes, blow outs are completely preventable. I'll let you know how it works out.

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Like type II diabetes, blow outs are completely preventable. I'll let you know how it works out.

A little off topic, but offending a large population of fellow streamers who might also happen to be Type II diabetics is also completely preventable...😳

[switz]

Coming home with the first Airstream from the selling dealership and towing with the Mercedes, I pulled into a rest stop. Coming out of the facility, I noticed the rig looked different. It was, the right rear was going flat from a screw. The car came with the donut spare.

Jacked right front up to put the donut there and put former right front on right rear. After a 50 mile trip one way back to Costco, the repair was done and all tires returned to the original locations. So the flat took about 4 hours of elapsed time.....

Got in Apache Junction at 4:30am and stopped in Walmart as nothing else was open....another story.

[Morgan guy]

I have a horror story about spares for the trailer. About 8 years ago when we had a 21' Sovereign an were coming back from Hovenweep and about 15 miles south we had a tire go flat. No problem, we stopped and put on the spare. Just as we got on 163 heading for Cortex, Co we had another tire go flat. Following the instructions in the manual, we removed the tire and drove at 30 mph towards Cortez with 3 tires. Just coming into Cortez we noticed another tire going flat. We saw an rv dealer and asked if he had tires. He said no but to go the tire dealer on the east side of Cortez near the Walmart. He then aired up our low tire. Just as we pulled into the tire dealer the low tire gave out and so did another tire. Fortunately he had 5 tires in our size. At this point I was informed that 6 years was the maximum life for trailer tires and ours were 7 years old. Talk about learning a lesson the hard way.

[gecko]

Actually, according to some research that I can't lay my hands on--sorry--four years (rather than six) is the absolute safe limit for tires due to breakdown from ozone. We have always budgeted to replace our tires every four years. Now that we've switched to Michelin 16's, maybe we'll even get to four years and replace them BEFORE we have a blowout. With the 15's--both Marathons and E-rated Towmarks--we never made it.

[NavyCorpsman]

Yes.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by switz

The other end of the spectrum, we have been told to have two spares each for both vehicles on the 2016 Alaska Caravan.......

In the old days yes (even though I didn't need them then) but now, not so much.

[guskmg]

Remember tire diameter varies with tire size and rating. If you have different diameters the larger tire will carry the greater load because it has more weight pressing down than the shorter (smaller diameter) tire. For short distances, that is sort of like towing without a tire. it is probably OK. On my Alaska trip when I lost my 5th Carlisle E (3 New and 2 one year old) I could not find any LR E replacements. So, over time, I compromised and put 3 Ds on one side and 2 Ds on the other side with another E in between the Ds. Got back to Fort Worth with out any more failures (all tread separations). The only problem was parking at night the Es made the trailer lean noticeably toward the D side. I went to Discount Tire and told them they did not have enough windows for that old lady to throw all the bad tires through. They took all my receipts from different Canadian tire dealers and gave me 7 new Maxxis E tires for $390. I though that was more than fair. A little over a year later, one of the Maxxis had separation. This was 3 sets of tires in 9 years so this time I let Airstream Service install 7 Michelin LTX Es. If this does't work I'm at a loss , but Airstream Service says Airstream has had great performance from the Michelins.
guskmg

[switz]

At this point, both the truck and Airstream are riding on Michelin tires. The truck came with LT265/70R17E tires and I converted the Classic to 16" SenDel wheels and LT225/75R16/E LTX M/S2 tires I had waiting at the storage area when I got it home. So a dozen tires will have to be acquired around May of next year.

[r carl]

(All MICHELIN® tires4 (both Replacement & Original Equipment) come with a limited warranty for treadwear, as well as a limited warranty which covers defects in workmanship and materials for the life of the original usable tread, or for 6 years from date of purchase, whichever occurs first. )

I would think they are good for 6yrs..