Blew a tire on Route 16 last month and learned my spare was flat too

I was heading up to Conway to look at a rental property and hit a pothole near Ossipee around 4 PM. Pulled over to swap the spare and it had maybe 8 PSI in it, totally useless. Had to call a buddy from a gas station to come grab me a can of Fix-a-Flat and an air compressor from Walmart since nothing was open nearby. Cost me 2 hours and $15 but I got rolling again. Anyone else ever check their spare and find it's just as dead as the flat?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_hayes711mo ago

Yeah, I read a thing somewhere that said something like 1 in 4 spares are flat or close to it. People just throw them in and forget about them for years. I actually started checking mine every oil change after hearing that, just takes a second with a tire gauge. Makes me wonder how many people get stranded for something that simple.

michael_craig1mo ago

Boy, you're right about that. I've had a spare go flat on me before and it's the worst feeling when you're already stranded. What I do now is check the pressure when I rotate my tires, same time every six months. Makes it a habit so you don't forget.

kevinc841mo ago

Man I saw a statistic once that said something like 30% of cars on the road have a spare that's either flat or way underinflated! That's crazy when you think about it. @michael_craig that six month tire rotation trick is smart, I might steal that idea honestly. I actually read an article from some automotive site that said most people never check their spare until they need it, and by then it's too late. Such a simple thing to prevent a huge headache later on.