How bad is it, in the grand scheme of things, to install a directional tire the wrong way?

Question in subject line...

reason for asking is this. My car did not come from the factory with a spare tire nor any tools to change it. The factory tires are run-flats, but they're expensive, wear out quickly, and there are better options out there. Also, if you get a flat in the middle of nowhere, and can't get the tire repaired within 50 miles, you're screwed - and your expensive tire is unrepairable. Also, my winter tires are NOT run-flats.

Factory option - space saver spare in tire bag, with a little foam insert that holds the jack and lug wrench. OK, but you still have the

50 mile limitation as well as a similar speed limitation to a flat RFT - so now you have stuff, but it's no more useful than nothing at all.

My idea - for the summer, I will put one of my winter wheels and tires in the tire bag, along with the tools, and use the extra space under the foam insert to hold other emergency stuff like jumper cables etc. that would otherwise be taking up space in the trunk anyway. Before winter, I will attempt to acquire another wheel that matches my winter set (because 17s are cheaper and lighter than 19s) and an acceptable used tire. My theory is, this way, no matter where I get a flat if it is inconvenient to me to stop and get the tire repaired quickly, I can travel on as far as I like before having to deal with it.

I just realized something however - my winter tires are directional, so whichever one I put in the trunk, there's a 50% chance that if I do get a flat and need to use the spare, the tire will be mounted the wrong way on the wheel. I understand that traction will be compromised somewhat, but how dramatic is it really?

Should I make a point to get a non-directional spare tire as quickly as possible or is this no worse than using the donut, say?

I haven't had any experience with wrong-way mounted tires, because I always paid attention to the little arrows on the sidewalls :) My gut feeling is that it's still preferable to using the donut, but if anyone has any info to the contrary please let me know.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel
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Any loss of traction by being on "backwards" can easily be compensated for by driving 10 mph slower then you otherwise would. Some years back one of the car mags did a story about the use of the skinny doughnut spare tires that had started coming with Corvettes as spare tires. They mounted the spare and then ran the car thru the same sort of performance tests they would normally do. Turned out it didn't make all that much difference nor did it make things unsafe. If I were you I'd just get the temporary tire that would have come from the manufacturer and forget about al the other folderol. Odds are you'll never use it and even if you do I'm sure it will much farther then the

50 miles it shows on the sidewalls. The only reason not to would be if you had a limited slip diff and had to use the same rolling diameter and the temp wasn't the same. You'd have the same problem using your winter tires, .. if you have limited slip you want the same diameter .. OR.. you would need to drive pretty slow and not too far on it.
Reply to
Ashton Crusher

^^^^^

Reply to
jim beam

I actually have the donut but it is labeled for only 50 miles of use. My concern is if I get a flat driving through BFE that it might be bad. I can think of places that I regularly go that are close to or beyond the 50 mile limit from a tire store that I would want to patronize; also, a new tire might have to be ordered and that could add a day or two to a trip as opposed to having Tire Rack ship one to my home or destination. The alternative would be to carry a plug kit and 12V compressor with me but that doesn't cover all eventualities, and I don't actually own a 12V compressor (I had one in the Porsche, but it was the factory one, so I let it go with the car when I sold it.)

My winter tires are probably closer to the same rolling diameter as the summer tires than the donut... I don't have LSD but I do have the fake electronic version thereof so rolling diameter differences might screw with stuff.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

unbelievable - you're simply not from this planet! "50 miles" is what's recommended. reality is, you can go thousands of miles on the things. you wouldn't /want/ to, but that's an entirely different matter that you don't seem to be able to figure out.

unbelievable - you're in bfe, you have a flat, but you want the pricing and convenience of tire rack. i'd love to see you bleating that kind of bullshit when you're in some urban neighborhoods i can name - you'd be happy to pay and get your ass out of there thinking your self lucky you didn't have an extra asshole to whine out of.

compressor???? what kind of wuss are you??? just use a freakin foot or hand pump - a bit of manly sweat won't kill you.

yeah, and you could have TWO flats. or even THREE. you gonna worry about that too?

or are you just going to sit on your mom's basement and bleat endlessly on usenet about crap you've never done and clearly don't have the first clue about? [rhetorical, since that's what you're already doing.]

Reply to
jim beam

There's nothing wrong with a donut spare, and much to recommend them... for "drivers".

A motorist such as yourself who must always run with the fastest on the road, brake and corner near the limits of traction, etc., might well be better off with full-size.

But, how will that affect your trunk organization challenges....? -----

- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

Certain neighborhoods, if you have a flat... Run on the flat!

Reply to
JR

lol! i'm surprised he hasn't yet posed about discovering the wheel is a different size and thus the trunk cover won't sit properly, but i guess that's because, as usual, he hasn't actually tried what he's bleating about.

Reply to
jim beam

Exactly. And it seems like I'm always either in those kind of neighborhoods or else 100 miles or more away from anywhere that I'd want touching my car with tools.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

really? for the crack? or just the 'hoes?

i'm sure the feeling would be mutual. but given how you always bleat about being over-charged, it appears that some shops will lower themselves in return for you paying the "get this retard out of my shop" pricing schedule.

Reply to
jim beam

Nate believes his imagination manufactures facts... he's seen what can happen when a driver leans forward to expand their field of view field in their side-view mirrors, and find his speedometer a driving distraction.

He determined a donut spare is "no more useful than nothing at all", somehow, obviously not by any personal experience, or reports of others. -----

- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

depends on the road conditions. Around here donut at the stratospheric pressure might not last those 50 miles.

Not to mention that on subaru you are likely to develop torque bind in the center diff.

I am not sure how well torsen commonly found on A4+ in audi lineup, vw amarok automatic, etc takes that kind of torture.

Stripping the awd I guess on manicured roads in the states you might be fine for more than 50 miles. But why risking a blowout on anything vaguely resembling road debris and crawl at 55mph?

Reply to
AD

Yup, you understand where I'm coming from it sounds like. Let's say I'm in the middle of a drive from DC to Pittsburgh and somewhere in rural MD or WV one of my tires goes. Do I get a hotel room and wait for someone to ship me a new tire (since they're probably not stocked) or maybe pay $300+ for a tire that's the right size but a different brand or model so is not a really good solution and also hope that the local place has a tire machine with soft pads on it so I don't get big spike marks on the barrels of my wheels? Or do I just bolt on the spare and keep on truckin' and order the new tire to be shipped to me somewhere that it's actually convenient for me to get it done, with no loss of time on the trip other than the actual changing of the tire at the side of the road? Sure I'm giving up a couple inches of depth of the trunk, but Jim is right about one thing, I "don't want to" risk driving 100+ miles on a donut spare and risk having a second flat, this time stopping me dead, but fortunately with a little planning ahead, I shouldn't have to - when driving long distances I'll just carry a tire designed to travel tens of thousands of miles instead, so no worries.

I don't have AWD so that is not a concern, but is also another good point!

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

/you/ don't understand where you're coming from, so trying to say someone else does is simply wishful thinking as you clutch for attention straws.

um, if you've just had a high speed blow-out, you're going to be bumping the rim anyway retard. at that point, you're already damaged and all you want to do is get repaired and get out of there.

besides, it's highly disingenuous to say that a rural tire shop can't do a good job. half the time, they're much more invested in good service for their community than townie ass-holes who do a bad job knowing they'll never see you again.

unspeakable retard - having a second flat is NOTHING to do with ANY kind of spare.

yeah, carry FOUR spare wheels! but why stop at just 4? retard.

not if you'[re carrying a set of spare wheels...

Reply to
jim beam

I understand where you're coming from, you bought a rig you can't afford to drive.

You seem to have concluded you won't have a flat every hundred or so miles, for some reason...

Since according to you run-flats wear out quickly, why not buy a new set to carry as spares, or two? You're going to need them sooner rather than later.

It's a good thing they won't sell that year/make/model rig to women... -----

- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

under normal road conditions, those things hold up pretty well.

vehicles with drive trains that have that problem have donut that are the same diameter as the standard wheels. if the oem donut is smaller, it's because the diffs don't have this problem.

road debris? the average donut has a higher profile than many performance tires. it's their width that's their primary difference, not their depth.

as to speed, they're rated for 50 not because the tire can't take it, but because the handling of the vehicle is compromised. on that basis, and that basis alone, they're designed to get you to a place where you can get the original fixed, not take you trans-continent. [although, some hoods around here, you see vehicles with donuts as permanent fixtures.]

Reply to
jim beam

nate and women??? it's very very cruel of you to have both in the same post!

Reply to
jim beam

Just because you don't understand what I'm saying doesn't mean nobody else does.

I've never had a "high speed blow out" but I did have a tire go flat on me once quite rapidly and at highway speed (as in, it was fine when I left but was completely flat by the time I pulled over to the side of the road, but there was no dramatic "BANG" or obvious hole in the tire.) The rim was fine. It was at the time considered a low profile tire, too. (Today it would probably be considered laughably skinny and the sidewalls fat - I *think* it was a 195/50-15 - but for the car it was on it was actually a "plus two" fitment.) Not a run-flat - not sure if they'd even been introduced yet.

Never said that they couldn't. But it would be silly for them to stock a full selection of low-profile, high-performance tires on the off chance that someone came through wanting one. More likely they will stock a couple very common brands and models and if someone wants something else they'll order it from a warehouse somewhere. If I'm traveling, that does me no good at all, unless I'm willing to accept the delay. Also, *most* tire changers do not have soft pads but use metal clamping jaws with spikes in them, it pays to seek out a shop that has one or another type of tire machine that doesn't damage the barrels (if you care about such things, and I do.) For steel rims, fixing the damage caused by such a machine is irrelevant, Krylon covers all and you can't see the barrels of the wheels anyway. If you have nice alloys and want to keep them in top shape, that's *not* acceptable.

You don't think that keeping a tire in service for 2x or more its rated lifespan (e.g. driving 100 miles on a donut spare recommended for use of

50 miles) doesn't introduce a greater than normal risk of failure?

Sorry, I can't respond intelligently to nonsense.

Your fuel mileage must suck.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

I'm interested to hear how you came to that conclusion.

No, wait, I'm really not.

It's unlikely on a regular tire. It becomes more likely on a donut spare.

??? you make no sense.

I'll wait until they wear out, and then replace them with less expensive, longer-wearing, better-handling tires. That's what most people do.

At the risk of sounding sexist, I'm pretty sure most of them rely on roadside assistance. I'm less patient than that and simply like to be in control of my destiny.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Exactly, Socrates.

Really? How did you measure that?

Why wait? You live in a densely populated area, must be some nitwit cruising CL looking for the exact tires you don't like.

Really? How did you learn -this- tidbit you purport to know?

Lol. You're probably the only person for whom run-flat tires would create such paranoia and complicated preparations for a flat that is unlikely to begin with. -----

- gpsman

Reply to
gpsman

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