Radial tires

The Corvette doesn't use a spare either. Just a flat repair kit. If you want a really strange spare take a look at the spares that came in the Monza/Starfire GMs. It looks like a rim with a band of tread wrapped around it. It comes with a CO2 canister for inflation. When you attach the canister it stretches the tire up to the same size as a

My Hornet has one of those, but I added a full-sized spare years ago.

The CO2 canister is long gone, but I suppose the thing could be inflated with a portable 12V compressor. (Not that I would expect a 30+ year-old inflatable spare to be safe to use even if it holds air.)

That was the issue with the Rambler wagons, when equipped with the 3rd seat there was no place to put a spare tire. These were relatively compact cars, at least in comparison to domestic competiton of the day. The 3-seat models also had a smaller gas tank than other models.

I've never actually seen one of those tires but it didn't seem like a very good idea for all the reasons you pointed out. I expect just about all were replaced with standard tires as soon as the factory originals wore out. Even if captive-air replacements were available they must have cost a small fortune.

The captive-air tires were abandoned in 1967 when AMC "upsized" their larger car lines, resulting in enough interior space to carry a proper spare along with the 3rd seat.

There is some kind of a product on the market that is in a pressurized can, I think.You can connect it to a tire valve and the product foams up inside of the tire, sort of like foam rubber and you dont have to pump in any air pressure.It is suppose to make a tire flat proof.I think some people who ride bicycles use that product.I dont remember the name of it.Back in the old T Model Ford days, some people would pack a flat tire with straw, as much straw as they could pack in there.It sort of worked ok for a while. cuhulin

My 944 has one of those, because there's not enough space to put a spare wheel and full sized tire in the trunk. I actually had to use it once and it works fine. Porsche provided a 12V air compressor rather than a can of fix-a-flat. Sucks to be you if you get a flat with a full trunk though, because the flat tire will not fit in the spare tire well.

nate

A used tire??? No way, because you don't know how it was used ir misued previously. At a minimum buy two new tires of the same speed rating and size as those remaining. If the remaining tires are over half worn I would replace them all. And then have who ever is responsible for that car promise to keep the air pressure up and have those tires rotated front to back regularly.

lol. Why not a used tire ?!?! Some of you think buying a used tire is a death sentence, tabo, don't do it! Give me a break! It's not that a used tire isn't any good. It's you don't know enough to look at a tire and know whether it's good or not !!! Absolutly nothing wrong with used tires, if "you" know what to look for!

There's usually a reason that someone trades in a perfectly good "looking" tire, and the reason isn't usually good for the next buyer. But some of us find value in used tires, mattresses, etc.

There is a tire dealer not far from me that sells a lot of used tires. They are not "trade-ins," they are salvaged from junked cars that still have good tires on them.

The point still being that you do not know how many curbs that sidewall has banged, etc.

There is a tire store/shop about a seven or eight miles drive from me by the name of U.S.Tire (or U.S.Tires) A buddy of mine who lives about a mile from that store bought some tires there and an elderly guy who used to live down the street from me (he passed away about a year ago) bought at least one tire from that store/shop.I have seen those tires before, they looked perfectly good to me.

That store/shop doesn't keep much of an inventory of the tires because they sell most of them as fast as they get them.It is like you just have to be there at the right time.The way they explained it to me, some people will buy new tires somewhere, but not much later on, they will decide to buy a new different set of tires they like better for whatever reasons of their own and the U.S.Tire store/shop gets those perfectly good used tires with still a lot of tred on them and sells those tires.Sort of similar to some people buy a new or used vehicle and then they decide to buy a new set of fancy rims (wheels) to ''dress up'' their vehicle.Sort of like a woman not satisfied with a Christmas gift and she takes it to a store and swaps it on something else. cuhulin

This thread has digressed. The original post had to do with replacing one tire on the OP's niece's car.

Most of us feel it is risky to replace one radial on an axle set, especially if a tire of different tread depth or design, or manufacture is used. For maximum safety, the attributes of the tires on an axle set should be matched as closely as possible. To do otherwise is not good safety practice.

Now, if it is your niece or your daughter, let your conscience be your guide.

I used to buy tires like that all the time; tire dealer near me would put fancy upgrade tires on new vehicles for dealership. The "used" tires were by law just that; the trade name was "Take-Offs". Good tires at a good price.

Pete

I've mixed & matched radial tires many times, over many years, on quite a few different vehicles. The only negative thing that's ever happened (and it happens rarely) is a slight pull to one side or the other, because of a difference in rolling resistance between the two front tires. Any driver for whom that causes a safety issue shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

So, based on common sense and my experience, in my opinion the "problem" with mixing tires is an old wives' tale.

my personal record was 7 flat tires, right rear, on a new 1980 Ford Fairmont wagon, that was my "company car" when I was doing 4 days a week Pony Express, moving books back to the public and medical libraries they belonged to in a 8-10 Parish (county) area in Louisiana.

Firestone OEM tires, and over a 9 month period. I finally relagated that tire to the spare, and when the job ended, the host library got to keep all the equipment, including the car..

when the car needed new tires after 2 years, the one with the 7 patches was the first one on the discard pile.

damm car was a fighter.. wrecked three times, third wreck at 127,000 miles in 1992 totalled it. I left the library in 1987.

I once drove a Ford van for a while for Pony Express.Had to do the speed limit and then some to have to meet up with another Pony Express guy in a certain little town from a different route.I always had to be waiting for him in in that little town by 3:30 PM.Because of his route, he couldn't wait around on me.One time wayyyy up North in another town where I always had to gas up at a certain gas station, (It was a long route) the credit card that Pony Express provided me to use only for gas and oil for the van had expired.I had to pay about $14.00 out of my own pocket for that gas.Pony Express reimbursed me the money when I got back in from my route. cuhulin

That is one of the beauties of life here. You can believe anything you want.

LOL. What the f$&@ !?!? Let me have a hit man !!!