How Far Can You Drive on a Spare Tire? Types of Spare Tires

Almost every vehicle has a spare tire in case of emergency. Mostly, every driver does not want to be on a spare tire. Still, no one knows when it would be a need to use a spare tire. This article asks a question that every driver wants to know and question is, how far can you drive on a spare tire?

How Far Can You Drive on a Spare Tire

The answer somewhat is not complicated so simple. For getting a reliable answer, we need to know about the types of spare tires.

Types of Spare Tires

There are mainly two types of spare tires.

Types of Spare Tires

Full-Size Spare Tire:

All the older vehicles were built-up with full-sized spare tires especially, SUVs or trucks. A full-size spare tire is heavy in weight and it also occupies a huge space. The best thing about a full-size tire is that it gives you the feel of an original tire and you can handle the driving you do with the original tire. 

Even Though, if you get any trouble with the original tire and it’s not worthwhile to repair that tire, you could visit your mechanic and ask him to exchange your spare tire with the original tire rim. It would cost you less and you also can drive with your spare tire for a long time span. 

However, it’s not a good option to utilize this full-size spare tire as a whole. It’s because there would be a difference in tread wear of this spare tire and all the other three tires and this difference could be unsafe for your driving. Make sure to buy a new tire as soon as possible before having any serious problems. 

Donut Spare Tire:

Donut spare tires are also renowned as space-saver tires. These are the tires specially designed for consuming less place in your vehicle. This tire cannot be driven over 50 miles per hour and it could be a safe option after 70 miles.  

If you are having donuts as your spare tire of a vehicle, you should remember that you could not go with this for a long period of time. It is because these tires hattle tread wear. Over those 70 miles, the greasing up oil will separate, causing pointless wear on the gears of the wheel and clutch plates.

Another option is also available rather than using spare tires. 

A Run Flat Tire:

A run-flat tire is a tire that can maintain air pressure even after a puncture. Utilizing this tire is also beneficial so that you would not need to change the tire right after a puncture or a little damage.  As there is the advantage of having a run-flat tire, some issues are also important to keep in mind. It can be inflamed only 50 miles after a puncture, so would not be able to move after 50 miles and these tires also cost more than that traditional tires. 

Repairing or Replacing Is More Convenient

Whenever you get your tire damaged and you use a spare tire, the most convenient thing you can do is repair the original tire or replace it. Using a spare tire as the original tire is not a good decision at any cost. 

Suggestions and Recommendations to Take Care of Original Tires:

It’s better to take care of original tires to avoid using spare tires. Checking tire air pressure, tread wear, brake pads, and punctures from time to time can save you tires. In this way, you would have fewer issues and problems while driving with your original tires.

tire technology

Still, any severe emergency such as tire burst, tube damage, or air pressure can happen at any time while driving. In this case, using a spare tire whether it is a full-size spare tire or a donut spare tire is the best option. 

To Do After Using a Spare Tire:

It’s a fact that we use a spare tire in the case of an emergency, but a thing we must consider is that we should go to the mechanic to fix the issue of the original tire or buy a new one as soon as you get to the safest place and any workshop is available for you. It is really important to fix the issue if you are using donut spare time because this tire is not made for long distances. 

Things could be different while using a full-size spare tire. This tire has more capacity to be used for a long period of time. You can use a full-size spare tire as an original tire by changing the tire tube with the original rim of the original tire. In this way, you can use the tire for a long time but this is not a permanent solution. 

So second repairing or buying the original tire again to fix the problem.  

Conclusion

To conclude, we can confidently say that we have the answer to the required question: how far can you drive on a spare tire? The range that most vehicle specialists agree on is around 50 to 70 miles, with 70 as indisputably the greatest. To think about safe side use is to use a spare tire till 50 miles and not more than that. 

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