This is a thread I wanted to start as a result of a double blow-out I had yesterday on my SE which left me stranded about an hour from home forcing me to abandon the car.

I hope my situation can help others avoid the same fate and also maybe get some ideas going.

As I said, returning home from weekend camping trip through the stix of NW Nebraska, started picking up a vibration through the column which I initially though was a out of balance front tire. Reduced speed leaned out the window and did not observe anything abnormal from the front while moving.

Next observed a "rough road" sign so I again reduced speed and attributed it to the rough road and the fact that I need new struts in the 'ol SE. Vibrations increasing. Short while later, heard load "pop" from drivers rear tire. Pulled off onto soft shoulder and saw a shredded sidewall of my tire.

No big deal, unloaded all the gear out of the hatch and put on the original factory spare. Load back up head out with the flashers going, albeit at about 45 trying to get to the next town 2 miles away.

1 mile out, again I again sink down on the drivers rear, no blowout but I know I'm way down on the drivers rear side. trying to limp in to the town.

Make a long story short, rolled into a town about pop. 300 nothing open but the COOP gas station/convenience store on a shredded spare tire. Rubber sidewall crumbling in your fingers, belts visible etc...

Even though my spare looked great externally and held air w/o a leak - the rubber sidewall was so old that it virtually disintegrated and I'm lucky I made it into town. There I sat with my teenage daughter, hour and a half away from home until the wife responded to my MAYDAY call.

So, given that more folks are going out and about with their cars for the spring summer cruises. I think a SAFETY Check would benefit everyone.

Also wanted to ask what options we have for a modern and safe spare tire and see if there are any alternatives to folks having to rely on 30+ year old rubber on the factory spare tire? Can we put a more modern tire on our factory spare rims? If so, what size tire?

As they used to say on the start of the TV show Hill Street Blues - Lets be Safe Out There!

 

I believe any decent tire shop can order you the correct replacement spare tire size.

If you wanted to "upgrade" your spare tire, you could look at motorcycle tires or drag race type "skinnies", just make sure they have tread pattern that can traverse water.

 

Great advice. I will be looking into it for the replacement spare and also replacing all of the other spare tires in my other SE's. Thanks again!

I also hope this thread gets folks checking their spares too. Hate to see anyone have a accident because of it. I was lucky, 2 lane hardball country road w/no traffic and low speed. Could have been fatal if on the front at high speed w/traffic.

 

Id spring for a full size spare. Grab an extra SE alloy and throw a cheapy $40 tire on it.

 

When I buy tires, I always by 5 and have the spare replaced with a new tire. Came in handy last
winter when I damaged one of my RWL COBRA on some ice and was able to swap on my spare
RWL COBRA to replace it. It was double nice because those tires had now gone out of production
for 205/60x13 size.

 

Yeah, next time I wear out tires I'm probably going to have to swap wheels. Not happy about it.

35-yr-old spare in the hatch, too.

 

Yeah apparently you can't get the se factory size tire anymore either.

 

Dang! You mean my pristine looking vintage spare tire from May of 1978 isn't good for anything other than looking at?!? Crap! Seriously though I pulled my vintage spare out the other day and thought it looked pretty dang good for as old as it is.. I thought I'd only rely on it in a pinch, but I guess not.

Glad to see that you made it home safe and sound. Scary being that far away and stranded. Thanks for sharing your story!

 

I don't think this will work cause on the SE the spare tire well is not deep enough for a full size, it would cause a big hump in the rear of the floor.

My solution was to totally ditch the spare. I bought one of the air pumps that come standard on some of the modern cars that come without a spare. It has a canister of sealant that supposedly will seal the leak.

Along with it I carry a supply of plugs and a plug kit, just in case.

 

Maybe fb is more shallow. SA comes with a full sized steelie with Bridgstone tire. Sticks up about an inch. Slightly noticeble throughvthe carpet.

 

I think it changed in maybe 81 or 82? not sure, they increased the gas tank size at the same time.

 

Correct, 81 and up use a space saver spare and hold an extra 2 gallons or so in the gas tank.

I can't find the pic right now, but I'm pretty sure the Euro spec FB's still had the full size spare, with the bigger gas tank. The hatch carpet was made to cover it, kinda looked like the hatch carpet from a 944, where the tire is obviously there... Guess that was ok back in the day, now people would scoff at the fact that it's not completely hidden

Edit, found the pic. Hopefully the owner doesn't mine me posting them here, but they're from the UK forum and you need to be a member to see them... Obviously some differences in general in the UK cars, since they have the back seat. This particular one also has the hatch area cover that rolls up. Gorgeous car, wish I could have it shipped over here...

Here's the original page I found them on if anyone has a log in and wants to see http://www.rx7fb.com/viewtopic.php?f...994551836b2d3c

 

Here's the pics of the 2 tires.
You can see the delamination of the full size tire.
The spare started its coming apart on the sidewall at about the 10 o'clock position and followed itself symetrically around the outside of the tire to about the 8 o'clock position. It also started delaminating.

 

if thats the spare from 1985, its no wonder it came apart, 30 is OLD for a tire, its like 172 in people years

 

Pretty sure the can o' spare air w/ slime inside would not have helped you much here.

No fender damage, I hope?

 

Hey I drove my car home 20 miles after buying it with the original spare. It still has the little new tire nubs on it. The original owner said he has never added air to it and to this day it sits in the tire well with the factory filled 32 PSI of air.

 

I've got the original Bridgestone too... always thought of it as a museum piece... never really gave much thought of needing a SPARE! Now I know to be afraid. At least it's a full size and easy to replace. I really should replace it before any long trips. Thanks for the wake up wahootee.

 

How old are the tires? If those numbers on the sidewall are the date code they were probably made the 6th week of 98. They changed the encoding system in 2000. The spare was probably original so around 30 years old and it would be expected to fail. I know I need new tires on the GSL-SE. The ones on it have only about 6 thousand miles but are about 10 years old now. My understanding is that the rubber starts to degrade at about 6 years of age so it is a good idea to replace between 6 and 10 years of age even if they look ok.

The steel rim on the spare looks like it has some rust damage. Was it fully inflated? The spare on my GSL-SE had no pressure in it when I got the car. And I am somewhat afraid to inflate it.

 

Tires were admittedly older but no signs of dryrot and like new tread. I check them pretty carefully. BUt yes, they were not new and were gonna go on my hanger queen roller car for its stint at the body shop and new ones on my DD.

No fender damage - it blew and sunk down immediately.

Spare has some exterior rust but not inside. Its from being in the well all its life.

 

Your comment about the spare "expecting to fail" is exactly why I started the tread because I wanted to alert people who took for granted that the original spare even though it looks good and holds air cannot be trusted for emergency situations.
To get out and do a "safety check".
So, point noted and re-emphasized for others !

 

I also will now be replacing the original Pirelli P6's that are on my low mileage SE for sure once it gets up and running again.

 

Bummer but fortunately not to much drama.

I've been dragging my feet on looking for a new spare, but I've known it likely won't do much good. Add to that that my front tires are nearly bald and thus more likely to pop or pick up a nail. I know I'm on borrowed time. Time to make a visit to the tire shop!

Any recommendations on tire size for the space saver?

 

More pictures of that UK FB? I dont want to fool with a log in!