yeh, but you saved gas and weight by taking the spare out.

that and by taking the spare out, you got some outdoor experience and some good exercise. wow, the benefits just adds on.

 

How about:

Rear flat!

Jack up front, put spare on front, lower car
Jack up rear, put front on rear, lower car

Did I miss a step?

 

[QUOTE=AlX Boi,May 7 2007, 07:31 AM]What an interesting idea.

 

I have seen two types of tire pressure monitoring caps. The ones that I bought detect a 3psi change in pressure, and then a little red flashing LED comes on until the battery dies. the kind that i didn't buy come in PSI ranges, and the "green" indicator drops away to reveal a "red" indicator when the pressure drops out of range.

I don't know much about in-car tire pressure monitoring systems, but from what I think I've heard, at least some of them operate by comparing the ABS sensor signals to detect a sustained small change in wheel rotation speeds. It's got to be a little more complicated than that, or every car with traction / skid control would also have tire-pressure monitoring...

 

A note of caution on the air compressors. The power outlet in the "S" is only fused for 10 amps. Most of the compressors I've seen draw at least 10. The one I bought draws about 12 under full load. I cut the plug off my compressor, replaced it with two alligator clips and run it directly off the battery.

 

[QUOTE=trapper,May 10 2007, 03:02 PM] A note of caution on the air compressors.

 

I see you took the EASY way out ....

Never liked putting that fix-a-flat goop in my tires [and neither did the guys that did the permanent repairs later] I know a lot of people don't like them but I've had good luck with the "plug" type repair kits like the one in the pic..... never had one fail.....yet.

 

^^ RYFM (owner's manual) -- you will see that Honda clearly says the spare cannot be used on the rear. You have to put the spare on the front, then put the front on the rear to replace the flat. The rolling radius is pretty close.

I know, I had to do this while I was on a lonely stretch of Florida Panhandle highway. I picked up a 1/4" bolt, and the tire went to 0 psi right away. An air compressor would have been useless. I have AAA, but they acted like I was somewhere in Outer Nowhere. So . . . I had to do the double swap described above. It is a real PITA, but it got me going -- safely. BTW, there is a minor pull under acel/decel so that you don't forget that you are using "crutches." Stay out of VTEC!

Since I stopped right away, the tire was undamaged and easily repairable the next day. You really want to avoid fix-a-flat. A lot of tire shops will not repair a tire after that gunk is sprayed in it. And one more thing, make sure you keep the spare inflated to 60 psi.

 

I have AAA membership, but don't see it as a replacement for a spare tire. It's not like their trucks have a full selection of low profile sports car tires on them.

What they can do is tow you somewhere which also doesn't have our tires in stock.

Great column on page 40 of the June '07 issue of Road and Track on this very issue ("Musings on the ignominy of driving around on a space-saver spare, and the hard realities of finding an exact replacement tire").

Another fun aspect of a flat with our cars is this: The regular tire/rim combination only fits into the trunk if wedged in at an odd, space robbing angle. Therefore, if you have a flat far from home with a trunk full of luggage, and want to change the flat out with the space saver, you will get to decide which of your possessions to leave behind. Just a thought.

 

[QUOTE=sjrick777,May 10 2007, 10:27 PM] Another fun aspect of a flat with our cars is this: The regular tire/rim combination only fits into the trunk if wedged in at an odd, space robbing angle. Therefore, if you have a flat far from home with a trunk full of luggage, and want to change the flat out with the space saver, you will get to decide which of your possessions to leave behind. Just a thought.