Hot take: a half-deflated spare tire is worse than no spare at all

I was out near Moab last month when I got a sidewall slash, pulled my supposed spare from under the truck, and it had maybe 12 pounds of air in it - useless, so I had to hike two miles to cell service and wait six hours for a tow, and now I check pressure on my spare every single oil change - has anyone else gotten burned by their own backup gear failing at the worst moment?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_taylor4223h agoMost Upvoted

Oh come on, is having a half-flat spare really worse than a missing one?

drewsullivan20h ago

you know what, i used to be on the other side of this argument. i always thought "hey, at least a half-flat spare is SOMETHING, right? you can still limp to a gas station." but then i got a flat on the highway a few months back, and my spare was half-flat. it was honestly useless. by the time i got the jack under the car, the spare was mushy and i couldnt even bolt it on properly. so yeah, i get your point about a half-flat being worse than nothing in a weird way. at least with no spare you know you need a tow truck from the start, instead of wasting 20 minutes and getting stranded anyway. that half-flat just gave me false hope and made a bad situation even more annoying.