98 V70 spare tire - replacement

Post by **98v70dad** » 28 Jun 2016, 16:00

I went on a 250 mile trip two weekends ago and about half way to my destination I noticed a big bulge on the sidewall of one of my tires. I had stopped for dinner and was in a small town when I noticed it. The only place that could get me in and out was Walmart and they had a three hour wait. So I had my catfish dinner at the Cracker Barrel, rolled the dice and decided to drive on down the road to a bigger town 30 miles away and see how that bulge was doing (I had forgotten that I have an 18 year old donut spare that has never had the correct tire pressure when I check it). In the 30 miles it had doubled in size so I decided I'd never make it to my destination an hour further down the road without a blow out. A good example of a bad decision that worked out anyway!

I bought the cheapest tire at the Firestone and was back on the road in 30 minutes. I needed 4 new tires and I never ever buy cheap tires. The cheapo was intended as a temporary fix to get me to my destination.

It occurred to me later that this temporary cheapo tire would make a great spare. If I can get a cheap steely wheel at the junkyard and it will fit in the space that held the imaginary donut spare I'll have accomplished an upgrade out of my bad tire failure luck.

I did some quick research here and others say that the full spare fits just fine. I'm assuming that's without the felt tray that fits on top of the small spare. Can anyone confirm that I can fit a full spare with no problem if I leave out the "felt tray"?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 28 Jun 2016, 23:26

It will as long as you don't go over 205/55/16 size.

If in doubt, jack your car up and take the tire you just bought and put it in the wheel well for fitment.

Post by **98v70dad** » 29 Jun 2016, 11:04

MadeInJapan wrote:It will as long as you don't go over 205/55/16 size.

If in doubt, jack your car up and take the tire you just bought and put it in the wheel well for fitment.

Good idea about taking the wheel off and checking it, but my wheels are filthy with brake pad dust. That's why I asked here instead of doing that

Do you have to leave out the felt tray to make it fit? I use that little space to store some stuff. Loose stuff in and around the wheel isn't as good because it tend to rattle.

Post by **oragex** » 29 Jun 2016, 11:37

That was very wise to give up driving with the bulge

: tire.jpg (12.13 KiB) Viewed 1734 times

The weather in my city causes in Spring time sudden temperature changes from cold to warm, which ruins the pavement. As a result, we see every day at that period parked cars with bulges on tire side.

Only concern using the purchased tire as spare, if the car has AWD, the system has to have all wheels running at the same speed. Even on FWD cars, a tire with different diameter/wear that it's sibling on the same axe, can foul the DTSC system.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 29 Jun 2016, 13:29

Mine raises the trunk liner an inch or so with the size I mentioned. Others report differently. Yes, I would think that you would have to remove the felt. You can always use a garbage bag to put your wheel in if it's filty and then try to fit it- that way you don't get things dirty...wear gloves!

Post by **erikv11** » 29 Jun 2016, 15:50

I have only full size spares in my wagons, and leave the felt in. They are all 195-60-15.

Post by **98v70dad** » 29 Jun 2016, 17:16

oragex wrote:That was very wise to give up driving with the bulge
tire.jpg
The weather in my city causes in Spring time sudden temperature changes from cold to warm, which ruins the pavement. As a result, we see every day at that period parked cars with bulges on tire side.

Only concern using the purchased tire as spare, if the car has AWD, the system has to have all wheels running at the same speed. Even on FWD cars, a tire with different diameter/wear that it's sibling on the same axe, can foul the DTSC system.

I am originally from Chicago. Two seasons there: Winter and road repair. The potholes up North will definitely eat your tires. Atlanta has pretty good roads.

I hit a curb with my sidewall about two weeks prior to the tire bulging. Honestly, I was surprised by it because I didn't hit THAT hard but I'm sure that's what caused my problem. The tire was a BF Goodrich Advantage TA. They are rated as fairly good tires but I wasn't impressed with them. They didn't come close to the estimated mileage on the tread and I drive to and from work like an old lady. In fact, after 18 months(about 25000 miles for me) they were down to about 4 to 5/32 on the tread. I had planned to replace them soon before the sidewall bulge occurred.

The el-cheapo replacement tire will make a much better spare than the donut that came with the car. It sounds like it will fit in the same space -no problem. My car is not an AWD.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 29 Jun 2016, 19:51

If you are looking to replace tires soon, let me suggest General tires- I have bought 3 sets of these now for my S70 and I love them. They wear well, are quiet and for an all season touring tire, they have a much more aggressive tread! http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearc ... adRating=S

I bought the Rt43 or whatever it was called before a redesign.

Post by **98v70dad** » 29 Jun 2016, 20:38

MadeInJapan wrote:If you are looking to replace tires soon, let me suggest General tires- I have bought 3 sets of these now for my S70 and I love them. They wear well, are quiet and for an all season touring tire, they have a much more aggressive tread! http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearc ... adRating=S

I bought the Rt43 or whatever it was called before a redesign.

Thanks for the endorsement. Last time I bought tires I couldn't find General anywhere for a decent price at a shop that I felt I could trust to do a good job balancing the tires AND do an alignment. I've always liked Continentals and Michelins but I had a tough time finding the Continentals last time and Michelins are pricey.

I had read great things about the Advantage TAs being a good value but in my experience they weren't. I have Michelins on the back that are about 4 years old and still have most of the tread. I had planned to replace them because they are 4 years old and are starting to show minor signs of drying out on the side walls.

Post by **E Showell** » 30 Jun 2016, 14:45

I used to run nothing but Michelins. Not anymore. They wear like iron, but the tread gets really hard and they lose wet weather and snow grip when the tread hardens up. General Altimax for me (although they discontinued the Altimax). The are about 2/3 the price of the Michelins and give much better traction over a decent service life.