The importance of carrying a spare

Funny I was thinking the other day I haven't had a flat in quite a few years.

Went away to the lake for the weekend to see the new boats and gear for next year, towing back we blew out a tyre and weren't carrying a spare.

Turns out that out of about 12 wheels we didn't have any spares at home (another hour away) that fit the hub and couldn't source one or anyone that could change a tyre, at 5 o'clock on a Sunday there were plenty of tyre shops around but none of them were open. We ended up stuck at a gas station for about 4 hours. Re arranged their gardens blocking up the trailer and tried a tyre repair in a can but that didn't work the boat was just too heavy and blew out all the air before the latex had time to set.

Luckily I managed to beg/borrow a wheel from a rental trailer at another gas station down the road (took some serious convincing and a $100 bond) and get the boat home but I'm buying a spare tomorrow, as well as replacing the current tyres on the trailer with heavy duty commercial ones.

Not a fun end to an otherwise great trip.

I'm assuming you have a single axle? That sucks, I had a blow out on a road trip but luckily I had a spare. That reminds me, I still need to get that tire fixed.

Always shocking that some people don't carry a spare.

I had the spare but realized during our first (and only) flat tire incident that the lugs on the trailer were different than on my truck. I didn't have the wrench for it. You don't always think of these things when you first get the boat. We got lucky & found a nearby rancher to help us out.

Yeah she rides on a single axle. I have never really thought about a spare but that definitely made me wish I had.

We usually only trailer about 5 minutes from home and have only taken the boat on one big trip beforehand. At least we didn't blow up any trucks this year went through 2 last time. One blew a gearbox and the other we smoked the clutch.

When I bought my Malibu I asked the dealer about a spare on the trailer. He commented that it was a tandem axle & I wouldn't need a spare. I asked him to get one anyway.
No matter what trailer you have, your still going to need the obvious tools to change a tire, wrench, jack, etc. Even a piece of chain to support the tandem axle up if your going to limp it home on 3 tires.

I run Tandems with a spare. Period.

Usually seems that if you have all the right tools and a spare you will never need it. Leave something behind and that is usually the thing you need.

I think some guy named Murphy wrote about that type of situation.

Thankfully I am only 4 miles from the lake normally...

Bill what are you talking about with the chain to support the tandem axle up?

If you have a flat and no spare you can jack up the axle and chain/strap it up and ride on three wheels.Not the best idea but it will get you going again.

You can chain one axle up to the frame of the trailer. Remove the tire and limp home with only three tires. It sucks. I have had to do this twice due to blown out bearings. I usually use the nylon tie-down straps for the back of the boat. Having a spare tire when you blow out bearings won't help in that situation.

Oh, and it always happens late on Sunday after everything is closed. So far everytime I have ever had a flat or broken something it has happened then.

Hasn't happened to me yet, but it would get you home late on Sunday night..... allow you to have the flat fixed later. Strappin it would be great too. Whatever works.

The one time I did not have my spare with me we had a blowout 50 miles from home in the middle of no where. I had to take the tire and wheel off of the axle and use a load strap to hold the axle up. We limped home at 25 mph. Made an hour long trip about 3 hours instead. I never go anywhere without a spare.
From past experience, if you are trailering any distance at all, make sure:

1. That your actually jack works with your trailer.
2. That your lug wrench works on your trailer wheel lugs.
3. That your spare wheel actually fits the lug pattern for your trailer
4. That your spare is properly inflated.
5. If you carry your spare on a trailer bracket, make sure you have a wrench that fits the nuts on the bracket so that you can take the wheel off.

While on topic: Spare prop and tools....

For those with oil bath bearings...how often do you change these bearings? Should this be done annually as a maintenance thing? I trailer my boat about 100-120 miles (round trip) 1-2/week.

Kirk has it 100% with the list but I'll add from many tire failure experiences.

Many truck/SUV jacks will not fit under the axle with a blown tire so you either need something under the trailer as you reposition a jack or a flat scissor jack to get the axle off the ground. Also, if your lug nuts have been on the trailer for a long time or been in salt, they may not come off without breaking the lug. Keep them maintained. I got rid of my fancy cap nuts - function over form.

In addition, on two occasions I have had to cut the remnants of the tangled tread that was wrapped around the hub. Add a hacksaw to the list and a hammer to pound back a bent fender.

I agree with all the stuff above, but everyone always forgets the basic tire plug kit. I can't tell you how many nails, tacks, staples, etc.. that I have driven over. These are quick and easy to use and can last forever if done correctly.




I would also add an exhaust jack to the mix, they are super easy to use and work great on a boat trailer.



A Hi Lift jack is also ideal:



I still want to try one of these though:



http://www.cabelas.com/p-0001945013566a.shtml

or one of these:

I carry one of these in addition to my normal lug wrench. Make sure you have a 1/2" drive socket to fit you lugs. The ones that come with it don't fit my truck.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GOR-1721

The handle telescopes out and if you need to, you can stand on the wrench to break lug nuts loose. Also use anti seize on the lugs to keep them from rusting on. I also usually have a large block of wood to put the jack on to keep it from sinking into the dirt. 2X12 works well.

Sam - I have never seen one of those exhaust jacks. How long is the hose on that? Do they fit any size exhaust - I have a diesel?

Check out this guy...
http://www.precisionowners.com/Pearce_trailer_jack.htm

Not a bad idea - could have a jack for every tire - pimpin'

I have the exhaust jack from ARB called the X-Jack, some other company call Bushranger makes them. It works pretty good under the front and rear skid plates of my jeep when in the sand. The only other jack that remotely works is the Hi-Lift, but it isn't always that stable. The X-Jack is somewhat hokey though, but does the job. The hose is pretty long. You can read more about it here:

http://www.bushranger.com.au/xjack.php

If you read about it, it says they are to be used for getting trucks unstuck, not changing tires, but I do it anyhow...

I might try a jack like this:



Agri-Fab Trailer Jack

or a

Jiffy jack

I tow the boat a lot! Between Powell, Lake Mead, and trips to Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake I tow on gravel roads a lot and it tears tires up big time. I bet I get at least a flat every trip...

I've been stuck without a spare,single axle,big blow out.

Never again.

On a tandem axle all you really need to get the tire off the ground is a curb that sticks out on a corner. Just cutting the corner a little tight and putting the inflated tire on the curb gets the flat tire off the ground. I have used this method several times.

The curb method usually isn't tall enough for the trailer for my boat, it has to much axle travel and doesn't lift the flat tire off the ground. Also, there are not a lot of curbs when on a gravel road out in the middle of nowhere...

Curbing the tire would make my low profile tires & blingy rims look like hell after a couple of flats.

I have the axle jack like Sam posted. Works on all 3 of my trailers, tandem or single axle.

I stand behind the Hi-Lift, that thing has been a life saver several times. It even doubles as a winch and all for $50, can't beat it.

Hey Brandon,
What do you drive? I recently saw a bunch of accessories for the Hi-Lift that work with an F-250. It slipped into the tow hook on the front and into the hitch bracket on the back and made the Hi-Lift completely stable, you could push on the truck from every direction and it was stable. Pretty cool, but I can't find them for sale anywhere... My Hi-Lift is mounted to my trailer, but I don't like using it, it wobbles and has a potential to fall into the boat sometimes...

I found it...

http://www.tliftonline.com/

That Jiffy Jack or the Agri-Fab jack are the best. I plan on just making one out of wood. Not as pretty, but will work great. I think it will double as a wheel chock or I could use it as a block for my trailer jack.

Tim we broke a stud last night taking the wheel off the other side, good advice. We'll be getting some spare wheel studs as well.

That exhaust jack looks pretty sweet. Certainly less effort.

My experiences with flat trailer tires:

1) Repairing the tire has never been an option. I have never noticed the tire was going flat until it was throwing junks of rubber. I consider myself lucky if the rim survives.

2) If it is daylight I am usually still out on the lake! The tire is only going to blow when it is late at night as that is when I am towing.

3) One exception to the above was on the way to Powell and blew tire in Baker, California. About 120 degrees out. So hot that the jack sank into the asphalt instead of lifting the trailer.

4) Speaking of jacks: The jack for the truck has always worked for me.

5) What sucks is when you are attempting to remove your spare and find that the lock is frozen due to being dunked in the lake a few dozen times.

6) What REALLY sucks is finding out that someone stole your spare because you didn't have it locked.

7) As for lug wrenches: I have one of those four way lug wrenches that I keep in the truck.

This summer i was 5 minutes into a 6 hour trip up the grapevine with my family. I looked back in my mirror at about 65 mph and saw alot of smoke coming from my driver side back tire. I have a tandem 2 axle trailer 07 x star. I pulled over on a busy busy freeway. ran back to the trailer and looked under to see what was going on and a fire started one of my brakes locked up and the pads started a fire luckly i keep a fire extinguisher in the cup holder of the boat . if i didnt have a fire extinguisher right there it would have ruined my boat or could have started a huge fire while my whole family is sitting in are truck. try to run every possible situation threw your head with every aspect of boating it can be very fun but every boat owner knows how dangerous it can be. be safe and plan accordingly

Hey Sam, I drive an F-250. Thanks for the info, I just added to my xmas list. That was one problem I had with the lift, it was soo unstable when I used my front tow hooks as a lifting point. It works perfect on my trailer though, I couldn't be happier with it.

My old Jeep Grand Cherokee space saver spare worked great on my old single axle trailer, jack worked too. On my current tandem I have a spare but didn't use it last flat. Just pulled the flat tire and ran home on 3. With torsion bar suspension I didn't even need to chain the loose axle. To jack up the trailer I just pulled the good tire up on top of a wheel stop. What can I say, I'm lazy at times like this.