Record distance on spare tire? 163 miles

[inthedoghouse]

I was recently returning from a 1400 mile road trip in my 85 coupe. On the last leg, something sliced my 1 year old rear tire. I do carry a plug kit but the slice was far too big. I debated calling a tow truck but it was late and I was ready to get home. My rear tires are 245/45/16 so they are pretty hard to locate.

I inflated the original factory spare to pressure and installed it. I then drove 163 miles home at 55 mph. I stopped a few times to check the pressure and temp and it was running great.

I made it safely and later deflated the spare and it went right back to the folded size.

I would by no means recommend this but just wanted to say it worked for me and its very impressive the tire was still functional.

Hardest part? Driving a 911 at 55 mph for 3 hours!

[sugarwood]

Must have been a great feeling when you started driving.
Must have been nerve wracking driving 3 hours waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Must have been such a relief to pull into that garage.

[scold]

Glad you made it home - thought I read somewhere that if you have a rear flat then put the front wheel on the rear and the space-saver on the front.

[OldSpool87]

+1 on Sugarwood's comments. White knuckle for sure!

[porsche930dude]

Originally Posted by scold

Glad you made it home - thought I read somewhere that if you have a rear flat then put the front wheel on the rear and the space-saver on the front.

if you have limited slip. open diff doesnt really matter

[Jtt84911]

I used mine a few years ago - also on rear- for about 10 miles.....but was equally amazed and pleased that my 30 year old COLLAPSIBLE spare tire worked like it was manufactured last year!!

To be perfectly honest.....in the 15 years I had my Targa....never took it out and inflated it until I actually needed it!!
In retrospect I guess that was pretty ****** stupid.....but I've always believed in Porsche engineering and assumed it would be fine if needed...and it was.

If any Pelicans out there also have never taken it out and tried it before needing it- you probably should.
BTW little weird getting the air out and reducing it back down to storage size.

JTT

[Jerome74911S]

Originally Posted by porsche930dude

if you have limited slip. open diff doesnt really matter

My wife burned out an open differential by driving on one of those little emergency spare tires (though not a Porsche), but then she couldn't manage to drive below 70 to 75 mph for 150 miles . . .

As an experiment, I inflated my collapsible Porsche spare to correct pressure and left it sitting in the garage for a month. No pressure loss whatever in that time. Also, while inflated, there was no evidence of cracking anywhere in the rubber when examining with a strong magnifying glass. I carry plugs, and Fix-a-flat, but I think these are super redundant.

[porsche930dude]

i left one inflated for a few months and it was so cracked i was afraid to go near it to deflate it. looked like a broken windshield. They are molded in the collapsed form so being inflated is not a relaxed position for the rubber.

[ELZ's930]

That is a great story you will always have to share. A really cool adventure for sure. You should post a picture of that single lane dirt dirt road. That was impressive!😃

Leonard

[inthedoghouse]

It was white knuckle for sure - esp after 11 hours of driving I was very ready to roll in the garage at midnight.

I do have a LSD, but the manual said the spare fits front or rear. It looks to be about the same diameter as the regular wheel - just very skinny. For some reason I felt better with it on the rear - any sudden loss of pressure or issue I think would be easier to control than if it failed on the front. At least that is what I told myself.

I googled temp spares when I stopped to eat - most websites say they are good for ~50 miles. I'd say Porsche far exceeded this even at 29 years old. Even now the tire looks fine.

Earlier in the day, a recommended side trip turned into another adventure down a one lane dirt road. It included a few first gear hill climbs. I was a Paris Dakar throwback in Arkansas - but at low speed. I had to get out and move a few rocks a couple of times.

Note - this was 600 miles from where the tire went flat in case you are wondering.

[KNS]

What's scary is seeing some poor slob blasting down the freeway at 80 mph on the tiny donut spare.

[The cap'n]

I often see slammed VWs running space saver spares as regular front tires.

The Cap'n

[HarryD]

While not a Porsche, in 1976 my Buick had a flat in the dirt roads of Wyoming. Since I was about 1 1/2 hours from home, I figured I had nothing to lose by driving home on the inflatable spare. I used the can of compressed gas that came with the tire, filled it up and put it on the car. After all, if it failed I would be closer to home. It was slow but it got me home at 50 mph. Looking at the tire afterwards there was little evidence of its use. Mighty impressive.

[juanbenae]

i would have moved it to the front as to not confuse the transaxle...

[sugarwood]

Is there a trick to deflating the spare?

[SCWDP911]

Sorry mate, have you beat by around double. Had a mishap in 2008 that required me to limp across the state of South Dakota for about 350 miles on an cross country road trip with my oldest son. Fun times. Mine was on front. Nothing like driving in a 911 45 mph with a wonder of a wheel on front obviously out of place. Got a lot of honks across that stretch of highway, though I'm pretty sure they were in a mockful tone...

HELP! EMERGENCY! suspension problem

[inthedoghouse]

Should not be any transaxle confusion if the spare diameter is the same as the regular wheel. I did not measure but it looks to be. I know some modern cars this may not be the case.

The best way to deflate the spare was unscrew the piece inside the schrader valve. This ensures all the air is out and its faster. Just don't forget to put it back in.

SCWDP911 - 350 miles on the spare? You definitely beat me! I would have felt better knowing you pulled that off.

[GothingNC]

Glad that the spare tire did it's job.

Was it a tight fit in the back seat for storing the flat tire?

[inthedoghouse]

I wrapped the wheel in a trash bag and it was a tight fit in the back with the rear seats flat. Thankfully I did not have much stuff back there. It would get interesting if your car was already full and you needed to find space for a large rear wheel.

[RSBob]

Have to say the OP give me a bit more faith in my spare. I removed it and replaced it with a couple of cans of Fix-a-flat and tire plugs. Kept the inflator though. Looks like I will return the spare and jack for cross state drives just in case. I still would be very nervous though.