I have a one year old Kia Sorento and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. That's right no complaints except one. In the past I bought cars with the mini spare otherwise known as the donut. They were always located inside the car sheltered from the elements. Now I have a car with a full size spare mounted under the car where it is exposed to everything the car kicks up corroded and rusting away. Is there any cars left that have a full size spare that is kept inside the car so it's ready when it is needed. Do they make covers for these?
You mean new cars with full size spares? Or older cars which still had full size spares?
I have been driving with a full size spare under my vehicles for about 15 years. They work fine.
Just make sure you lower it once in a while. Lube the cable or whatever mechanism you have. Inflate the tire. Lube and test the jack.
You don't want a cover. It's just going to trap dirt and moisture and make things even worse.
Damn, you’re using a LOT of lube..
I do.
And glue too. Just everywhere.
Good point on checking the jack every once in a while. My truck's bottle jack seized up over the summer when I was working on it. Couldn't get the thing to move again, and had to use my small floor jack to get it off.
Leave it alone.
You don’t want to be dealing with a freaking cover, underneath the vehicle, when you’re stranded due to a cut sidewall at night in heavy rainfall, and in the middle of nowhere..
Since you do have a full size spare, don't forget it's under there. Have it rotated onto the axles and rotate one back underneath the rear end so you're not wasting the tire. You may well end up in a situation where you need it. And it's dry rotted because it was forgotten about and unused/ not replaced. My 1999 Ranger had the original, unused donut underneath the bed until I got rid of it this year. I replaced it with a 100% matching full size spare tire because they're doing a lot of construction on the roads around me and I didn't want to risk not having a functional spare if debris gets one of my tires. I rotate it out with the others now that I have a good tire. I'll need 5 tires when I get new ones, but it's worth the peace of mind.
I like the donut that my Ridgeline has. It is NOT under the truck, but inside the trunk sealed from the elements along with the jack.
I'm not one to use a spare unless it is absolutely necessary, and even then I use it to go straight to the shop and have the damaged tire replaced. That said, the usage is so temporary I'm good with full size or donut. But not having to crank down a full size spare under the truck is a handy trick for those of us who are tall with a knee disability.
I don't really like the air pump units for spares because if you have a blowout, you're walking.
They put those stupid things in the new Mustangs and they drive me nuts. The least they could do is include a donut when we're paying the same price for the car. I couldn't figure out why mine wouldn't inflate one of my tires and ended up basically idle rolling 3/4 of a mile down the road to the gas station on a 9 PSI tire to put air in it.
Tires are only good for 5 years after they pop 'em out of the molds anyway so I wouldn't worry about it.
