Dual Spare Tires...

[Okie Preacher]

I am swapping out my KO2's for a new set (60K miles and they have been outstanding in all conditions). It does give me a chance to add a second spare--one mounted underneath and one on the rear bumper. I am reluctant to add an additional 100#'s or so, but in that one in a thousand instance when you cut a tire, then wreck the spare, a guy would feel like a genius as he was mounting up the second.

Does anyone carry two spares, or is that getting to be both "a belt and suspenders" stupid?

 

[Carson G]

A lot of guys in Australia and South Africa do. I’ve considered doing it on my Discovery I’m leaning towards doing it especially whenever I finally get to do the Pan Am trip.

 

[aknightinak]

I just got two. Free finds on Craigslist, some guy's landlord abandoned two Mud Grapplers...35s for an 18 rim, not a bad match for the Exos truck has now.
It depends where you're wheeling and how hard, I guess. I like to air down pretty considerably when I hit a trail, but my last Toyota had 15s, so a lot more sidewall, and beadlocks in its later life. The Tundra doesn't have those, or OBA enough (or at all) to seat a bead, but it does have enough less sidewall to be a bit of a concern. All that considered, two spares for at least some places I like to go in Lo seems like a good idea.

 

[Marine]

I carry two. Had an old green beret I met on one of my deployments tell me two is one, and one is none

 

[Joe917]

We carry two, when you go to remote places every back up needs a back up. That's 600 lbs of tires on the front.

 

[Tex68w]

If I were doing a RTW trip or continental travel then I would certainly carry two. For the weekend warrior I think it's a bit overkill but it doesn't hurt to have the second spare if you have the room to carry it.

I carry two. Had an old green beret I met on one of my deployments tell me two is one, and one is none

Smart man and classic logic. I use that line often with the misses when it comes to excessive purchases lol.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

We carry 2.
The lighter alternative is to carry one complete plus an extra casing.
You need the tools and skills to fit it anyway if you go remote.


Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[billiebob]

I am swapping out my KO2's for a new set (60K miles and they have been outstanding in all conditions). It does give me a chance to add a second spare--one mounted underneath and one on the rear bumper. I am reluctant to add an additional 100#'s or so, but in that one in a thousand instance when you cut a tire, then wreck the spare, a guy would feel like a genius as he was mounting up the second.

Does anyone carry two spares, or is that getting to be both "a belt and suspenders" stupid?

In North America, a waste of time. We are never far from a tire shop and if you have a flat, I'd hope you would drive conservatively until you got it fixed. Otherwise is 3 spares enough?

 

[ssc45]

This is how many folks in Zimbabwe mount 2 tires. Then again these trucks rarely see pavement.
Cheers, Steve

 

[MTVR]

Our MTVR is not designed to carry a spare tire, but since it spent the first 3,000 miles of it's life as an armored gun truck for a U.S. Special Forces unit, it is equipped with beadlocks and runflat tire inserts.

The 53" tall 16.00R20 tires are also a very common tire size- every one of the 12,000 MTVRs built since 1999 has six of them. Every one of the 35,000 HEMTTs built since 1982 and every one of the thousands of M1070 HETs (the vehicle that tows the 150,000-pound M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank) built since 1992, has nine of them (8 plus a spare). Plus countless more replacement tires. And all three of these vehicles are still in use. There are literally zillions of these tires available on the surplus market...

 

[alanymarce]

It depends where you're travelling - If you're travelling somewhere where you're likely to have tyre damage you can't fix (a sidewall torn for example) and where you're going to be some distance from support then two spares is a good idea. If you're on roads with little likelihood of major damage so that you'll probably be able to repair the tyres yourselves, then one spare will be OK.

The other factor is what tyres you have - If the tyres are readily available then there's less need for two spares. However if you have unusual tyre sizes, or want a tyre not readily available (such as AT tyres in Brazil), then two would make more sense.

In our case - we carried one spare for our trip around South America, and it was enough - we had 5 flat tyres in 49,000 Km, and only one of these was not repairable. In 45,000 Km in Africa we carried 2 spares and had no punctures at all. In 45,000 Km in Australia we started with one spare and added a second later, prior to starting the Gibb River Road. We had one puncture and the tyre was destroyed.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Time for some light entertainment?
Margaret and I worked on a cattle station in the Pilbara in Western Australia for a couple of months just for fun.
It is critical during mustering that the vehicles are kept mobile otherwise a mob of 1,000 head of cattle can scatter in minutes after taking most of the day to get together. So to avoid lost time with the inevitable flat tyres each buggy carries 4 or 5 spares and a "kangaroo Jack" that lets you change a flat in about 2 minutes.






All the buggies use the same split rims, then every few days, someone draws the short straw and gets the job of fixing a dozen flats.
I would never choose split rims on an expedition vehicle, but they are the right choice in this case.
The buggies started life as long wheel base Toyota Troop Carriers.
This is real "off road" driving.



Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[FJR Colorado]

I used to carry 3x total in the winter time. 1x below and 2x in the bed all pre-chained with big, spikey, gnarly V-bar chains.

It was easier to just jack up the ol' T-100 and mount new wheels in order to chain up. This way I could really mount those tricky V-bar chains just right.

In winter, it was preferable not to have an empty bed so a couple of big wheels, tires, chains under a topper was nice to have in terms of some bed weight.

Back in the day, you didn't dare drive the AlCan Highway without a couple of spares at least. The Rockies still have plenty of sharp shale, old mining spikes and what not that can easily get you on your spare. And then you have no spare; day over; trip derailed.

I've always maintained that tires are THE most important part of your vehicle. Doubling up on spares is not overkill, IMO.

 

[FJR Colorado]

This is how many folks in Zimbabwe mount 2 tires. Then again these trucks rarely see pavement.
Cheers, Steve

View attachment 592417

Love that LC70

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

The Rockies still have plenty of sharp shale, old mining spikes and what not that can easily get you on your spare.

This is the road north of Finke in South Australia. It follows the old Ghan rail line.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome