I went over to the cottage today to check on it (IE make sure it hasn't been broken into or burned down). The cottage is about 1/2 mile in on a gravel road. The DOT graded the road recently, which stirred up all the gravel. It stood at least one very sharp piece up, because I ran it over and got a flat. The hole in the tire is huge (I could put my finger in it if I wasn't worried about sticking myself with steel belts).
Two things I've learned from this:
1) Regardless the weight, it is definitely worth it to keep a spare and jack in a road driven car. No can of "fix-a-flat" would have fixed this.
2) These cars look absolutely ridiculous with donut spares on. Still, I'm glad I had it, and I'm glad I remembered to keep the TC donut after that 11" brake conversion :hick:
wow that sucks but i am glad your ok.
There was no danger of injury. Although the tire flattened in 0.3 seconds, I was only traveling 15 or so MPH. I actually continued on the 200 yards or so to the cottage on the flat, knowing the tire was fvcked anyway. Didn't want to change it on the dirt road, since logging trucks frequent it (and lately there have been dump trucks carrying rock for a new road being built, too).
bad luck man!!
I opt'd to buy cheapy tires for the kia sophia of my mother in law...... just the smallest of gravel gave it a flat. the gravel was like an arrow head.
so you didnt have any vandalizm on the cabin,,, thnk you did once a while back.??
That sucks man. Hate to hear that but your right she does look injured with that donut on there! lol
Wow, that's gonna need the worlds biggest tire plug.
Or you could weld it! :hick:
Scott: Nope, cottage is OK. I did have vandalism before, the worst kind. They burned it to the ground. Ever since then, after we rebuilt, I've had an ADT monitored security system installed. Only one time since has anyone tampered with the place - they kicked the back door in in the middle of a snowstorm. I only live 10 minutes away, so when ADT called me I went over. Snow had already filled in their footprints, but there was no sign they actually entered the cottage (no snowy prints inside). The alarm must have scared them off.
I love my ADT system.
Should you have put that donut on the rear instead of the front?
Why would I do that? The flat was on the front. In fact, it'd probably be better to swap it to the front if I'd had a flat on the rear, since it'd be easier on the rear end. Don't wanna burn up the clutch plates with two different sized rear tires...
Now my whole world is upside down. I was taught that you put the spare on the rear due to steering reasons. *research time*
i had one peel off the rim when i put the donut on front.........scary......
in all cases except a limited slip rear
If you have a a rear wheel drive car, the spare goes on the front. On my old black car I had a mini on the rear because I forgot I pulled the jack out and was borrowing someones scissor jack so I couldn't get two tires off at the same time. It was ridiculous try to make the car go without spinning the one tire. I was able to spin the tire flat out at over 50 mph. My idle was off and it revved up and down. Every time it revved up to 1k, it would chirp the tire and overpower the brakes.
Full size spare. Done.
*coming from the guy with a stack of extra rims and tires but donut in the trunk*
I've got a full size 14" steel wheel in the trunk of my 88 T-bird (it's actually one of the original wheels for the car) in case I get a flat. Once I get some time I'll clean up the other Snowflake wheel I have and get a tire mounted on it so I have a matching spare :D
I've got 11" front brakes, so a 14" wheel wouldn't work. As often as I drive it, and as often as I might get a flat, the extra room a 15" or larger spare wheel would take up in the trunk isn't worth it.
All I ever carry in the trunk is a small tool box, some cleaning stuff for the car, a couple of fold up bag chairs for car shows, and the full size spare tire. I never put anything else in there so the spare can have all the room it wants ;)
When I bought my '88 Sport, the temporary tire was on the left rear. I put on a full size spare tire shortly after. I found out that I had rear end noise like bad axle bearings but the seals were not leaking. In time, I bought axle bearings w/seals and found out that the right rear shaft was grooved because of the temp tire on the left rear when I got it. I never used the temp tire after that and made sure that all of my vehicles have a full size one.
My car originally had a full-size spare with a 14" steel wheel and felt cover (dealer option?) I swapped the spare with Jim when I went up to 11" brakes and now I keep a full-size spare on a snowflake rim.
My '85 had the full size spare. It was one of only two options the car had (metallic paint being the other).
Mine came with the full size spare and cover as well. It takes up alot of space but that's okay with me.
remember front tag holders were options too!!! LOL:rollin:
I HATE donuts. I think my car would drag the ground on one now. The one in the SHO wount fit over the brakes so it is dead weight.
My car didn't have a front tag holder :raspberry
Funny thing is, they were required back then. I bought it from the original owner, and he never had it installed, and never got pulled over. Shortly after I bought it they did away with front tags here anyway, so that car had an unmolested bumper. Unfortunately my 88 had a front tag holder, as did the parts TC from which I got the front bumper cover that's on it now.
As for dragging on the ground, mine was dangerously close. It's lowered about 2-2.5" in the front and about 2" in the rear :hick:
Is there any information posted by you folks about the 11" front brake conversion? I am interested, the stock brakes on my'88 sport coupe just aren't getting the job done, and I already installed 15' wheels. Thanks for your time. The conversion I am looking for is 11" 4 lug, as I want to retain the turbine wheels I have. I searched Turbo coupe brakes and didn't fin anything.I found the info at COOLCATS. If there is anything you can add to it , it would be most appreciated. My car is my one and only daily driver, so I need to have everything ready to go for the swap.