If you find yourself changing a flat tire on the side of the road, you might be asking yourself: how long can you drive on a spare tire? Well, the answer to that question depends on a few different factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most important variable when it comes to how long you can drive on a spare tire is what kind of spare tire you\u2019re using. Is it a full-size spare or a \u201cdonut\u201d? Depending on the answer, your mileage may vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most cars come with what is referred to as a space saver or \u201cdonut\u201d spare tire. These are narrow, compact tires designed to fit in smaller spaces and not weigh down the vehicle. The donut spare tire is meant to be used as such: sparingly. These tires are not built to nearly the same standards of durability as a regular tire. They have little to no tread and much thinner walls, making them significantly more vulnerable to wear and tear than standard tires. These tires are also significantly smaller than standard tires, meaning they have to spin faster to keep up with the other three wheels, accelerating their wear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the specific use recommendations for your car\u2019s spare, you can reference your owner\u2019s manual. Otherwise, generally speaking, you should not drive on a donut spare for more than 70 miles and at speeds no faster than 50 MPH. Basically, long enough to drive yourself, at a reasonable speed, to the nearest tire shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because they\u2019re heavier and larger, not many cars carry a full size spare, but a few older model (and some newer model) trucks, SUVs and other large vehicles are sometimes equipped with a well that can carry a full-size spare tire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether you\u2019re using a full-size spare because your car carries one, or you happen to otherwise have one you can use, a full-size spare tire is the next best thing to a new tire. They\u2019re more durable and sturdy, but still not a perfect replacement for a new tire. While you can likely get more miles and a better driving experience out of a full-size spare, you should still plan to replace the spare with a new tire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As mentioned above, how far you can drive on a spare tire has to do with what kind of spare tire you drive on. A donut spare will get you a limited distance, and a full-size spare will get you a little farther.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it might be tempting to push your spare to its limits and postpone the hefty cost of a new tire, keep in mind that the total lifespan for your spare is short, and could be even shorter than the generalizations made above, especially if you\u2019ve used the tire before. Running down your spare, whether it\u2019s a donut or a full-size, just means you\u2019ll eventually be replacing two tires instead of one. It\u2019s better to keep your use of the spare brief and infrequent so you that you can have it for additional emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, how fast you can drive on a spare tire depends on what kind of spare tire you\u2019re driving on. As with distance, it\u2019s a good rule of thumb to limit your speed when driving on a spare tire, just so that you don\u2019t cause additional wear and tear on the spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless of what kind of spare tire you\u2019re using, and how previously used (or unused) the spare is, if you\u2019re asking yourself how long you can drive on a spare tire, it\u2019s probably best not to speculate and focus instead on switching the spare out with a tire as soon as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you find yourself changing a flat tire on the side of the road, you might be asking yourself: how long can you drive on a spare tire? Well, the answer to that question depends on a few different factors. The most important variable when it comes to how long you can drive on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",1732,1154,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"thumblist":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",300,200,false],"meccarouselthumb":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",474,316,false],"gridsquare":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",391,260,false],"tileview":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",300,200,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",1732,1154,false],"gg_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",375,250,false],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",300,200,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",400,267,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",600,400,false],"img-480x285":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",428,285,false],"img-340x132":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",198,132,false],"img-140x130":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",140,93,false],"img-90x128":["https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/AdobeStock_309119826.jpg",90,60,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Bryan Wieczorek","author_link":"https:\/\/www.schaeferautobody.com\/author\/bryan\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"If you find yourself changing a flat tire on the side of the road, you might be asking yourself: how long can you drive on a spare tire? Well, the answer to that question depends on a few different factors. The most important variable when it comes to how long you can drive on a…","aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t