Really? Are you kidding me?!?!? It looks like a cheesy air compressor with a can of fixaflat attached to it.
And that is exactly what it is! One hose for the sealant, the other for the air to pump it up afterward. The warnings even after a successful repair are dire. Do not remove nail or whatever is in the tire. Drive 4 miles. Check pressure. If ok, do not drive over 50 miles per hour. Do not drive more than 120 miles on repair.
There was a time where if you could figure this sticker out on the inside of your trunk lid you could go about your business with a short delay.
I just happened to have a spare decal for scanning from the 1966 Mustang.
Beat the hub cap back on and ta-da! On the road again!
I really wanted to get angry about this then it hit me. The trunks of Mustangs has always been a bit less than roomy. Throw a spare tire in it and it gets worse.
This is the 1966 trunk.
This is the 1971 trunk. It sports the original spare! It has never been in service.
I could probably Ebay this thing off for a kabillion dollars for the people that want to have all the points at the Mustang Club of America shows, but I never got into that. If you cannot drive it, it's in a trailer and dusted before the show, what good is it really?
Oh, I digress. Sorry about that! The happy space saver tire made it's apperance on Mustangs in the late 60's.
A can of compressed air and a tire. It appears to some extent history does repeat itself!
Keads, the REAL problem is people today have NO idea how to actually CHANGE a tire... sigh... All they know how to do is call a tow truck!
ReplyDeleteTrue that NFO!
DeleteSo ... they want you to pay a gazillion bucks for a new 'Stang, and it doesn't even have a spare tire? For that kind of money, they can darn well include a compact spare - I don't care HOW nifty the can of Fix-A-Flat is.
ReplyDeleteAhhh. The line is that the standard spare wheel will not fit over the Brembo brake calipers on the front wheels. I'm not buying it.
DeleteI predict that will last just as long as the toy tires did.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteHeh. I actually had to change my tire about a month ago. My Scion XB comes with a donut. Turns out it was a nail, of course...
ReplyDeleteBut a compressor with f/a/f? No, thanks. That's a little less than reassuring.
I agree with you on the show car. If you're not driving it, what fun is it?
It is a bit underwhelming.
DeleteIf that's the original spare, it's not a spare you can use and your old Mustang has no real spare, either. Rubber is a fairly volatile substance, and that old tire very likely would fail dramatically if you tried to drive on it.
ReplyDeleteIf your tires are more than 6-7 years old, you might want to google "old spare tire" and look at some of the results. Here's one, speaking specifically about antique cars and older tires that haven't been driven much. It includes information how read the manufacturing codes and determine the date a tire was made. http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm
I learned this when I put on a "new" full sized spare tire that had been in the car for over a decade. It delaminated in about 40 miles. It was a pucker moment, although I did maintain control of the car.
That tire is too old to drive on. Anything over 6-7 years old is prone to failure. I found out the hard way. Put what looked like a new spare tire on, although I knew it had to be over a decade old. It delaminated in about 40 miles. We didn't have an accident, but it was a scary moment. Here's a link talking about tires on antique cars. It includes information on reading the manufacturing codes so you know how old your tires actually are. Do a google search for "old spare tire" and see what you find.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm
I know the tire would never be serviceable now. I am just saying for the Show Car circuit people this spare would have value just for show.
DeleteThat it would, and I totally agree with you on the concept of, "If you can't drive it, can't enjoy and appreciate it for what it was designed to be, what's the point?"
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about firearms. Once you start collecting them as artifacts that can't be shot, you might as well be collecting stamps or glass figurines.
I concur Sir!
Delete