Spare tire covers

[Trigganometry]

Like the title says. Anyone use these before and how effective are they at keeping the dirt out and help reduce rust and salt buildup?

https://spareprotector.com/

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[TomC]

no access to check proper inflation, is there?

 

[Fawnbuster]

Interesting concept, kinda pricey, I wonder if a guy could fashion their own with a plastic snow saucer sled?

 

[Trigganometry]

no access to check proper inflation, is there?

Nothing a properly placed hole and rubber grommet can’t fix

 

[AzScorpion]

Like the title says. Anyone use these before and how effective are they at keeping the dirt out and help reduce rust and salt buildup?

https://spareprotector.com/

Hi Rick, I'm originally from W'MA and always had F 150's We use to tow snowmobiles up to Northern Maine and Canada every winter and have never had any issues with rust or salt buildup. Once back I would always go through the self serve car wash with the wands and clean everything off good including the spare. I've had flats and never had any problems getting the spare tire down. Might want to just save your money and try and rinse it down once in a while.

 

[Trigganometry]

Hi Rick, I'm originally from W'MA and always had F 150's We use to tow snowmobiles up to Northern Maine and Canada every winter and have never had any issues with rust or salt buildup. Once back I would always go through the self serve car wash with the wands and clean everything off good including the spare. I've had flats and never had any problems getting the spare tire down. Might want to just save your money and try and rinse it down once in a while.

Thanks for the suggestion. My 97 Ranger had the hasp that kept the spare in place rust away. Almost dropped the tire once so always since then have been a ‘keeping an eye on this’ type of situation. I had steel rims on that spare and that also rusted pretty heavily. My real concern is keeping the mechanism that works the cable clean and rust free. Seems to be the weakest link in the present setup and a cover would certainly help in that regard. Being an engineer myself I try to be proactive when I can!

 

[AzScorpion]

Thanks for the suggestion. My 97 Ranger had the hasp that kept the spare in place rust away. Almost dropped the tire once so always since then have been a ‘keeping an eye on this’ type of situation. I had steel rims on that spare and that also rusted pretty heavily. My real concern is keeping the mechanism that works the cable clean and rust free. Seems to be the weakest link in the present setup and a cover would certainly help in that regard. Being an engineer myself I try to be proactive when I can!

I agree in that I like to be proactive with stuff and my OCD gets the best of me at times too. But I'm also cheap frugal and don't like spending money unless needed. The cover is a good feature but I would probably just lower the spare every spring and clean the area good and lube everything up including the wheel. But some don't want to be bothered or have time for it and the cover then makes perfect sense.

 

[FoD]

I agree in that I like to be proactive with stuff and my OCD gets the best of me at times too. But I'm also cheap frugal and don't like spending money unless needed. The cover is a good feature but I would probably just lower the spare every spring and clean the area good and lube everything up including the wheel. But some don't want to be bothered or have time for it and the cover then makes perfect sense.

Didn't you once say that you kept it covered up with a 55 gal trash bag??

 

[r1ch999999]

I haven’t considered anything for the spare. I can tell you it’s sucks being without one, I used to get so much condensation in the trunk of my Z34 that it would literally rain. My jack rusted through. After that I moved it out of the spare well and drilled a hole through the floor.

 

[Lucky2013]

This cover makes NO sense to me at all !

Dirt and debris will be for sure collected in the cover ! It does not change anything how the spare tire is attached !!! On top it creates a nice nesting area for rodents !

Most spare tires are neglected to the moment they are needed ! Most people don't even know where there tools are stored, how to lower the spare tire... after they figured that out they learn that there is no air in the spare tire because nobody ever checked the air...

As mentioned above: Preventive maintenance is the best thing to do !!!

Lower your spare tire at least once per year, check the air and fill the tire to max air pressure ! Clean the spare tire, check and lube the mechanism which raises and lowers the tire !

Don't think that the mechanic shop or tire shop do that for you !

Out of my experience as tow truck driver I can tell you that the spare tire is the most neglected part of every vehicle. Never forget that cell phones don't work everywhere. Road Side Service goes maximum 100 feet of the paved road. And tow trucks might be busy with priority calls and you might wait a long time before you get help !

 

[Traneman]

Snow., salt, and sand is still going get above the spare and collect in the "pan" and I think that's a higher risk of rust.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

“Borrow” one of those elasticized Naugahyde spare tire covers from the next YJ or RAV4 you come across and call it done.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I contacted the company that makes this cover to ask if they planned on including an access port for checking tire pressure in future models or if they had anything to help seal the gaps at the tire/bed interface so debris couldn’t get up inside.

It’s a ”No” on the valve access and I was told some of their customers place a vinyl cover on the tire with a slit cut in the top...

I didn’t tell them that an extra vinyl cover on the bottom makes their product a bit unnecessary.

 

[Mach-1]

Thanks for the suggestion. My 97 Ranger had the hasp that kept the spare in place rust away. Almost dropped the tire once so always since then have been a ‘keeping an eye on this’ type of situation. I had steel rims on that spare and that also rusted pretty heavily. My real concern is keeping the mechanism that works the cable clean and rust free. Seems to be the weakest link in the present setup and a cover would certainly help in that regard. Being an engineer myself I try to be proactive when I can!

Had the same issue with my 97 Ranger. The spare was so brutally rusted on, I could hardly get it down when I needed it. What I do with my new Ranger is crank the spare down and clean it and lubricate chain mechanism every time I change the oil. I clean and lubricate the key lock thing too. So many of those get seized up and quit working. I want to make sure everything works if I end up needed it!

I would rather just clean and service it for free than spend $$$ on a spare cover.

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