Driving on a spare tire

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vmatador

Member
A friend of mine had to drive his FX50 on the OEM 'donut' 18" spare tire on the rear for about a week. He maintained a speed of 40 mph or less at all times and he used cruise control most of the time. He was finally able to replace it with the 21" tire but now he's concerned about any hidden or potential damage to the car. How to tell if the spare has caused any damage??
 
vmatador said:
A friend of mine had to drive his FX50 on the OEM 'donut' 18" spare tire on the rear for about a week. He maintained a speed of 40 mph or less at all times and he used cruise control most of the time. He was finally able to replace it with the 21" tire but now he's concerned about any hidden or potential damage to the car. How to tell if the spare has caused any damage??
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I doubt there any damage
 
The point of a spare is to get you to your destination safely, without having caused any sort of damage to your vehicle from using the spare.

Sent from my Android
 
Are you concerned about running 1 wheel of a different diameter than the other 3 for X amount of miles?
If so, I'm assuming the spider gear took an extra amount of abuse. This is not good, bug nor horrible. It it designed to handle some of that. As far as identifying or quantifying the amount of harm, there is no way to tell.
 
MTN FX said:
Sure it was a FRIEND with a 50 too:wink (2):---How many miles did you drive it that way:rofl:
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I was thinking the same thing. Should be:

"I had to drive his FX50 on the OEM 'donut' 18" spare tire on the rear for about a week. I maintained a speed of 40 mph or less at all times and I used cruise control most of the time. I was finally able to replace it with the 21" tire but now I'm concerned about any hidden or potential damage to the car. How to tell if the spare has caused any damage??"
 
Yeah, honestly, it was a friend but I'm as ignorant as he is when it comes to using/abusing spare tires. He got his FX50 (I have an FX50S) after he drove mine. A black FX50S was not available at the time so he settled for a black FX50.

Some other friends who own other cars talked about potential damage to the differentials, but he's not hearing any weired noises (esp. when reversing or hard stopping) and no trace of any leakage.

As for the spare's size, he just confirmed that it's 18". I just checked mine and found out that I too have a Bridgestone 18" (WTF?). The owner's manual lists T175/90d18 (60 psi) for the spare tire.

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:40 PM ----------
GOFAST24 said:
Are you sure it is a 18" spare? My 50S has a 21"? I thought the FX50 "non S" had 20" tires.
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What's the make and labeling info of your spare tire? I'd like to order/replace my 18" with a 21" just in case I get a flat... I don't like to take any chances when it comes to my FX :wink (2):
 
All spare tires on a FX are 18" wheels and is a compact. You cannot fit a full sized wheel in there unless you make some modifications.

FX's with the Akebono big brake kit come with an alloy spare tire. FX's without it come with a steel wheel spare tire. Basically, Infiniti needed to make/source a spare wheel to clear the big brake kit.

I have no idea if the big brake kit came on the FX50S only or an option for FX50 and FX35.

vmatador said:
Yeah, honestly, it was a friend but I'm as ignorant as he is when it comes to using/abusing spare tires. He got his FX50 (I have an FX50S) after he drove mine. A black FX50S was not available at the time so he settled for a black FX50.

Some other friends who own other cars talked about potential damage to the differentials, but he's not hearing any weired noises (esp. when reversing or hard stopping) and no trace of any leakage.

As for the spare's size, he just confirmed that it's 18". I just checked mine and found out that I too have a Bridgestone 18" (WTF?). The owner's manual lists T175/90d18 (60 psi) for the spare tire.

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:40 PM ----------




What's the make and labeling info of your spare tire? I'd like to order/replace my 18" with a 21" just in case I get a flat... I don't like to take any chances when it comes to my FX :wink (2):
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Mine has an 18'' too and I have the 20'' OEM rims. I was shocked when I pulled it out when I got a flat. I drove my usual speed as if it wasn’t on there for a week and had no issues. Wish they would give us a decent size spare!
 
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