Thats a good rule of thumb.

BUT,

Ya gotta carry a spare and/or have a AAA club card to make it work.

 

with a plug in many many years.

 

Personally I removed my spare on my corvette.I have free towing through my insurance-its worth it!Who would want to get out of their corvette,with nice clothes on,get on knees or back to get at spare tire,install spare & hoping you lugs nuts come off without breaking or scratching car with tire iron,hope car jack works properly & vehicle don't shift causing jack to break &/or damage underbody,put dirty/flat tire in rear compartment(possibly scratching rear of car & getting carpet dirty),get back in vehicle with dirty clothes & hands,touch leather steering wheel with greasy hands,clothes probley stained by now-in long run cheaper to pay alittle extra per month or have someone you know with free towing come to you & use his/hers free towing.

 

I have pluged truck tires ,car tires,4 wheeler tires for years with no problems until the tread depth getts real low then they start leaking on me.
I have a plug in my goodyear eagle F1 GS-D3's right now no problem.

 

I use plugs, no problems so far-- 40+yrs

 

AAA is only $60 a year in my area

 

Hmmm. Guess I changed so many spares when I was a young kid that it's just a no-brainer any more, but I can't figure out why a healthy Vette owner would ever call an auto club for a flat or even a jump.

When I started buying new cars I started putting a tire change kit in the back consisting of a disposable Tyvek jumpsuit (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4T048) , a pair of old split-leather work gloves, a 12" square of 3/4" plywood (for under the jack on unpaved surfaces) a stocking cap (hey, it's Wisconsin!) and, in the wife's minivan, a giant plastic bag to hold the flat tire, because it won't fit back in the tire well (stupid space saver spares, grrr). We get the plastic bags from the Honda dealer for free. If you don't want to put together such a kit yourself, you can buy them: http://www.bavauto.com/fland.asp?par...source=ET00002 My wife's minivan also gets a Gorilla wrench (http://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Automo...4975649&sr=8-1 ) because she's not really built to remove lug nuts with her arms--but she can easily do it by standing on the longer arm of the Gorilla wrench, even in heels! (Just make sure she knows "righty tighty, lefty loosy" because that Gorilla wrench can strip a lug nut faster than a Wal-Mart mechanic with an impact driver.)

Also, I make sure my auto techs always torque the lug nuts properly instead of maxing them out. Too much torque warps disc rotors and sometimes wheels, can strip threads and pull studs--and I've seen ALL of that happen! Appropriate periodic wheel balances, brake inspections, and tire rotations (if you're into that--I'm not) ensure lug nuts are not rusted on and are removable.

With a little extra care, it's really hard for you to accidentally scratch a car with a tire or even a tire iron (at least in my experience). On the other hand, the towtruck/flatbed operator or AAA tech isn't going to exercise any extra care--your car is just a job to be done to him. It's not his car, and he's often just as put out about having to change your flat as you are. So there's a fair likelihood your Corvette will be damaged somehow by the auto club guy.

Half the time AAA will want to change or repair the tire for you by the side of the road which doesn't really save you much aggravation except for the dirty hands/clothes. If the AAA guy doesn't "get" your Vette (let's face it, these guys probably rescue a Vette once in a blue moon, and Vette's aren't your average sedan or SUV), you may end up getting your hands/clothese dirty helping him or pointing things out. Once he's done, you may still have to get the flat repaired anyway.

You're definitely not going to save any time--you'll have a 45-minute wait in potentially dangerous road conditions for the guy to show up another 15 minutes for you to show him where all the tools, lug key and spare are located and for him to figure out how to remove the spare splash cover and crank down the spare (that is if you haven't removed your spare) and then find the proper jack points (which he may not even use--again my experience!). Then there's 10 minutes for him to change the tire, and stow the flat and tools. Unless you're in Punxatawny, PA on Groundhog Day, I'd be really surprised if you get a tire changed in ideal conditions in under an hour. More likely you'll get a flat at 11:30pm with the "road patrol" out on some other call and it'll take 2 hours or more to get you done. I've heard this story several times.

Depending on the weather and who's available, they might just want to tow (just say "no" to tow--read your owner's manual) or flatbed you. Every time my cars/trucks have been towed or flatbedded they've either sustained damage or I've stopped the operator from damaging the car. Talk to BMW guys about that--I've never met a long-time Bimmer owner who didn't have a towing story. Vette guys not so much because most Vette guys seem to handle their own rescue. Once your car gets to a service station, you've no guarantee it won't be damaged during unloading--chances are Mr. Road Patrol wants to drop you as hastily as possible so he can get to the the two calls he got while trying to drag your low-slung, flat-tired Vette onto the flatbed before you noticing that the winch cable is tearing off your air dam. Now, Goober, the night-shift "tech" (using the word loosely) gets his chance to damage your Vette, do a poor repair and/or cheat you.

On the other hand, I can change a tire in well under 20 minutes in almost any conditions including snow (okay, so I'm experienced, but my wife can do it in about 20-25 minutes) without getting dirty or damaging anything. The next day, at my convenience, I take the flat to my trusted shop and rest assured they'll repair it properly (dismount, inspect and patch-plug) at a fair price and (if I want) remount it to the car free of charge and without damaging anything.

The last time I did this was with my pickup truck in a Home Depot parking lot and it took me an unhurried 10 minutes under, admittedly, ideal circumstances.

For safety, three rules I always observe:

1) Before jacking set up your work area for safety:
A) Set the parking brake and transmission (Reverse or Park) and chock both sides of at least one wheel on the axle that will remain on the ground. B) Remove any wheel trim and loosen all of the flat's lug nuts 1 turn. C) Get out the the spare and place it to one side of the flat within arm's reach. D) Properly identify the jacking location and place the jack.

2) NEVER, under ANY circumstances put ANY part of your body under the vehicle while it's on a jack. Always put a lug nut on the topmost stud immediately upon placing the spare on the hub so that if the car should fall it won't snap the wheel down on you (unlikely in any event).

With these two rules it's very difficult for a healthy person with a little common sense to get hurt beyond a skinned knuckle.

3) Before you remove the flat, jack the car up far enough to be able to install the spare, which will be larger in diameter than the flat if you have a full-size spare. That way you don't have to jack the car with no wheel on the axle. But don't jack it too high--you don't want have to lift the spare any higher than necessary.

I know people who just don't have the "spare tire changing DNA." In that case, trusting your car (and your safety) to AAA may be your best bet.

 

that only includes a limited number (1 or 2 a year?) of very short mileage (under 3 miles I think) tows.

You need to upgrade to the higher price package to get more/longer distance tows included.

 

I haven't seen any mention of tubes. Or are tubes not an option in these style tires? The pressure sensors would have to go, but mine are all gone already anyway.

 

True, but if you need your `Vette towed more than twice a year, you are either very unlucky or you need a better car

 

that could be, but a 3 mile limit won't get you very far.

After the 3 miles that are 'free' it's per mile, so even for once or twice a year, the 100 mile 'package' is much more logical!

 

Not since the 50's dude! unless you had a '74 Triumph TR6 (ask me how I know LOL)