So I drive a 2023 ford bronco sport big bend. I’m about 350 miles from home and tomorrow is thanksgiving so nothing will be open. Heading home on Saturday morning. Ran over a huge pot hole right before arriving at the campground we’re staying at and it appears the front right tire is leaking air. I’ve filled it back up and it deflates over the course of about half an hour down to 20 and so on. Have not seen it completely deflate yet but I assume it will.
I have the tow package that supposedly comes with a full sized spare. Should I put on the spare and see about getting it fixed on Friday? Or will the full sized spare safetly get me home and fix it then? Any advice would be appreciated. I’ve seen people saying you can drive normally with one and others say only about 100 miles so I’m kind of lost here.
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If it’s truly a full size spare that’s a regular tire, you can drive on it like a normal tire. The only urgency would be because you’re using your spare, you no longer have a spare if something happens to one of your installed tires.
If it’s not full size, the size will be different and there should be pretty prominent markings on the sidewall of the tire saying something like “For temporary use only” and may even have a max speed/distance limit on it too. Usually they’re around 55mph and 100 miles or so.
Just checked. It’s the same tire as the other 3. It is just a steel rim though. Does that make any difference?
Nope. The wheel doesn’t really impact. It’s mostly cosmetic. I suppose if you’re really pushing the limits of the car you could argue the weight of a steel wheel compared to an alloy wheel has some impact. But that’s only going to apply to something like 1% of owners, if even that much.
Checking your owner’s manual will be best, it will probably set you straight.
That said though, take a good look at the spare when you put it on. If it says anything like “for temporary/emergency use only” then you’ll have your answer. It used to be a full-size spare would be identical to the other wheels on your vehicle, and when you got your tires rotated that the spare would get put on and used normally. Full-size spares are so rare these days though that I wouldn’t take it for granted.
Also! Even if it is good to run full distance, it will be difficult to correctly tighten it without a torque wrench. Your owner’s manual will probably mention something about this - it might recommend visiting a shop to get them to tighten the wheel lugs after you mount the spare. I dunno what a shop would charge for that.