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Be honest, how often do you check the spare tire on your car? Most of us don’t even think about the spare, until we need it on the side of the road. The spare tire is a crucial piece of safety equipment on your ride, and should be checked regularly.

To start, make sure it has the right amount of air pressure. Find out the right amount of pressure, and check it monthly. Do you think monthly is too much? According to Discount Tire, “tires lose pressure each day, through the process of permeation. In cool weather, a tire will typically lose one or two pounds of air per month. In warm weather, it’s common for tires to lose air at an even higher rate.” One or two pounds a month might not sound like much. But when a tire loses two pounds a month, and you don’t check the pressure for an entire year, that means it’s lost 24 pounds of pressure. If it only holds 35 pounds to begin with, your now flat spare won’t do you much good.

If you have a full size spare, make sure to rotate the spare in every time you rotate tires. This will keep your spare fresh and help to prevent dry rotting. If you’re not able to rotate it in, perform a visual inspection looking for dry rotting or any other abrasions. If the tire is held under the car with a wire rope, look for chafing on the wire rope so you don’t lose your spare going down the highway.

Just remember that a few minutes of maintenance can save you hours of agony later!

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All photos courtesy of WonderHowTo.