GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I went to check the air in the spare yesterday and.... lolwut?


Sometime over the summer, the spare just ripped itself apart. A Firestone tire self-destructing - who knew? It was made in week 36 of 2002, never been driven on though I did install it a few times to help with rotations. Somehow it still had 30 PSI in it. I have no idea what happened here, friggin' weird. Whatever the cause, I'm thankful it happened in the spare tire well rather than on the road.

Now I have to source a T125/70r16 tire, but so far the only one that looks readily available is a rather pricey Continental. At $114, Discount Tire seems to have the best price thus far. Does anyone know of an alternate option?

I suppose the moral of this story is that tires do indeed have a finite lifespan.

WOW !!!! If that isn't a wake up call on this topic, then I don't know what is! Will have to inspect the spare in my 2004 Vibe GT (which I'm sure is original) and get it replaced as a precaution. Possibly have the 2009 Vibe GT spare replaced also. Interesting though that my wife's newer 2024 Corrolla Cross Hybrid does NOT have a spare due to the rear electric motor wiring running through the trunk/hatch area where a spare (available on non-hybrid models) is located. Thanks for sharing this vital info. Also thanks for sticking around all these years and keep contributing content here where possible

Geez. Like you said glad it was in the spare tire well and not on the road.

I used to be pretty good about checking my spares a couple of times a year but I've slipped the past couple of years. I need to check all of them this week. Years ago I was outside and heard a loud "bang", I went to investigate and found the spare tire cover from my 5th wheel on the ground 10 feet away from the spare. The tire still had nubs and had never been on the ground but the tread was split wide open.

I personally haven't had this happen, but someone I know had a similar situation. Old tire that was never used and one day just went POP, and had a big ol' nip on it. Definitely nice when you're not driving on it. That's also why iiifff I have ever had to run the spare, I put it on the rear since it isn't one of the steering tires.

crazy that the tire popped like that. Unfortunate too that tires that size are hard to cone by.

my only experience with a donut spare was that I didn't check the pressure before putting it on, and it was out of air, when i lowered the car onto it, it slipped the bead off the rim, and that is not something you can fix with a 12V compressor on the side of the road, so even it is not as monstrous as CPs, still check the pressure before using