[nwh]

I'm seeing a lot of comments in this thread about how we should "be prepared" but not many about how to become prepared! I'm a noob first-time car owner and I would love some advice on the exact equipment I should arm myself with. I don't think a spare is in my future, but the ability to plug holes would be nice.

 

[EBS]

If you would like to be able to plug nail hole on tire, then you could buy plug kit at your favorite auto store, including Walmart. It consists of, normally, one plug driver, one rubber sander, the rubber plug, and rubber cement. You should need to check once a year to make sure the rubber and the cement are still good.
Then you would need air pump. I strongly suggest electric air pump. You don't want manual air pump the good one would cost a little bit more, but it's normally worth the price and avoiding frustration when the need comes.
How would you do the plug? You can search on YouTube. Or you can ask one of your friends. Then you can practice.
I did it by myself years after I had watched a guy fixing a tire at the shop. And I brave myself doing so just by following common sense.

 

[msavides]

I got a flat about 2 mins from home. a semi truck wheel weight went right through the tire. I was able to get to my driveway when the tire went completely flat. Jacked up the car pulled the wheel off and found a big hole. to big for self sealing to fix. I found my plugs and put 2 of them in. aired the tire back up. put the tire in water and there was not leak. made an appointment at les swaub tires. they charged me $40 to put a patch on the inside of the tire. The said they had to charge more cause there is a liner in there that they have to deal with in order to patch the hole.

I always felt plugs were temporary, although I have driver years with a plugged tire, but the fact I had to put 2 in there to seal the hole did not sit well with me.

I tired to look for a replacement tire. At the time nobody had them in stock and they were on back order everywhere for 3 months.

 

[GB74]

Arstechnica.com Can we please just go back to using smaller wheels and tires?
Ionic 5 right rear tire sidewall hole in the tire from curb. A bit like my right rear a couple weeks ago.

 

[Lets Bolt]

I did a test run today. Now I know everything worked at least 1 time.

 

[Packard V8]

Arstechnica.com Can we please just go back to using smaller wheels and tires?

FWIW, back in another life in another century, I was a tire store service manager when tires first began to go upsize. We soon learned when a muscle car would come in to replace the then-new larger tires, we'd first chat up the customer, "How do you like those tires? Do they make the car handle better? Better traction?" We wanted them to be on record as to the benefits of the larger tires, because when they heard the concomitantly larger replacement cost, they'd "squeal like a stuck hawg," as my southern dialect would say.

Today, soccer-mom-CUVs have much larger tires than muscle cars of last century. As long as customers buy curb appeal without understanding there's no room for a spare, replacement cost is more and mounting/balancing costs more, serves them right.

jack vines

 

[EBS]

FWIW, back in another life in another century, I was a tire store service manager when tires first began to go upsize. We soon learned when a muscle car would come in to replace the then-new larger tires, we'd first chat up the customer, "How do you like those tires? Do they make the car handle better? Better traction?" We wanted them to be on record as to the benefits of the larger tires, because when they heard the concomitantly larger replacement cost, they'd "squeal like a stuck hawg," as my southern dialect would say.

Today, soccer-mom-CUVs have much larger tires than muscle cars of last century. As long as customers buy curb appeal without understanding there's no room for a spare, replacement cost is more and mounting/balancing costs more, serves them right.

jack vines

And we all fall victims of the GM design

 

[Boltman]

From the Michellin site: *Up to ¼” diameter with a loss of less than 15 PSI per week.
So it is not a permanent seal??

 

[grassmann]

Just waiting on the tire bag to arrive then the spare setup will be complete. Looking at around $265+tax. Sorry the pic was an after
thought.
Ebay Spare 125/70/16
Scissor jack ADT-7459
Husky 18" breaker bar and 19mm socket
2 Rhino chocks
Work Gloves
2 reflective safety triangles
Tire bag
View attachment 58990

Thanks for the parts breakdown. I think a lot of folks are looking for this post response.

 

[mmichal3]

Last night I received an email telling me that I had a flat tire. I didn't get too upset about it so I thought I would just take a look at it in the morning. I went out to tackle the job this morning feeling very confident I would get it accomplished using my GM inflator kit. Well lo and behold the hole from the screw was too big to be repaired by the inflator kit.

What do I do next it.....looks like it's time to drop back 10 and kick a pass? Since the car didn't come with a jack, a compact spare or even a lug wrench, I figured I'd call my local Chevrolet dealer to see if they had any of them. Well, truck out on that deal and they don't even have the full size tire for the 2023 Bolt EUV that I drive which in fact has two different tires available for this car. One costs about $150 more then the other for whatever reason I don't know? Thank God I didn't continue my initial subscription to OnStar because obviously they wouldn't be able to help me out in this situation.

Well maybe when my wife gets home with her 2022 Subaru Forester that I believe has a tire jack and a lug wrench that just might so happen to fit my car I will be able to tackle this problem. If those goals are achieved and I can get the wheel off I can run it down to my local tire repair shop and hope they can get it fixed like they did with her tire about a year ago. Should none of this be achievable I won't even be able to call AAA since no Chevy dealers have any compact spares, full size tires, jacks or even lug wrenches for sale to help me out of this predicament. If none of this is achievable then quite frankly I might just blow a fuse or maybe I will blow the fuse before that by venting on GM and telling them how phucced up they are by leaving the average consumer like me in this kind of a foxhole.

GM inflator kit on a 2023 Bolt EUV? That's news to me. I do however keep an inflator in my vehicle. It's one of those m12 rechargable inflators from Milwaukee. I also keep a spare tire that I got off Craig's list (same size as the bolt uses) on a steel rim. Cost be 20 bucks for the tire and 80 for the rim. I take it on long trips, but around town I leave it at home because I can just call someone to bring it out to me.

 

[mmichal3]

Many on here have prepared in advance for just what you've experienced, by purchasing and (maybe) carrying a plug kit, jack, compact spare, full-sized spare and/or patching instructions from the tire manufacturer (for a tire shop reluctant to tackle repairing a goop-covered tire interior).

I picked up a cosmetically damaged (and irreparable, but serviceable) full-sized OEM wheel and tire from a crashed Bolt, for $50 from a repair shop. It lives at my house. I've used it once already, for a road-hazard-induced blowout.

I hate to step on toes here, but don't blame GM for a very common event that you weren't properly prepared to remedy. There's plenty of info here that could have helped with adequate advanced preparations.

I have to agree. It's not like he didn't all know, or at least SHOULD have known that the car didn't have a spare. We chose to buy it anyway.

 

[mmichal3]

The only thing I'm blaming GM for is a fact that they do not have the OEM equipment that I need. I don't want to buy inferior aftermarket products and I'm sure you don't either since you own a Tesla, BMW and a Rivian. Just can't understand what you would be doing with a Bolt?

In that case, call Onstar, have it towed to the dealer and rent a car until it's done. There are rental car companies that will even pick up and drop off the car. If you want to throw money at it, it's totally convenient. And that's pretty much how I read wanting to buy simple things like a jack or lug wrench or a replacement tire from the stealership. In addition to the tire I recommend buying a tube of lube, because your going to need it when the bill comes.

 

[cconklin1]

GM inflator kit on a 2023 Bolt EUV? That's news to me. I do however keep an inflator in my vehicle. It's one of those m12 rechargable inflators from Milwaukee. I also keep a spare tire that I got off Craig's list (same size as the bolt uses) on a steel rim. Cost be 20 bucks for the tire and 80 for the rim. I take it on long trips, but around town I leave it at home because I can just call someone to bring it out to me.

your idea makes the most sense to me versus all these other people loading up their car for the unlikely event of needing a spare.

 

[jrfk2]

Just waiting on the tire bag to arrive then the spare setup will be complete. Looking at around $265+tax. Sorry the pic was an after
thought.
Ebay Spare 125/70/16
Scissor jack ADT-7459
Husky 18" breaker bar and 19mm socket
2 Rhino chocks
Work Gloves
2 reflective safety triangles
Tire bag

Will any spare 125/70/16 work? Or only ones for certain brands/cars? I want to be sure those holes line up!

 

[Lets Bolt]

Wheel bolt pattern needs to be 5x105

 

[GB74]

Will any spare 125/70/16 work? Or only ones for certain brands/cars? I want to be sure those holes line up!

Spares from similar Chevy cars with the 5x105 PCD (Pitch Circle Diameter) and Offset.

2011-2015 Chevy Cruze 16x4 compact spare, steel wheel, 5x105mm
2011-2015 Chevy Sonic - Chevrolet Sonic - Specs of rims, tires, PCD, offset for each year and generation
2013-2023 Chevrolet Trax Compact Donut - Chevrolet Trax - Specs of rims, tires, PCD, offset for each year and generation

Volt Spare Tire Guide - https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/volt-spare-tire-guide.48058/
Bolt EV Spare Tire FAQ - https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/bolt-ev-spare-tire-faq.299401/

 

[jrfk2]

Spares from similar Chevy cars with the 5x105 PCD (Pitch Circle Diameter) and Offset.

2011-2015 Chevy Cruze 16x4 compact spare, steel wheel, 5x105mm
2011-2015 Chevy Sonic - Chevrolet Sonic - Specs of rims, tires, PCD, offset for each year and generation
2013-2023 Chevrolet Trax Compact Donut - Chevrolet Trax - Specs of rims, tires, PCD, offset for each year and generation

Volt Spare Tire Guide - https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/volt-spare-tire-guide.48058/
Bolt EV Spare Tire FAQ - https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/bolt-ev-spare-tire-faq.299401/

Took a drive to the local auto salvage place and in like the second to last cruze found a nice spare with no visible rust .. was hoping to also get the jack kit with it but apparently they don't leave those in the cars so people don't hurt themselves. Will poke around online a bit to see if anyone has just the jack kit, unless there is another "generic" one that would work as well ..

 

[rsteinbr]

From Amazon I got this jack and lugnut wrench for $25 and $17: 'BIG RED T10152 Torin Steel Scissor Lift Jack Car Kit, 1.5 Ton (3,000 lb) Capacity' and 'EPAuto Telescoping Lug Wrench, Wheel Wrench with Sockets (17/19, 21/22mm)'. In the picture you can see how they fit in the lower compartment. The quality of both was good. I also got a Cruze spare from a junkyard which had never been used.

 

[Cedarshoot]

Here‘s another example.

 

[bisco]

From Amazon I got this jack and lugnut wrench for $25 and $17: 'BIG RED T10152 Torin Steel Scissor Lift Jack Car Kit, 1.5 Ton (3,000 lb) Capacity' and 'EPAuto Telescoping Lug Wrench, Wheel Wrench with Sockets (17/19, 21/22mm)'. In the picture you can see how they fit in the lower compartment. The quality of both was good. I also got a Cruze spare from a junkyard which had never been used. View attachment 64071

looks great, did you test it, and do you have a link?
thanks!