Thread: Spare Tyre Cover; Yay or Nay

Originally Posted by worane

I use a plain black one form auto barn. Don't like to see crooked signs on the back. It does not need any special care when putting it on.

To be honest that is a pet hate of mine.

I have one on the Defender. It makes the rear look tidy in my opinion and also protects from UV for what that's worth.

Bought from MR in Bris and it is a good fit and not difficult to get on or off.

I used one for a couple of years many years back. It was good for advertising (we had a Company back in those days), and also extremely useful for picking up bull dust and water, which after a while made an interesting mixture which I am sure would/could have been useful for something had I thought about it a bit longer.
They are handy though in the case of a flat tyre in murky country as they offer a contained dry spot to put the removed road wheel nuts during the change, and this can be pretty important especially considering the fact that LRs don't have hubcaps fitted for just this purpose.
As a down side I feel that the tyre being covered neatly out of sight (no one really recognises what that big round vinyl bag covers apparently) it tends to put the spare subconsciously out of sight and mind when tyre pressure checks/top ups come into play.
In my mind they really don't serve any real useful purpose at all apart from making ones pride and joy look more attractive, and really, with a recreational 4x4, isn't that the whole point?
Regards
Glen

I put a couple of brand-new spares on the rear of the vehicle prior to a trip a few years back, I bought a couple of $5 vinyl tyre covers so that there wasn't such an obvious temptation for thieves. Too easy to steal $450 worth of tyres without even having to jack up the vehicle, best out of sight. They also got full of that muddy bulldust mixture that ZD mentioned, would have been much cleaner changing a tyre without the cover.

I'm like others and won't have adverts or silly signs on the back of my vehicle. Apart of course for my message re the seller of our van and his crap service.
I rotate all 5 tyres in the pattern recommended by BFG....I think.... and that ensures the wear over all 5 so if I want to change brands at least I won't have one still not worn.
AlanH.

No i don't have one, simply because car never had one on when i purchased it, and never thought about it....

I have one as it was on both my disco's when I got them. The one on my D1 is now gone as it became brittle on the top. My D2 has a dealer ad on it but it is keeping the UV's off the tyres.

I will be going to bigger tyres soon so it wont fit, but I will be after another, mainly for the purpose of UV damage. Had not thought about the theft issue, but it does make good sense.

I am hoping Dave might do another run of AULRO ones.

None of my covers will fit my 245/75/16 tyres. And in previous experience they used to fill up with crud and leaves, which would rot.