Murphey laws - good news is you have a spare - Bad news is you have two flats

 

When I was in High School I borrowed my dad's 1989 Subaru for one winter.
I hit something hidden in the snow in the road that killed one of my tires.
I finally found the spare, and it was under the hood! That thing was rotted out and made it about ten feet before collapsing.
That was a crappy day.


And needless to say, a crappy place for a spare.

 

This was the spare that came with my Blazer.....

 

Ain't that a butte! Actually looks exactly like what my moms caravan has. Only good about those tires is there the right height. I have had lots of luck finding excellent full sized spars at pick n pull.

 

I make it a point to drop my spare and grease the cable at least once a year. Blew a driver rear tire on my high top full sized conversion van a few years back. was doing about 95 MPH and it disintegrated in less then a second. Luckily I didn't roll it, but it made me very tire conscious ever since.
Did find a 24' aluminum scaffold plank on the shoulder once, sold it for $100

 

Long time ago I was driving my mom's minivan for a while because I used it to move. I accidentally drove it into a curb and busted one of the tires, and when I went to drop the spare -surprise!- it was gone. Funny thing though, the cable wasn't rusted, just frayed.

Anyway, the best thing I've found on the side of the road so far was a wooden produce crate from the local grocery chain full of corn still in the husk. As it happened, we were on our way to a cookout at the time.