Couple of FWIW's
- Summer 2016: Snatch and tow in Los Anchorage (in-law locked keys in car): $225 to winch onto flatbed and drive across town (maybe 30 minutes all told)
- Summer 2011? 2012? Flat on Jeep Cherokee around Tok area. Subsequent flat on spare just a little further around Tok area. No right size spares in Tok. Fix-a-flat on the spare (a newer tire overall) and pump up with small 12v compressor. Repeat 2-3 times on the way to Glennallen. No right size spares in Glennallen. Repeat pumping exercise 2-3 times back to Palmer. Trip cut short based on tire problems. Granted, unusual to have two flats immediately but...
- 2014: Bad driving (ahem) puts pickup in soft snow on the side of the road near Homer. $175 trip fee for wrecker, $150 snatch cost, and $250 if towed back to Homer. I decide I can live with the bent panel until I get to Anchorage...but the better part of a day is lost chasing down and waiting for wrecker service for the snatch.
Point is that if you have tire problems, the money that might have been spent to get new ones will be quickly overshadowed by the cost (certainly if one needs to be towed) and the time / frustration (certainly) if you can't fix the problem with a simple spare/wheel swap. And all of the above (surprisingly for the Tok exercise) happened in good cell coverage. The balance of the time/frustation problems gets further skewed if one is not in good cell coverage.
