Camco 45343 Spare Tire Cover, Arctic White 29-3/4 in

The Camco 45343 is a solid vinyl spare tire cover cut for 29-3/4 inch diameter tires and finished in clean Arctic White. If you've got a spare mounted on the back of your travel trailer, motorhome, or fifth wheel, this is the cover that keeps the weather off it. Sun, rain, road grime, all of it. A spare that stays covered simply lasts longer than one left to bake in the sun season after season.

Here's the thing most folks don't think about until it's too late. Your spare tire isn't rolling, so it isn't wearing down the way your road tires do. But it's still aging. UV light is what really kills an idle tire, drying out the rubber and setting up the cracks along the sidewall that turn a good-looking spare into one you don't trust when you actually need it. A cover blocks that sunlight. It's cheap insurance for a tire you're counting on to get you home. Replacing a spare that dry-rotted in storage is a frustrating way to spend money you didn't need to.

This one fits a 29-3/4 inch tire, and that number matters, so measure before you order. Lay a tape across the full face of the spare, top to bottom, straight through the center, tire and wheel together. That overall diameter is what you're matching. If you land right around 29 to 30 inches, this is your cover. Plenty of trailer and RV spares in the common 15 inch and some 16 inch wheel ranges land in this range, but tire diameters vary between brands and load ranges, so the tape measure is the only way to be sure. A cover that's too small won't stretch over the tire, and one that's too big flaps in the wind.

The cover itself is vinyl, so it wipes clean and sheds rain instead of soaking it up. The seams are sewn with heavy nylon thread, which is the part that usually gives out first on a bargain cover. Stitching that holds is what keeps water from working its way in at the edges after a few hard storms. And because it's vinyl rather than a thin fabric, it takes the abuse of road spray, tree sap, and campground dust without falling apart. The back is built to pull snug around the tire so the cover stays put on the highway and in a stiff wind, not something you're chasing across the campground after a gust.

Arctic White is an easy match for most RV and trailer exteriors, and a light color reflects heat rather than soaking it up the way a dark cover would. On a spare that's already shaded from the sun, that's a small bonus for the rubber underneath. White also shows less of the heat streaking and fading that darker covers pick up over a few summers outdoors. It also just finishes off the back end of the rig, which is a nice touch if yours came with a bare spare hanging out there.

Installation is about as simple as gear gets. Slip it over the spare, work it around the edges, and snug up the back. No tools, no hardware, a couple of minutes and you're done. It works on a spare mounted flat on a rear ladder, on a bumper swing-out, or anywhere the full face of the tire catches the weather. When you pull it off to use the spare, it folds down flat and tucks into a bay or a storage bin without taking up real room.

Who's it for? Anyone parking an RV for the season, storing a trailer outside, or just tired of watching a spare go chalky and cracked years before it's ever touched the road. A couple of honest notes though. This is a cover, not a repair, so if your spare is already cracked or past its date code, cover a good one instead and replace the bad tire. And it's sized specifically for 29-3/4 inch tires, so if your spare measures noticeably smaller or larger, go with the matching Camco size rather than forcing this one. For the money, it does one job and does it well, and it keeps a tire you rarely think about ready for the day you actually need it.