Spare Tire work in progress.

[RobertV]

So, I have been working on a spare tire that fits in the spare tire wheel well and clears our Brembos. I want to come up with a solution so that we can have a spare in the event of a flat that can not be fixed with the "Conticomfortkit" type kit in the car. I have only had one of these total failures in 22+ years of driving, but they can happen.
I have found that many BMWs come with Conti T125/80R17 spares that fit many of the M line products too. I have reached out to Conti USA to find out if they make other sizes or if they have other ideas. We will see what the outcome is.
Does anyone else have any other ideas or suggestions?
TIA

[bigrick21]

No ideas, but interested in your research results. Unfortunately, I have had more than one total failure as you put it. Most recently (about 5 years ago with my Caddy) had backed out of an unfamiliar drive, and backed off the pavements, severely slicing the interior wall of the tire. Another incident when I was a kid, a huge rake fell off of the back of a sanitation vehicle which I ran over.

The lack of a spare does concern me, especially when driving into remote areas.

Good luck, let us know.

[hemiwagn]

Good project!
outside diameter of inflated tire for our car is 29"
hence first thing to do is see if such an object will fit in the spare tire well.

if not, choices are to go with inflatable spare (shades of the 70's) or a smaller overall diameter but something still large enough to limp around.

I think the smallest wheel you will find to clear our brakes is the 18" steel wheel from Tire Rack that some members here have use for winter.

[sjz]

Originally Posted by hemiwagn

Good project!
outside diameter of inflated tire for our car is 29"
hence first thing to do is see if such an object will fit in the spare tire well.

if not, choices are to go with inflatable spare (shades of the 70's) or a smaller overall diameter but something still large enough to limp around.

I think the smallest wheel you will find to clear our brakes is the 18" steel wheel from Tire Rack that some members here have use for winter.

I measured the outside diameter of the Goodyear AS mounted & off the car to be 28" (not trying to nit pick). The trunk well width is about an inch or two short IIRC, but might be able to accommodate the wheel with small modifications to the battery placement. The front to rear dimension is so far short, that I didn't even bother to measure... a foot or more IIRC, I just gave up at that point. I actually did have the tire/wheel combo in the truck with the cover off to get a feel. Extensive mods would have to be made to get a 28" diameter object down there. I didn't even bother to look at the depth.
I would LOVE to be proven wrong and be able to fit a spare down there. I do carry a full size in the trunk, and while I rest a bit easier knowing it's there, one in the well would be sooo much better!
-Steve

[RobertV]

"The customer will need to consult the vehicle manufacture for information on an approved spare tire fitment, or you can purchase a full sized tire to use a
spare. Unfortunately, Service Spare tires are specifically designed for the
vehicles they are fitted, and are not interchangeable."
I will continue to dig....

[RobertV]

I am going to grab the space saver spare from a RT AWD (better offset than the RT) and figure out how much of a spacer we would need to run it on the front. I do hope that the wheel studs are long enough to use a spacer. If this works, we can order the spare tire, wheel, jack, etc. from our local dealer and the spacers are very easy to get at a local parts store.
I wonder if the RT AWD drive wheel would fit on the rear of our cars with no spacer? That would mean if folks didn't want to run a spacer or we do not have enough stud length, they/we could switch a rear wheel to the front and put the space saver on the rear in the case of a front tire failure.
Hope to have more info this week when Trinity goes in for the rear brake TSB. One of the sales guys has a AWD RT and he has offered to let me use his space saver wheel for the test fit.
I'll keep you posted.

[Mr. Redbird]

Originally Posted by RobertV

I am going to grab the space saver spare from a RT AWD (better offset than the RT) and figure out how much of a spacer we would need to run it on the front. I do hope that the wheel studs are long enough to use a spacer. If this works, we can order the spare tire, wheel, jack, etc. from our local dealer and the spacers are very easy to get at a local parts store.
I wonder if the RT AWD drive wheel would fit on the rear of our cars with no spacer? That would mean if folks didn't want to run a spacer or we do not have enough stud length, they/we could switch a rear wheel to the front and put the space saver on the rear in the case of a front tire failure.
Hope to have more info this week when Trinity goes in for the rear brake TSB. One of the sales guys has a AWD RT and he has offered to let me use his space saver wheel for the test fit.
I'll keep you posted.

Unless I'm wrong the battery placement in my 2005 300C is the same as an SRT-8. The difference is there is no space set aside in my plain 300c under the trunk carpet for the tire pump and tire goo (It just holds the spare tire and the jack). If the SRT-8 compartment under the trunk carpet can be easily removed and replaced with a 300C compartment (since you won't need the pump and tire goo anymore) the space issue to hold the spare and the jack should be taken care of.

[Rambit]

Does anyone know if they still make those tires that when inflated are full size? I had a 76 Cordoba that used those type of spares and it came with a bottle of "air". I used a pump and it worked fine. When you inflated them they would make all sorts of contorsions and ended up the same size as a regular tire. When deflated, it would colapse onto itself and ended up being slightly larger than the steel rim.

I ended up buying a spare tire for my trip to the tune of $635 and it takes up literally 1/2 my trunk space. Those 20" tires are huge when off the car.

Rambit

[RobertV]

Originally Posted by Mr. Redbird

Unless I'm wrong the battery placement in my 2005 300C is the same as an SRT-8. The difference is there is no space set aside in my plain 300c under the trunk carpet for the tire pump and tire goo (It just holds the spare tire and the jack). If the SRT-8 compartment under the trunk carpet can be easily removed and replaced with a 300C compartment (since you won't need the pump and tire goo anymore) the space issue to hold the spare and the jack should be taken care of.

I do not know about the 300C, but on the Magnum SRT8 it is very easy to remove the foam liner that holds the pump and goo. So, I would think that one could do the same with the 300C and Charger SRT8.

Originally Posted by Rambit

Does anyone know if they still make those tires that when inflated are full size? I had a 76 Cordoba that used those type of spares and it came with a bottle of "air". I used a pump and it worked fine. When you inflated them they would make all sorts of contorsions and ended up the same size as a regular tire. When deflated, it would colapse onto itself and ended up being slightly larger than the steel rim.

I ended up buying a spare tire for my trip to the tune of $635 and it takes up literally 1/2 my trunk space. Those 20" tires are huge when off the car.

Rambit

I have not seen the one in the AWD RT yet, but I bet they are still the same. There is not enough room for a full size tire (diameter wise.) I'll let you know.

[srt8danno]

Originally Posted by Rambit

Does anyone know if they still make those tires that when inflated are full size? I had a 76 Cordoba that used those type of spares and it came with a bottle of "air". I used a pump and it worked fine. When you inflated them they would make all sorts of contorsions and ended up the same size as a regular tire. When deflated, it would colapse onto itself and ended up being slightly larger than the steel rim.

I ended up buying a spare tire for my trip to the tune of $635 and it takes up literally 1/2 my trunk space. Those 20" tires are huge when off the car.

Rambit

I was wondering if you would do that for this big trip. I really don’t blame you one bit. How are you keeping it stationary? Good luck by the way and I hope you don’t need to use it!