Original spare useless??!!

jason2guy · 08-26-2010, 09:01 AM

my drivers rear tire swallowed a 7" bolt last night, no lie. so i get out the folded up spare fill it up with air, i go to bolt it on and the original lug bolts bottom out before securing the wheel to the hub. studs too long- bolts too shallow. to add insult to injury the gorilla that ended up patching the tire scratched the rim. argh!!!

KTL · 08-26-2010, 09:13 AM

Its my understanding that when you have a rear flat tire you are supposed to jack up the side of the car and move the front wheel to the rear and then put the spare on the front. Maybe that's why you ran out of threads?

Gemballa2006 · 08-26-2010, 09:14 AM

+1

cgarr · cgarr's Garage

I guess I should check mine? Maybe carry 5 steel nuts too? I would tend to try and keep the rears real close to the same OD unless its just around the block, can put a lot of stress on the spiders.

jason2guy · 08-26-2010, 09:52 AM

ahhhhso

NoLift911 · 08-26-2010, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KTL

Its my understanding that when you have a rear flat tire you are supposed to jack up the side of the car and move the front wheel to the rear and then put the spare on the front. Maybe that's why you ran out of threads?

Yup - also heard put air in the spare after mounted on the car with the weight of the car on the spare first. Could be wrong on that though...anyone confirm?

Wil Ferch · 08-26-2010, 12:37 PM

Use VW transporter open-top steel lugnuts....more importantly for all you that do brake and tire upgrades ( 17", 18")....many times the original spare won't fit for other reasons like brake clearance, etc.

Check those things out before you need to use the spare....

CCM911 · 08-26-2010, 12:38 PM

This is why I love this Forum. I learn something new every day. I have owned my Targa for ten years and I never knew about using the spare on the front only.

Good stuff, guys.

rbuswell · rbuswell's Garage

The original spare is probably rotten. Getting the space-saver tire replaced is a pain. I decided to save the pounds (tire, jack and tool kit) by leaving them at home and bring my cell and AAA card.

Targa Me · Targa Me's Garage

Does anyone know what size/type space saver spare to get so I can delete the original spare? Or better yet would a cookie-cutter rim work.... fit in the spare tire spot?

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

a lot of spares out there will not hold air.

KTL's right - supposed to put the spare on the front and a good reason to carry a spare set of steel open lug nuts.

KTL · 01:16 PM

We had a friend crunch his front 1/4 at a DE event a few years ago (ill-advised point-by acceptance at a bad spot on the track) which bent his strut spindle bad enough that a regular wheel and tire wouldn't fit anymore.

We had to cobble together a wheel arrangement that he could drive on. So we used the compact spare, a spacer or two and some open lug nuts to ensure the wheel cleared the strut body and also had enough thread engagement on the studs since we had to space it out so much. Point being is I don't recall our spare needing to be filled with air on the car. We just filled it up, threw it on there and it worked. Everybody was a bit skeptical given its age (1986-ish) and the tread (none) but it got him home from Rockton IL to Elgin.

Regardless of fitment, it's wise to put the spare on the front because of diff damage like Craig alluded to. If you've got an LSD differential, that smaller diameter spare is going to spin faster than the other rear wheel. So you'll be working your LSD all the time you drive and that can wear out the friction plates pretty fast I would think? I know when I had a flat on my E39 M5, I put a snow tire-shod spare wheel on there and the wheel sensor picked up on it right away telling me I had a tire fault. Then I got to thinking I better get both tires the same before I wear out my spendy M5 limited slip diff!