I've had my 2000 TL for only a few weeks now, but besides the transmission the only thing about the car that really bothers me is lack of a full size spare. I make a lot of mini trips from 300-500 miles in length, and for meetings I have to drive 100 miles each way. I'm not worried abot the extra weight, but more the convience of getting to the destination and then worrying about replacing the tire, or buying all new ones if they are getting old.

I've aleady done a search, and have seen that people have had it done but no details on how they had it done. Before I go crazy with my dremel, I was hoping somewhere that has done it or has knowledge on how to do it could help me out. A guide posted somewhere would be even better. Thanks any help in advance.

 

I'm unclear as to what your issues are with the mini-spare. I've had to use them on a number of occasions and had no issues with them.

 

well he has to make 300-500 mile trips it would suck to have to drive 55 mph or less for the remainder of the time. I would want a full size spare too.

 

i hate having to rely on a donut and to be honest i'm a little surprised that a entry-level lux vehicle doesnt come equipped with a full size spare.

 

word. i use my spare, half the time it's flat.. i think there's a slow leak or something.. but the air pressure remains constant if it isn't used... but when i put it on, ten minutes later it starts to look flat.. so now i usually have to pull in somehwere to get air..


?

 

Good point.

 

i believe the spare is only good for 40-60 miles also (IIRC). there is no reason why we shouldn't have a full size spare.

as for converting the well i guess you would have to cut out the existing well and weld in another, but i really don't know if anyone has tried it here. the funny thing is that the type-S rim almost fits in the spare-well. you could probably hammer the shit out of it but if you want it to look nice i would have it professionally welded or just have one fabricated that you can drill and bolt into place.

SSTS

 

Doesn't the full size spare fit in the trunk well to begin with. I'm pretty sure they have made to room to put you original tire in the tire well once you put on the donut.

I think you dont have to anything. Just take the donut out...and put in a full size spare.

 

the mini is more than capeable of going any distance he wants it to. it can and will handle more than 55 mph. they put those stupid ratings on them so that lazy asses dont just keep the tire on the car as a perminant solution to their flat. why worry about it. save your time and money and do something else with it than worrying about your spare.

 

actually no, the full size does not fit in the well. or at least the typeS rim doesn't (i know from experience). i'm sure the TLP rim doesn't either since it has a higher profile tire. kind of idiotic in my opinion that a $35k luxury car wouldn't have a full size spare.

SSTS

 

My owner's manual claims the full size rim will fit (2000 TL-P), but I bet the trunk carpet flap wouldn't lay flat. If thats the case, all you'd have to do is get a spare full size rim and then go about fabricating a new trunk flap.

 

yeah, the rim definitely fits, but the carpet does stick up, soooooo, the easiest solution, see how much the carpet is raised, and match out the rest of the carpet by putting something underneath to raise it, im sure it only goes up like an inch or so. instead of doing all the welding and stuff.

Im afraid of driving on the damn donuts, if u hit a nice pot hole, u r done.

 

CS has done tests along with other magazines and those things are stronger than the tires on the car..

how long do you plan on driving with the spare that you guys are really that worried about it?

 

I wonder if my spare has any air in it... probably not

 

I've been told that the spare is fine to use obviously for temporary purposes only, the air pressure in the spare will decrease over time kind of like a bicycle tire if unused so checking the pressure in the spare is a good idea from time to time. The other thing is if you've only got a screw or a nail in you're tire and its only a slow leak you can buy one of those cans that reinflates and seals the tire until you can get it repaired. I used one in the winter and rode on it for about a week with no issues.

Peace, Jeff

 

Not a bad idea at all. I'll have to look into something along those lines, unless thelocal stereo shop can come up with something better. Some may say the donut is ok, but it's not logical to me that driving 200 miles on a smaller rim than 3 others is going to be ok. I'll have to more in depth for the trunk conversion, I know someone has done it before. Thanks for the suggestions so far.

 

for one you shouldnt have to drive 200 or more miles on it. its intended to get you to a shop and have the tire replaced or fixed.
it will be more than fine for more than 200 miles though. and if you get a flat on the front put the spare on the rear and take a rear tire and put it on the front.

 

Kris, yeah, agreed. I once had a flat on a dark highway's shoulder, it was pouring freezing rain during winter; I had a flat on the front, I really didnt bother with swapping rear for front, and putting the donut on the rear.

 

Yes, the TLS 17" OEM rims will fit in the spare tire well. I know cause i blew one of my tires and bent a rim this past weekend and have been riding on my donut for a few days. It sucks big time. The rim will fit in the trunk well, but yes the carpet covering still stick up for a bit... I too would have liked to have a full size spare when i was sitting on the highway w/ that flat, but in the end, weight savings= better acceleration so I'll pass... haha

 

mqmh, there is not much weight difference.

I just realized something, Im running 18s, my spare is 16", can I even use that?

 

It seems like you really trust the spare tire, and i'm not trying to step on your toes by any means by arguing that. It's just a matter of comfort for me to be able to get to my destination with a full size spare, and then have to worry about the tire after getting to where I need to be. Time=Money, just another excuse to whoever I'm supposed to have a meeting with. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing 85+ on a spare at all, let alone the remainder of the trip however long that may be.

I think a lot of the new models are doing this, my old M3 had a full size spare, but the current models 2001+ don't even have a donut! It omes with the M Mobility kit, basically a compressor and a can of fix a flat. I think the trend is partially do to trying to save money, as well as performance (weight) on the sports cars. Hell, almost everyone has free roadside assistance from their manafactuer new, if not through their insurance company or AAA.

I will still continue my journey, and will post what my final solution is with pictures and a posibble DIY guide. I'm happy to hear i'm not the only one who wants a full size spare.

 

see i was somewhat right...i was pretty sure that bab boy fit in the well.

 

Arlight guys, we need to find a solution fast!

On Sunday, I hit a huge pothole, and I killed my tire, it was losing air where the tire meets the rim all over. I was pretty far from my house, and I need to use a few highways with rough roads to get home.
I didnt trust my donut, because if that blows, im totally screwed; flatbeds charge a fortune in NY.

So, I put the donut on and started driving thru some streets, finally found a 24/7 tire shop. I bought Falken 225/40/18 for 150, I know, i totally got ripped off, but I had no choice.

We need to find a solution to this, so I can have a stock rim as a spare, so I can get home from where ever without being ripped off for a new tire. (hopefully this will never happen agian to me)

 

you *can* but it will cause uneven tire wear (over time with continuous use) and probably screw with your alignment a little bit if it's the tire in front.

SSTS

 

i reaized after i posted that my new rim is either +/3% of the original, so i can use a donut safely...the donut is never recommended for a long time use.

 

yes i do trust it. abunch of magazines have done tests on them to show their saftey and performance value and they are more than strong enough. if they couldnt handle that much driving they wouldnt be put in our cars in the first place. hell my neighbor has been driving on one for a year now (jobless idiot).

teknoking if your 18's are same overall dia that your stock tires are it will be fine to use..

like i stated before, if you know your going to have to drive on it for awhile its better that its on the rear

 

i have an extra set of TLP rims and tires in my closet... i might try puttin one in my trunk this weekend....

 

Not possible while on the road unless you have 2 jacks. That is why I also plan on doing the full size spare conversion. IMO, better safe than sorry. I think the idea to put something under the carpet in the trunk is a great idea unless there is an easy way to make the spare compartment deeper. Would love to hear if anyone has some ideas for that other than cutting and welding. Don't know if there would be anyway to do that though.

 

You should have went with a smaller profile tire when you got the 18's. If that's the case then you won't have a problem but if it's not then your car will sit lower on the corner that has the donut on it.

 

Forget that I ever made that comment The donut is fine... same way as typeS 17" rims still have 16" donut. Everything balances out since any rims you put on your car should be -+3% of the original setup.

Bigger rim and smaller profile tire still yeilds stock dimensions.

I just dont trust the damn donut too much. Its just an uncomfortable feeling, but Im sure as Kris said the donut is a trustworthy rim/tire to drive on, but the Temporary Use Only stamped on the donut is not very comforting, especially if you have to drive on it on a highway for a long distance.

 

sorry to bring up an old thread but i came along this.....http://www.cardomain.com/ride/787888/4, i dont know whos car it is....its from cardomain
if anyone is still interested

 

man I'm glad my IS300 has a full size spare stock.. but I got 18"'s now and my fully size 18" spare fits with no problems.. lol

 

i would imagine that if you could find a local speedshop that does fabrication and welding that they could easily cut out your old tub and reshape it and make it a little deeper with some new sheet metal.

although.....i bet you there's only 1/2" to 1" clearance at most from the spare-well to the gas tank. i will have to take a peek later under the car.

SSTS

 

I will now tell any non-believers why exactly it is important for me to have a full-size spare.

I make many road trips. I live in Ohio and since I bought my car 10 months ago, I have driven it to CT, NY, SC, WI, IA(2x), and IL. I am getting ready to move to IA for school in August and I plan to be driving home every few months. Also notice I do a lot of driving out in the country.

Now let me tell you about my experience this past Sunday. I was on a trip back from Iowa and I had stopped in Chicago for the night. About an hour after leaving the Chicago area, I had a flat on my front passenger tire. I was dressed nice and I pay for AAA so I went ahead and had them put the donut on. I still had 200 miles to drive so I thought I'd take it up to a Pep Boys about 50 miles up the highway (only place open on Sunday). About 15 miles (at 60MPH) later, my donut blew. I had it fully inflated with Nitrogen at the end of December so I don't know what happened. So then I was at the side of the highway for an hour waiting on a flat-bed to take me to Pep Boys. That tow ended up costing me $85. Once I got to Pep Boys, I had to wait 2 hours for them to install the cheapest tire they had (since the hole was in the sidewall and couldn't be patched). That cost me $114 and it didn't even match my other tires. The whole ordeal cost me about $200 and I arrived 5.5 hours late with a tire that I now need to pay to replace with a good matching one.

If I had a real spare I hopefully wouldn't have had it blow so soon for one thing. But, for the sake of conversation, lets assume that's a rare occurence that will never happen again.

Lets say I'm on a road trip from Iowa to Ohio and have a flat about 100 miles into my trip. So I now have a donut on my car with 500 miles still to drive. I normally average 75-80MPH on this trip due to the higher speed limits out there. But now with a donut on, I am realistically going to need to keep it around 65MPH and I am not going to feel safe driving 500 miles on it.

The bottom line is that if I have a flat, I don't want to need to get it fixed while on a trip. I want to get to my destination and then do the proper research on getting a good replacement at a good price. Also I don't want to be stuck somewhere or get ripped off because it's a Sunday or at night. Finally, I don't want to have to watch my speeds for the remainder of the trip. I might feel safe driving, say, 300 miles on a donut. But then I would really not want to exceed 60. On a 300 mile trip, the difference between 60MPH and 75MPH is an hour.

After this experience, what I'm looking for is a smaller wheel from a car with the same lug pattern that will fit in my existing tire compartment. It seems like I ought to be able to find something but the problem will most likely be the width of the tire keeping the carpet from laying flat. If anyone has any ideas or experience, please share. I am not willing to reevaluate my need for a real tire.

 

Sure it is. Think about it really good.


Take the jack and jack up the rear. Now put the spare there. Now go and jack up the front and put teh rear tire there. take flat and throw it in trunk

Sounds more like bad luck than anything. I travel over 1k a week and trust teh spare in a situation where i would need to put it on.

Also you wont fit a smaller wheel on our cars. Go take a look at the caliper clearance

 

What do you guys think about run flat tires? I agree with the OP and I would like to be able to fit a full size spare without having a raised carpet. But I guess a donut is better than nothing. My bro has a 3-series and he says they don't have spare tires anymore, just run flats. Anyone have experience with these tires?

 

now thats a hell of alot of traveling........

 

There's no doubt that it was bad luck. My point is really not how much I drive. It's how often I drive for long distances in the middle of nowhere. Driving 1k a week might mean that you drive 200 miles a day, which is 100 miles each way. That isn't the same as if I have a flat at night in the middle of Iowa where I may be 500 miles from my destination with no place open for repair. I know some people drive all year on their donut, but it really isn't a great idea to go at high speeds or that type of distances. I could be in significant trouble if I do end up blowing out the spare again. I don't even have cell phone service for much of my drive. If I had my spare go flat with no way of calling anybody, I could be sitting at the side of the highway for hours. That's why I prefer to be on the safe side.

We already are. The donut is a 16. The only problem is I need a real tire. This may require a deeper rim.

 

And i do many 500-1000k stints. Hell i just put on 3800 miles in 2 weeks. All im saying is if the spare is in good shape (which yours appeared not to be) it shouldnt have blown out, unless you hit a pothole oir maybe it was under inflated or got a hole in it.

As to not fitting a smaller wheel on, i know its a 16, So is the stock TL rim. finding a wheel thats smaller than the stock wheel to fit over the caliper is going to be next to impossible

 

I think I am going to buy a new rim (170) OEM and put one of the scratched ones as spare.