Problem is is what others are saying, it wont fit with tire in the spare tire well with out pushing the trunk floor up higher and uneven.

 

who cares, my trunk doesn't have to be perfect, as long as shit doens't bounce around, i don't really give a crap about my 7K car

 

 

My spare was actually unused. It still had the little hairs hanging off of it and there was no sign of usage. Also three months ago I had it properly inflated with nitrogen. It seems unlikely (though certainly possible) that I have driven a few hundred thousand miles in my life and never had a flat and now I get two in 15 miles. I'd say the odds are that there was a pre-existing defect in my unused spare. If not that, then the spare is too fragile to handle very minor blemishes in the road since I didn't feel any potholes.

When I said smaller, I meant with respect to my Type-S wheels. Those are 17s. I just meant that I wouldn't be trying to just buy another identical rim.

I had a shop looking at wheels for me. They seemed to think it may be possible since I realistically could have one that was 1 or 1.5 inches deeper and still fit reasonably well in the spare tire compartment. The problem is that the shop turned out to be unreliable and very flaky about returning phone calls and such. It seems that I will need to begin this search on my own. I'm sure it's possible, it's just going to be very hard to filter through so many options.

 

I made frequent interstate trips in the past, so I bought a cheap $15 Honda rim off ebay, mounted a leftover tire, and had a full size AND donut spare in the trunk. But I guess people need to use their trunk space for other things. So here's an idea...

The spare tire size is 135/80R16 mounted on a 16x4 and is a few tenths of an inch shorter in standing height versus the TL-P 205/60R16 and the TL-S 215/50R17. Therefore, the full size OEM wheel and tire does fit in the trunk well. If Honda made a 16x5 or 16x5.5 5lug rim, then you could mount a 185 or 195 wide tire on it, and it would fit easy.



But they don't, at least I don't think so. Then the next best size is the 99-01 3.2TL 16x6. With this rim, you could mount the OEM 205/60R16 or 195/60R16 or even 185/65R16 and it would fit for any 2nd gen TL. The smaller, the better. However, the wheel still sits 2 inches higher than the donut.

The trick here is to leave the tires deflated, but mounted on the rim. To inflate them, buy one of those $10 Walmart cig-powered tire inflators and keep it in the trunk underneath the spare. By leaving the tire deflated, it will allow the wheel to sit lower toward the center of the dished curvature of the trunk well.

Also make sure to remove the 3 foam pads underneath the carpet flooring as they occupy about an inch of vertical space. They normally rest on the spare tire and bear the weight of cargo in the trunk. Since your full size wheel face is pointed up, the carpet will rest on that.

Now this still isn't a full size spare, but I would feel alot safer traveling at 100 MPH (I cruise at 90 MPH) with a 185 wide tire mounted. I've never tried this, so I don't know how it will all fit. But if someone wants to take a crack at it...

 

I was wondering if the trick wouldn't be to overinflate the tire. There seems to be plenty of room for a larger diameter tire. Of course right now I have a busted spare in there. Maybe if it were filled, things would look different. Overinflating it should decrease the bulge over the edge of the wheel. Then of course air could be let out upon mounting.

I'm speaking only from initial glances right now though. I haven't been driving much lately so I haven't been too rushed.

 

Update:

I went to a place in Columbus (Wheel Medic) who has been very helpful in the past with restoring my wheels. They went through their warehouse with me and helped me try on wheels to see what would clear the calipers. The best we can do is there are a few other cars that have 16x6.5 wheels with our lug pattern. Also they informed me that they can get an aftermarket wheel in a 16x6. That aftermarket setup would cost almost $200 with tire and the deck would still sit a little higher. I had thought that the most elegant solution would be to cut a circlular hole in the deck and cover the spare itself with a cover like people have in the back of their SUV. In this way, the deck wouldn't sit any higher but the wheel might stick through slightly. This solution is great except I don't like the cost and I'm not that excited about spending my time modifying the deck.

I've looked at the option of replacing the spare tire. It is impossible to get a new spare tire for the TL. If you call a dealership they will tell you they can get the wheel but no tire. Unfortunately all I need is the tire. I got the same response from tire shops. The tire is not available new. From what I've heard it isn't even possible (read: very easy) to get a spare tire in the same size that was meant to go on another vehicle. Really the only solution is to buy a wheel/tire combo from a junk yard, which may not necessarily be in good shape. I have a quote from one junk yard near here of $45 for the combo and I can look at it to see if it had been on the ground or not. Another junk yard in florida has the combo for $85 (they didn't mention shipping in their email) and they claim it's used though I don't know if used means mounted or just used as any tire in a junk yard obviously is. One time a few years ago a junk yard in town gave me a donut for free to use as a gag gift. It doesn't seem like I'm going to have that sort of luck on this project. I've also searched eBay and there is one guy who claims to have donuts for the TL so I emailed him to inquire but haven't heard back yet.

So what I'm probably looking at doing is going over to the junk yard and having a look at the two tires they have to see if either is unused. If so, I'll probably just spend the $45 and take it.

There are three reasons for this post:
1) It is ridiculous that Acura provides no means of replacing a blown spare. There are valid design reasons to include a donut spare. But if they go that route, they need to support it when something goes wrong.
2) If anybody wants to undertake my first option, it is absolutely possible to find a crappy old 16x6.5 wheel and cut a hole. We need more discussion of how to solve problems on here instead of debating whether a solution is necessary.
3) If anybody knows of a place to get an unused tire, let me know.

 

OK, some tire shops seem to have a tire that will work for between $150 and $200.

 

I find it very hard to believe that acura cant get you a new tire for the spare. Have you tried calling different acura dealer? or a honda dealer?

 

I have had no luck from Acura dealers. I called one in Dayton and the tire shop called a couple in Columbus. I did call a Chevy dealer who said he could get it from a junk yard. By the way, the hits I had on the local junk yard turned out to be fruitless. When the guy went out and looked, both vehicles' spares were missing.

Tomorrow I will call some more junk yards and do some searching online of junk yards. I filled out a form on usedpartscentral.com today and got the one hit in Florida for $85. Does anyone know of other free search sites that work well?

Also tomorrow I will call the Honda dealer here in town. It is looking like even if I do find a dealer who can get it, it will cost $150+ so really a junk yard may be my best bet. I really don't want to spend more than $50 on this if all I'm getting is a donut, but I do want to make sure it is unused.

 

I went ahead and ordered the tire/wheel combo from the junk yard in Florida. They had the price wrong and it was really only $65 shipped. They claim it hasn't been on the ground. I guess I'll see next week.

I ended up getting an actual quote on a new tire (without wheel) from a tire shop in Dayton. They said they could order it from California for $212 and then it would be $10 to mount.