14 to 15 inch spare combo

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kelleherdl

kelleherdl

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I had my original 14s swapped for 15 inch Vintage Rally with radials to accommodate a modern front disk brake swap. What would be the best wheel/tire combination for a spare that will still fit flush in the 73 Duster spare well? I would really like to keep the flat trunk.

Dennis
 
There are several that have said that mini spares from late model Jeep or Ford rwd cars work. I got mine from a 88 rwd Chrysler 5th ave. The photos are from my 63 Valiant from when I went to BBP and factory disc brakes.
 

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AJ/FormS said:
Spare tire? Whats that. Oh ballast....
Click to expand...

Lol. That reminds me of when I went to an Car Show at school held by the Imports club. I parked the car and my valve stem started leaking. By the time I was halfway through the show, I had a pretty bad flat. I had to limp the Dart to another side of the parking lot and call AAA. Everyone was looking at me and asking, "Why don't you have a spare?" I told them, "Find me a spare wheel in that bolt pattern and I'll throw it in there." They all shook there heads and told me to go to the Pick-A-Part. "Believe me, you're not going to find a SBP wheel at the Pick-A-Part."
 
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to rustle up TWO spares. Limited slip rear, and "big" rear tires LOL
 
Thank you Darter6. I kinda figured I might have to go with some sort of mini spare.

Dennis
 
A space saver is the way to go. Those spare tire trunk wells are small and shallow. I had to find the narrowest wheel I could find and mount a small 14" tire on it just so it would hole up the fiber board and trunk mat. Forget about it being functional.
 
Well I did go ahead and buy an eBay late 90's Crown Vic/Lincoln Towncar mini spare. I plan on driving my car for long weekends. .... and I'm paranoid even though I haven't had to change a tire in 40 years... and I have AAA.... I will post next week on how it fits on the new front end and in the spare tire well (73 Duster).

Dennis
 
I use a 17" spare from a '07/08 Infiniti G35. Fits in the well, it's not perfectly flush with the floor but it's pretty close. It clears my 13" rotors in the front too, which is why I had to use a 17" spare. I think it has a 145/80/17 on it (~26" tall). All I did was a little dremel work on the hub bore, it was a couple mm's too small. Nothing major though, especially for a spare.

IMG_1824_zpsawvplxuf.jpg


IMG_1822_zpsojer7eso.jpg
 
I will post pictures when it gets delivered. I will post pictures of the fit in spare tire well and mounted on front. My restorer is on a cruise so he will be mad at me when he returns. :) I did tell his shop foreman. We had spoken and he knows I 'really' wanted a spare that fit the trunk floor flush. Yes, I know my OE D70-14's really did not fit as well. The one I bought is a T145/80/D16 which measures out to be 25.1 inches tall. The width is 5.71 inches..... Manufacture date of 06/99 by Ford Canada. Never been used, the paper is still on.

My car is a slant 6 with automatic. nothing special on the rear end.

Dennis
 
Ive been wondering what to use as a spare. Different size tires front and back so really 2 spares needed.
15" sbp cragars and 8 3/4 SG
 
The AARs & T/As had different size 15" tires on the front & back & they all came with sure grip rear ends & a 14" inflatable spare.
 
The rears are really the only ones that need to be the same size, and only if you've got a sure grip.

If you go with significantly different sizes on the rear axle you'll wear out the clutches and overheat the rear end in fairly short order. Probably not a huge deal if you're just trying to go a few miles to get off the freeway to a tire shop, but much more than that wouldn't be a good idea.

For a single legger it doesn't really matter as much. Same for the front, only real limitation is the tire height fitting into the fender. Like if you're running 28" tall rear tires and want a 28" tall spare to work with your sure grip rear end. Kind of moot in that case though, because the tallest tire that will fit in the well is 26". It'd be nice for the spare to be close to the same size if you don't want the car to sit all wonky, but again for short distances the change in alignment on the front isn't a deal breaker. The spare I posted above is 26.1" tall, which works for me because my rear tires are 26.1" and the fronts are 25.6". Close enough for the rear with a limited slip, and not a deal breaker for the front either because its so much narrower than my 275/35/18's that it clears fine despite being taller.
 
Here are some pictures of the Lincoln Town Car 1999 mini-spare in the 73 Duster spare tire well. This is a T145/80R16 spare. The shop is actively working on the car so I did not ask them to mount it on the front to get pictures there. I will get them later. As stated above, these T145 mini spares do extend slightly above the rim of the well, maybe a 1/2 inch. But it does fit well side to side. I have yet to see if the putting the fiber board cover over is worth it.

DennisView attachment spare tire in well 10 per cent.jpg

View attachment spare tire in well from back 10 per cent.jpg
 
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