Spare tire that fits!

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by peekay, Jul 11, 2018.

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  1. --> Good question: the dealer did not drive it, just verified it fit and rotated without hitting the brake calipers.
     
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  3. bpratt

    bpratt Active Member

    I agree it would not be a good idea to drive very far with different size tires on the front of the car. If a front tire get damaged, replace one of the rear tires with the spare and use the tire removed from the rear to replace the damaged tire on the front.
     
    ICanBreakIt likes this.
  4. peekay

    peekay New Member

    That is a good idea. But I'm not sure if one scissor jack can handle propping up an entire side of the car. We might need two jacks, or maybe a rock or piece of wood. Haha, this is snowballing.

    With my spare, it appears that, when mounted, the diameter is comparable to the stock tire. When unmounted, it actually appears to be slightly bigger than the stock tire, but it compresses more than the stock tire when under load.
     
  5. Steven B

    Steven B Active Member

    Order of operation:
    1) Jack up rear, remove full size tire and install spare
    2) Lower rear, move jack to front and jack up front
    3) Replace flattened tire with full size removed from rear
    4) Lower jack
     
  6. ZedFez

    ZedFez Member

    Just located one of these from a junkyard for $45 US plus tax. Thanks for the tip
     
    peekay likes this.
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  8. ZedFez

    ZedFez Member

    Quoting PEEKAY here... With a question at bottom —

    here is a G37 donut spare installed. I bought it on eBay for $97, plus an additional 15% off coupon that ebay periodically sends out. The seller, mullinsautoparts, was fantastic and shipped the spare immediately. It was also in new condition.

    The spare tire was listed as:
    2007 2008 2009 07 08 09 Infiniti G35 EX35 Sedan 17x4" Compact Spare Wheel View attachment 1518 View attachment 1518 [/QUOTE]
    Will you please post and/or confirm the size of the spare you got? In your trunk photos the spare looks smaller than how it sits in my trunk. The size of the spare I got is: T165/80R 17 104M. It’s a Bridgestone. The tread is different than yours but the wheel it sits on looks identical to yours. Thanks! After a 2nd look... more similar than different in size I suppose.
     

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    Last edited: Jul 13, 2018
  9. peekay

    peekay New Member

    Will you please post and/or confirm the size of the spare you got? In your trunk photos the spare looks smaller than how it sits in my trunk. The size of the spare I got is: T165/80R 17 104M. It’s a Bridgestone. The tread is different than yours but the wheel it sits on looks identical to yours. Thanks! After a 2nd look... more similar than different in size I suppose.[/QUOTE]
    Mine is 145/80/17. Yours is a bit bigger. Have you tried installing it yet? When mine is actually mounted on the car, it looks pretty close in size to the stock tire. I'd imagine yours might even be a little bigger.
     

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  10. ZedFez

    ZedFez Member

    If I understand how tires work, the 2nd number is a ratio related to the first number. So my tire distance from the rim to the outside edge is 80% of the tread surface width. (If I’m wrong, please correct me, I don’t know much about tires). If that assessment is correct 80% of 165mm comes to 132mm or 5.2 inches of tire to the road from the rim. When I do the same with yours, 116mm or 4.57 inches. Looks like I need to get that thing on the car to see how it fits, or return it. Good thing I got it local. —Also— I do not know what the final number of 104m means for the tire size. Need to look that one up.
     
  11. peekay

    peekay New Member

    Yes, that's basically right. The only other number that impacts the radius or the diameter of the tire is the 17, which stands for the rim size.
     
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  13. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I've been following this dialogue closely. Would a valid test of a 17" donut be to
    1. Measure the distance from the road to the top of the front wheel arch
    2. Replace the front OEM with the donut
    3. Drive the car back and forth to unload the suspension after jacking for the wheel change
    4. Re-measure the distance to the top of the front wheel arch
    If the distance is the same, then the weight-compressed diameter of the donut is the same as the OEM, right?
     
  14. ZedFez

    ZedFez Member

    Funny insight man... after doing all that math, realized all I needed to do was grab a ruler and measure the radius of both the Clarity wheel, and the spare I got. I just did it and the spare wheel is 1/2 inch longer from dead center to the outer edge of tire. 1/2 extra inch should fit just fine in the wheel-well, just got to try it to be sure. Gut feeling is that making sure the spare is ONLY on the rear, since it is larger, it should be fine. Was going to try to fit it on there tomorrow, but my hydraulic jack is 40 miles away, and I’m not using a scissor jack for fun.
     
  15. peekay

    peekay New Member

    If you guys are really interested, I can put the donut back on and try driving around town with it to see if it triggers the tire pressure sensor light. My sense is if it doesn't trigger the light, then the size is close enough to not harm the car.
     
    neal adkins likes this.
  16. Everbody

    Everbody New Member

    I want a spare! Will keep it at the house when driving in town, throw it in the trunk on long trips. AAA will tow it home where I can use the big boy jack.

    Sent from my SM-T580 using Inside EVs mobile app
     
  17. Emanuel Green

    Emanuel Green Member

    I believe it can tell the diameter of the tire based on how many rotations it goes through compared to the other tires. A flat tire will have a smaller diameter, so it will be rotating faster than a full one when going the same speed. So the car's computer can tell if one tire is smaller than the others, and this triggers the low pressure warning.
     
  18. bpratt

    bpratt Active Member

    I just purchased a 145/80/17 G37 Donut spare on Ebay. I have a small hydraulic jack that works but does anyone know what size the lug nuts are. A 3/4 inch and a 19 mm socket both seem a little loose. It might be 18 mm but I don't have one to try.
     
  19. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I've been using 19mm sockets on my Honda lugnuts for decades. However, just to be sure, I tried an 18mm socket on our Clarity and it's too small.
     
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  20. neal adkins

    neal adkins Active Member

    I threw in a torque wrench (1/2 in drive) as my lug wrench. The 19mm socket seemed to fit ok. I bought a scissor jack at walmart for 25$ plus tax. I went with the same infinity q35 17in spare shown in this thread. Got a coupon for 25$ off too on ebay.
     
  21. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Has anyone created a way to secure the spare in the trunk to prevent it from becoming a projectile in a tumultuous accident?
     
    pinrut likes this.
  22. Pushmi-Pullyu

    Pushmi-Pullyu Well-Known Member

    Not that I own a Clarity, but just as someone watching the group effort here; our InsideEVs community trying to solve the problem of Honda not selling a spare for the Clarity...

    I was hoping that someone would at least try driving on the spare for a few miles at low to moderate speed. If I was thinking of buying such a spare, I'd want to make sure that someone had tested it by working the steering back and forth to the wheel locks, to make sure the spare doesn't rub on anything; and also pumping the brakes, to make sure that no part of the rim interferes with brake action.

    But thanks very much, Peekay, for your efforts here! The last time I looked at discussion of this subject, nobody had even found a spare that would fit the Clarity. What you've done here is a real service to the EV community, so take a bow!
    :) :) :)
     
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  23. Steven B

    Steven B Active Member

    I thought the general consensus for installing spare donuts (on non-awd vehicles) has always been NOT to install them at locations connected to the propulsion system, therefore, these oddball spares that are being considered would not be installed at either of the front wheel locations and subjected to steering loads or interferences.
     
    ClarityDoc likes this.

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