Spare tire that fits!

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

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  1. Davester

    Davester New Member

    Hello,
    I am a new owner as of 12/28/18. Much to learn about this car.
    I want a spare tire also, so I bought one like Peekay mentioned. 08 Infiniti alloy. I just got it and have not tried it on yet. But, a helpful thing I found out is you can buy a used Porsche 911/ Boxster scissor jack, handle and foam block that keeps them organized nicely. The foam block fits nicely into the recess of this spare. Nice and neat. Plus the scissor jack and handle are aluminum. Jack rated at 1,000 Kilos. If you do this be warned, the top of the jack has an oval protrusion that fits the Porsche cut out in the jacking location. I had purchased some round rubber jacking blocks for another application. I used a flat boring bit, 1-1/4" diameter and bored a shallow recess on one side. This fits the protrusion very well and the rubber block has a slot in it that fits the pinch seem on the rocker panel well.
     
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  3. David Towle

    David Towle Well-Known Member

    Looking up the tires at Tirerack, seems the right size for the Clarity is T135 90R17 which is 26.6" diameter, close to the standard tire at 26.3".
     
  4. ernda

    ernda New Member

    Hi. Just a little confused. I bought the 145/80 r17 spare that is mentioned in this thread. Do I have to buy new lugnuts and a hub spacer in order to use this spare? It won't mount well enought if I use the current Clarity lug nuts? And where does the hub spacer go? Behind the wheel? Can you or someone tell me exactly what type/size of lugnuts and/or spacer I would need?

    Thanks
     
  5. peekay

    peekay New Member

    Not sure about the others, but the one I bought does not need a spacer or new lug nuts.
     
  6. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    Okay, so this a bit complicated and I’m not suggesting anyone else do this, but here is what I did. I bought the Infinity wheel/spare mentioned in my post #50 and found that it fit ok. I drove up to 50 mph with it on the car for a very short distance with no problems. However, the center hole in the wheel is a slightly different size than the hub on the car. The hub ring listed below goes in the wheel and make the wheel fit perfectly and tightly to the hub. In addition, the Clarity lug nuts are a different shape than the lug holes in the Infinity wheel, so I bought the lug nuts listed below that fit the studs as well as the shape of the hole in the wheel. With the hub ring and lug nuts, I have much more confidence in using the Infinity wheel/spare at road speed for a long enough time to get me home or to a tire shop without anything coming loose. YMMV.

    Lug nuts

    https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Automotive-41127B-Acorn-Thread/dp/B001O08ANY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548643529&sr=8-1&keywords=Gorilla%2BAutomotive%2B41127B&th=1

    Hub ring

    https://www.amazon.com/Hubcentric-Rings-Pack-Hubrings-Centerbore/dp/B00AAOEKCK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548643699&sr=8-1&keywords=Hubcentric+Rings+%28Pack+of+4%29+-+64.1mm+ID+to+66.1mm+OD+-+Black+Poly+Carbon+Plastic+Hubrings+Hub+-+Only+Works+on+64.1mm+Vehicle+Hubs+%26+%2866.1mm+Wheel+Centerbore+-+for+many+Honda+Acura
     
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  8. peekay

    peekay New Member

    20180709_223449.jpg 20180709_223427.jpg
    interesting. I don't specifically remember because I tried mounting my spare 6 months ago, but based on my pics, it appears that the spare that I bought seems to be a decent fit for the center hub, as well as lug nuts.
     
  9. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    So here's a bit of bumbling explanation. To run true and stay tight, wheels need to be either hub-centric (tightly fitting the center of the hub) or lug-centric (lug nuts tightly fitting in lugs holes). With the Infinity spare, it appears to mount just fine, but it does not fit perfectly tightly to the center of the hub (and so is not hub-centric) and the OEM lug nuts are not quite the right shape to tightly fit the holes (and so is not lug-centric). Adding the proper hub rings (common with aftermarket wheels) and the correct shape lug nuts to fit the Infinity wheel (also common with aftermarket wheels), gets the spare wheel on the car securely. As I noted above, I'm not suggesting anyone do this, or even add a spare to the car. I'm just posting what I did and why.
     
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  10. Claritydreamer

    Claritydreamer New Member

    I bought the Infinity tire as well. Not sure I'll do the hub ring but I haven't put the tire on the car yet.
    To all, What jack did you get?
     
  11. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    I added these items to an Amazon order, just because it was convenient. You can get the same thing cheaper on Ebay, but I know these work with the Clarity and I was never sure of those I found while looking on Ebay. The tools fit in the box the jack comes in and the box fits great in the storage area under the trunk.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M9OUBPY/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010W3V65C/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
     
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  13. Jacques Boyer

    Jacques Boyer New Member

    So that I understand, the Infiniti G35 EX35 Sedan 17x4" Compact Spare has approximately the same circumference as our Clarity's 235/45 R18 Tires?
     
  14. AlanSqB

    AlanSqB Active Member

    I want to make sure that everyone knows that the repair fluid in the installed kit is made of latex. Honestly, I feel kind of stupid for not assuming that the kit would have some sort of latex in it, but it didn't occur to me. I assumed it would just have chemicals of some sort.

    Anyway, got a flat last week. Ended up being inner sidewall damage but I couldn't find it before I gave up trying to just keep air in it. After multiple failed attempts to keep air in the tire, I decided to flip the switch to "repair" and put the goop in the tire. It got everywhere. It got on the ground, it got on my hands. I'm allergic to latex from years of wearing latex gloves so I've got chafed and cracked hands this week. I know others have even stronger allergies so I wanted to make sure to share this info.

    I ended up limping to the Les Schwab tire and got one of their Proxes tires as a replacement. I hate the idea of mismatched tires, but it was going to be several days to a week to get a match to the stock tires. I was thinking of ordering another OEM tire to swap back in and keeping the Proxes (with a steel wheel) as a spare in the garage, but the Proxes has actually improved the road noise in the car so I'm tempted to go get another for the other side. I'm sure they're less efficient, but we've got some noisy and bad roads around here.

    I guess I could have used the roadside assistance, but honestly it didn't occur to me. I'm not sure what they would have done.
     
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  15. AlanSqB

    AlanSqB Active Member

    Oh, and all this would have been a lot less stressful if I'd had a spare available.
     
  16. The Gadgeteer

    The Gadgeteer Active Member

    I had an inner sidewall hole in my tire within the first 150 miles of having the car. First time on the highway without running over anything or hitting a pothole. I know of one other person with a Clarity on the forums with a similar story. Now you make 3.
    My damage was right on a seam. Perhaps there tire defect issues with these tires. My tire person felt the tire was defective but the dealer didn’t want to submit the claim.
     
  17. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    Yes, it’s close, but not exactly. The 165/80-17 spare is about 3.3 inches greater in circumference.
     
  18. Groves Cooke

    Groves Cooke Active Member

    My experience: I drove a Acura TLX for the three years previous to buying a Clarity. Guess what, no spare tire in that one either. And no problems even on long trips. That car did not even have a Slime kit. Just an inflator. AFAIK the donut tires are being phased out and soon will not be available on any new cars because they are not safe.
     
  19. AlanSqB

    AlanSqB Active Member

    I wish I had taken a closer look at the tire or taken a picture but it was at the end of a very long day at the end of a very long week and I just wanted to get home.
     
  20. The Gadgeteer

    The Gadgeteer Active Member

    What I find more than a casual coincidence is that these are all new 2018 cars thus new tires, only 25K of these cars made, and yet I know of three of us that had inner sidewall failure. Mine was the front right tire.
     
  21. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    If you look at reviews, it seems it's happening more and more to all brands as the sidewalls getter shorter and the roads get worse. There isn't much "cushion" on a 45 series tire and so we get sidewall and wheel damage. It's too bad the trend is to huge wheels and short tires. I hope that trend reverses soon since it's just a looks thing.
     
  22. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    The Tire Rack notes the trend toward removing spares is due to weight reduction, space limitations, and lower cost. I don't think it's a safety issue, because being stuck by the side of the road with a bad tire is not safe; it's much safer to put on a spare of any type and get to a safe spot.
     
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  23. Jacques Boyer

    Jacques Boyer New Member

    Great info. My Clarity has tire size 235/45 R18. What is the tire size of your compact spare? I assume it's a donut type tire.
     

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