"We don't need no stinkin spare tire!" ...well maybe I do. I 'm currently running 500-16 and 700-16 on my Model A tub and will carry a mounted 600-16 '35 wire wheel in the back seat area as a spare tire on looong trips. Has anyone found a space saver spare that will fit on the original 5 on 5-1/2 Model A hubs and drums? Or a easy way to adapt something else to the drums? Thanks in advance Peace, Phred
I've carried a spare in the trunk of my coupe for many years....never used it. But I bet if I took it out I'd have a flat, sure as shit!
2 cans of Fix-a-Flat an a plug kit,plus a 12volt tire pump,small tool kit,can of nut n bolts an a tarp + fireX . .Along with a lot of other small stuff. Being a bobtailed 1928 A roadster,don't have a trunk so all is behind the back of seat.
Dana, you had to be a Boy Scout. I carry some extra stuff myself, especially on long trips. As far as a spare tire goes, I have no room for one so I always carried plenty of cash. It seems that no one accepts money these days so now my spare is a plastic card.
can of fix-o-flat, the stock model A frame stopped at the rearend... only the bumper supports are left holding the spare, spare mount and the back 25% of the body... check out the '30-'31 coupe's beltline divide, when the long wooden blocks at the rear of the frame start to rot the body sags... forming cracks in the curved seam at the beltline split... lots of bouncing weight back there... ... just my opinion. i carry a spare points dist., a spare coil / wire, and a spare starter... insurance, if you have them YOU won't need them... but you may get the chance to be a hot rod hero to the family you bail out...
I have never carried a spare. 50 years of hot rodding and I only recall having 1 flat tire. besides, when running "bigs & littles", what size should you carry? As a matter of fact, I'm going to run a spare tire carrier on the back of the Cabriolet (avatar) and still not carrying a spare. Thought it would make a better tool box
I use my '46 "Woodie" almost every day in the summer months and have driven it coast to coast from N.Y. to the Wavecrest Woodie show in Encinitas CA. so I really wanted a spare. The problem is that I can't carry a radial spare on the tailgate in the stock location. The radial is too wide and will hit the rear bumper when the tailgate is lowered, so I carry a stock Ford spare. I can find all sorts of adaptors but nobody makes what I needed. Fortunately I have a machine shop at my disposal, so I machined an adapter from the modern 9" Ford axle bolt pattern to 1946 Ford, 16" wheel pattern. It took a bit of "head scratching" but in the case of emergency it works great.
After reading the posts: My tires have tubed, so Fix a Flat cans are probably not and option. Tire irons and spare tubes may be an appropriate substitute. A space saver spare the size of the Little of the Bigs and Littles may allow me to drive carefully (perhaps leaning) to a more convenient location or time to access the problem. A good winter project may be making an adapter to fit space saver on the drum. Phred
So how difficult would it be to just change the tubes with tire irons? Currently, I have a rumble lid without the seat to carry a spare. It takes up a lot of room and is clumsy to get out.
Old Ford 16" wheels are pretty narrow. Should have no problem mounting a space saver spare tire on one, but why bother?
I have a donut late model thats the same diameter as the tires on my truck. Thought many times about where/how to mount it, never came up with anything I like. It stays home and gets in my way in the garage most often. LONG solo trips it comes along (and the jack)
Yes,that's the gas gauge,for tank=1950 Stainless Steel Beer Keg 15.5Gal. that is the rear. Yes, I was a Boy Scout,an many years later a troop leader,back when that was a great org.
finding a space saver wheel with a 5.5 pattern would be difficult. Mostly trucks run them, and will have a large spare. I think a Jeep Wrangler is a 5x5.5 pattern, if they ever has a space saver spare, it might work.
That's the good thing about mid 40's and later vehicles.....big trunks! I've got a full size 225 70 15" in the Lincoln trunk with room to spare! It's sized a little taller than the fronts and a little shorter than the rears but it's close enough to get you out of a jamb.
My coupe has been 80,000 miles, never a spare tire and I have a really BIG trunk. I do keep good tires on it, and they are a size I can buy most anywhere if I need one. AAA & a credit card. Gene
I change tires frequently with tire irons, it's not too difficult once you get the hang of it. Breaking the bead is the hard part, but you can jack up another tire and lower it on the flat tire that is laying on the ground to do the job. Pack a small can of talcum powder as well as the patch kit. I have tried to use a "Fix-A-Flat" aerosol on one road trip, it didn't even come out of the can. I suppose it formed lumps inside, polymerized or something, which clogged it up, it was heavy so still obviously full. So if you are counting on this fix, replace it every couple years. It also makes a hell of a mess on the inside of your tire and rim.
Small Suzuki 4wd like a baby Jeep has the 5 on 5.5 stud pattern, dunno if they use a space saver though. They will fit on a Ford hub, I bought a rolling 34 chassis a while ago , when I picked it up I noticed it had very weird wheels...turns out they were Suzuki .
Not to hijack this thread. What is your inches per mile. LOL When I purchased my car I pulled out what I though was a trim piece. I flipped it over a realized it's my fuel gauge. I'm going to try the tire irons on my wheels and tires so I know how to do it in an emergency.
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