cwalley

Recently I refinished one of my steel wheels to function as a spare. I had a 205-75-15 tire mounted on the wheel and attempted to put it in the trunk well. But, with the wheel in place, I cannot place the plywood cover over the well and have the floor be flat. The tire, correct size I believe, is too thick to sit properly. I'm unaware of Chevy using a special tire for the spare, so what is wrong?

toms silver 60

Check out the search function, there are dozens of posts on this very same subject over the years. You can try "spare tire" for a start. Lots of good info out there.

Loren Smith

The 205-75-15 radial is wider than the original 670-15 bias ply.

SDVette

Some options are:

- Live with the bump
- Let the air out of the spare.. It will fit when deflated. Of course, this has a downside!
- Use a "Temporary spare" wheel and tire combo.. search for lots of fun on that one.

I was unable to find a modern radial that both A) mounts on the stock wheel and B) fits in the spare well.

59BlueSilver

Kumho Power Star 165/80R-15 or dummy spare from Chevy S10 T155x90D16

wmf62

AND, if you have positraction, make sure the tire diameter matches the other tires on your car or you will have to swap a tire from the front to the back in order to be able to run the spare if it is a rear tire that is being replaced.
Bill

cwalley

Thanks to all of you for the quick response. I guess I'm stuck with the idea of either a smaller spare or placing the spare in the trunk on top of the cover. I really appreciated the comment on the problem of a smaller tire on the positraction.

toms silver 60

Not so, some if not all of the tires mentioned above are the same diameter of your other tires. Make sure any space saver spare is fully inflated, it makes a big difference. As originally stated, do a search. The hub diameter is also a factor, some may not clear your front hub.

Frankie the Fink

The S-10 compact spares are becoming harder to find; that is what I run in my '61...

It fits with "room to spare" - I know, bad pun

59BlueSilver

I probably knew at one time, Frankie, but forgot. What is the diameter of that spare, do you know?

61 Roadster

Has anyone tried these?
https://www.cokertire.com/american-c...e-radials.html

They may serve well as a spare that fits in the tub. I'm still waiting for real world reviews considering Coker's spotty reputation before I buy a set of 5

Frankie the Fink

I'm not near my car now but the S10 size posted above should provide some info.

jim lockwood

I run a deflated modern radial on a stock rim and it fits fine in the well with the plywood in place.

The "secret" is to have an innertube in the deflated spare and to carry an inflator.

Stan's Customs

Ahhhh...great idea Jim...!!

I've already spent some time in the salvage yards looking for a S-10 spare...and anything I found was in waaay to bad to use.

Do you happen to know what size/diameter tire you used...I have an extra 7 inch rim like my other rims that I had "custom made" for my frame with C4 suspension.

I'll have to see if a 7" rim is too wide for the spare cover to lay flat over, tomorrow....unless someone knows what will fit in the well (or if 7" is too wide)?

...Stan

jim lockwood

Stan, I don't know about the 7" rim fitting in the well. All my C1s have 5" rims. My memory of the tire size I use is 205/75-15... but it's been a while since I've checked.

Good luck!
Jim

rfn026

I got this on Amazon.com. The S-10 spare is almost impossible to find these days.

Richard Newton
The '58 Interior Project

Stan's Customs

Thanks Jim...I'll start there.

Stan

Stan's Customs

Richard

You are right, S-10 stuff is almost a thing of the past for sure...thanks for the tire link...

I've been wanting to get this spare thing laid to rest for a long time.

I really wasn't happy with two cans of stop leak and and a AARP road plan..lol! Although I'll probably keep them too..

Stan