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I’m curious as to how many folks are not carrying the spare tire. I’m changing my wheel/tire combo over to 18’s and I just don’t see any reason to lug the thing around, much less invest in a new ( not 40+ yr old) replacement to serve in its place. And,…once that is removed, does it leave some sort of “ something’s missing” look when looking at the car from behind? I plan to carry an emergency tire inflator, a can of that tire goo, and a tire plug kit instead. I just wanted to see if others are doing the same.
It`s a "personal preference" type of question. To me, it was designed to be there, was MEANT to be there, and the car looks incomplete without it. It`d be like removing the hood, or one of the doors. It just doesn`t look right to have it gone. Even leaving the spare out, and running the tub empty would be better than removing it.
After completing a restoration on my 68, I never put mine back on. I never liked the carrier. It always looked like am after thought to me and added a unneeded bulkiness.
It`s a "personal preference" type of question. To me, it was designed to be there, was MEANT to be there, and the car looks incomplete without it. It`d be like removing the hood, or one of the doors. It just doesn`t look right to have it gone. Even leaving the spare out, and running the tub empty would be better than removing it.
I have wondered if the spare adds some 'rear ended' protection.
here is from ex GM and i believe it ..
not saying ANYTHING judgemental just learning observations on the c3.. but 2 mods i will not do (for heavy street driven car immaturely driven like me sometimes ) is anything safety to a point..even as the best driver in history does not keep you from being rear ended
- the spare tire
- pre collapsing the steering column for like a steering mod.. less give for your chest pre air bag with the steering wheel.
I took mine off 17 yrs ago when I had new exhaust installed, maybe not such a good idea, I haven't reinstalled it because I'm afraid it might not fit haha
IF the rear suspension is clean and repainted the missing carrier could be acceptable.
I went with the idea above and carry a pump/repair kit.
I hear there are mini spares which the tire itself fits inside the rim until inflated...such a spare may fit in the cargo/storage area. 9my car is a resto-mod, so I am not concerned about the carrier/tub removed.
I was thinking about a little weight loss for my car last year and removed the spare tire and jack. It was a total of 60 lbs.
Left the carrier in place just for looks.
For the extra 1/10th of a mile per tankful I decided it wasn't worth waiting around for a flatbed to arrive so back they went. .
Unless one is running in drag races, needing to shave off maybe one one-hundredth of a second or less on the time, what is the point of reducing weight by removing the spare tire and carrier? I've had occasion to drive my car (a '73) with the spare carrier off a time or two in the 49 years I've had it, and when I returned to where I parked it and looked at it from the rear, it looked odd (well, like crap, actually) without it. The *** looked too high and there was too much empty space where the carrier was. I'll use the rationales of, "it's part of the rear impact energy management system", it'll keep the handling characteristics more or less at what they were meant to be with the weight of a spare, and it'll look far better, to keep the carrier and a tire I'll never put on the ground in place.
Thanks for all of the replies. Especially the one that seems to focus on what i’m doing to endanger myself by removing not only the spare, but also by eliminating the factory built-in collapsing inner steering shaft, in favor of an EPAS steering conversion.
I do/will have a “stated value” insurance policy, with emergency towing. With that in place, a catastrophic wheel failure being the only thing potentially stopping me from being able to repair a flat tire and keep on going will be the “Plan B”.
Since i’ve done the one, i may as well do the other.
BMW and several other car companies eliminate the spare as a matter of weight savings. they do it for all things performance rated…It improves mileage, acceleration, and weight balance. All the German cars are that way, and real world 0-60 times are the goal, not drag strip performance. Since i have a 100 lb lighter than stock engine replacing the old 305, it only makes sense ( to me) that I balance out the weight by removing the spare.
I removed mine. Then on a road trip home from Napa to Seattle in our Porsche, we had a flat in the middle of nowhere Oregon. The tire was shredded. Fortunately, we had a spare in the frunk. I put that on and we went to the nearest tire store that had the size we needed. When we got back home, I put the spare back on the Corvette.
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removing spare tire, permanently.
