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Back in February my ‘68 came home with me without a spare tire. It has a set of REV mags 15x7 with 4” back spacing and a set of 215/70R-15 tires mounted on them.
Not exactly super wide tires. They’re supposed to be comparable to the width of the factory mounted F70-15 tires. Am I wrong?
The factory rally rims were sold off by the prior owner when he bought the mags for the car.
So I did two things, I hunted down 5 “AG” coded ‘68 rally rims, 15x7 with a 3-3/4” back spacing. I bought 5 so that one can be used for a matching spare.
The other was to order another matching REV mag and Cooper 215/70R-15 tire to use as a spare if needed so that if needed it would match the looks and performance of what it replaced.
Nice plan but now that I waited 4 months for a back ordered rim and I have the tire mounted I can’t seem to get the damned thing to bolt up under the car.
The rear hanger bolt is broken off where it looks to have had a pin go through but looking at the replacement in the Zip site it doesn’t look like that would effect it much. The front of the carrier seems very tight. Is there an adjustment for that ?
Seems crazy that there wouldn’t be room for a standard sized tire .
Are there a longer versions of the front and rear bolts available?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
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The front should adjust to the depth you want and the rear will just hang there. You push up on the tire carrier and hook the bevel where the zip tie is around over the hook and tighten it up.....My 68 fit a fairly wide tire on an 8 inch wide rim with no issue
Can you take pics of the tire carrier and how you are try8ing to hang it?
The front should adjust to the depth you want and the rear will just hang there. You push up on the tire carrier and hook the bevel where the zip tie is around over the hook and tighten it up.....My 68 fit a fairly wide tire on an 8 inch wide rim with no issue
Can you take pics of the tire carrier and how you are try8ing to hang it?
I can do that tomorrow.
Incidentally the zip tie was used to keep the bolt from swinging to the side with the carrier empty causing the carrier to drop.
The lock was in place but it’s key was lost and I had to “Jimmy it” to remove it.
I either have to get another lock or get the lock cylinder replaced in the one I have.
The front should adjust to the depth you want and the rear will just hang there. You push up on the tire carrier and hook the bevel where the zip tie is around over the hook and tighten it up.....My 68 fit a fairly wide tire on an 8 inch wide rim with no issue
Can you take pics of the tire carrier and how you are try8ing to hang it?
Ok I put the car up on jackstands, took pics and removed the carrier upper and lower assembly.
Both front hanger bolts were cranked all the way in and I noticed that when raising and lowering the back of the lower carrier its front portion rubbed on the upper plastic panel. When removing the front hanger bolts I had them backed out about an inch and putting my finger thru he large hole I still felt a good amount of threads above the nut. I’m thinking a pair of 1” spacers could do the trick here.
When taking the top pan down I found further evidence of a solid frame and some things done right a new tank, new body mounts and other assorted new parts installed. Some corners were cut in its restoration which I fixing as I find them but its nice to find good things.
I am familiar with your problem. I have a '69 and have 235/60x15 tires all the way around. Always had trouble getting the fatter tire in and secured.
Recently I put the car on jackstands to replace the oil pan gasket and while it was up in the air decided to try and make the spare fit better.
There should be nuts on the two bolts on the front of the carrier (Green oval) and I loosened the bolts and threaded them down 1/2" -3/4" and then tightened the nut, making that end of the carrier a little lower.
At the rear I ordered a longer (78-82) spare tire lock bolt from Zip (TR-147) along with a new roll pin (TR-110) and then bought some plastic spacers at Lowes and put three 3/8" spacers on each side of the mounting bracket and bought longer mounting bolts (Red oval).
Put the whole thing together and the tires fit much better. Looking at the carrier from the rear it doesn't look very much different, I don't think anyone else would ever know.
I am familiar with your problem. I have a '69 and have 235/60x15 tires all the way around. Always had trouble getting the fatter tire in and secured.
Recently I put the car on jackstands to replace the oil pan gasket and while it was up in the air decided to try and make the spare fit better.
There should be nuts on the two bolts on the front of the carrier (Green oval) and I loosened the bolts and threaded them down 1/2" -3/4" and then tightened the nut, making that end of the carrier a little lower.
At the rear I ordered a longer (78-82) spare tire lock bolt from Zip (TR-147) along with a new roll pin (TR-110) and then bought some plastic spacers at Lowes and put three 3/8" spacers on each side of the mounting bracket and bought longer mounting bolts (Red oval).
Put the whole thing together and the tires fit much better. Looking at the carrier from the rear it doesn't look very much different, I don't think anyone else would ever know.
Ok went at it today again. I had removed the carrier assembly to clean it properly, repaint it and chase all threads with a tap.
I went thru my endless parts boxes as I always buy a little extra and different lengths when I buy bolts. Turns out the only thing I didn’t have were the spacers. A quick trip to Lowes took care of that and it was cheap enough for once.
Fender washer, lock washer and nut to lock it down dropped the front hangers down about a inch while leaving a quarter inch of threads above the attached nut in the frame. I stayed with the factory rear hanger bolt but added the poly spacers which lowered it slightly. Longer grade 8 bolts were used. When I loaded the spare into the carrier tray and lifted it into position it went up a smoothly as you would expect it to without issue ! In place it looks perfect, and all sloppy overspray under the rear of the car is taken care of. With the exception of the silver exhaust its a uniform satin black.
Thank you guys for your help with this. It may seem like it was a simple solution but its only simple if you know about it. Until then its a headache. It’s things like this that make these forums shine.
I am completely satisfied that this was a proper repair / working solution and now the car is that much better than it was before.
PS - The smudges on the hanger bolt was from antiseize.
You know how that goes….
Spare tire stowage issue
a new tank, new body mounts and other assorted new parts installed. Some corners were cut in its restoration which I fixing as I find them but its nice to find good things.
It’s things like this that make these forums shine.
