Spare Wheel Well?

Caydus · 25-02-2011, 10:34 PM

I've been trying to look for a spare wheel to put in the wheel well of my WT LX Fiesta.

Nobody's been able to tell me with any reasonable certainty though. Will a full sized 15" wheel with 185/55 tyre fit?

Twinpiston · 26-02-2011, 12:20 AM

I can't see why not, i have put a 17" with a 205 tyre in my WQ, although it is a little too tall for the well

robjh80 · 26-02-2011, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caydus

Will a full sized 15" wheel with 185/55 tyre fit?

Yes it will .. I had 17"x7" spare wheel with a 205/40R17 tyre on it in the well of my WQ Zetec.

As "Twinpiston" said, it sits a bit high for the well but not too much, and that's with a 205 tyre! .. your 185mm tyre would of course sit lower, won't be a problem.

If you have 15" wheels and 185 tyres on your car then the space saver wheel and tyre will be the same rolling diameter as those stock wheels ... hence the full sized spare will fit into the well.

Caydus · 27-02-2011, 01:25 PM

Well, why I'm worried is becaue the WT fiesta doesn't come with a spare wheel and instead goes the way of the temporary mobility kit, which consists mainly of a big polystyrene container in the spare wheel well containing a cig lighter powered pump and a can of gunk.
I tried to fit a 195 tyre in it and it wouldn't fit. Also WTs come in 14", 15" and 16" rim sizes on the same body.

Twinpiston · 27-02-2011, 09:42 PM

14" which model has this!!!!

Caydus · 28-02-2011, 08:31 AM

That would be the CLs with 14" steel rims, the LXs have 15" alloys and Zetecs have 16" alloys i think;

somers181 · 28-02-2011, 09:22 AM

My CL came with 15" steel rims which i still have for sale if anyone wants one, $20 each with a brand new plastic trim and wheel nuts if you want a real spare as i did, pick up from Blacktown or Homebush...... I purchased aftermarket rims when i bought my car last month and kept the originals for this reason.

Caydus · 28-02-2011, 02:26 PM

Oh, my bad, looks like 15" is the smallest

Also, Somers, were you able to fit those wheels into your spare wheel well?

somers181 · 01-03-2011, 08:49 PM

Hi Caydus,

Will try and post photos showing spare wheel well with 15" mag wheel with 185/55 tyres and still have room around tyre........ this is also sedan so hatch may be different, just do what i did and take off front wheel and see if it fits.........

Caydus · 02-03-2011, 02:16 PM

yea, gonna see if i can do that this saturday.

Thanks for that though. The sedan wheel well looks actually pretty radically different from the hatch's wheel well, but im pretty sure they should design it to the same size wheel... logically speaking...

Caydus · 19-03-2011, 09:33 PM

Thanks for all the replies again.

Went into Bob Jane today and it seems a Ford dealership drove a brand new Fiesta down to them to have alloys put in and they left behind 4 steel rims with the original Continental tyres still attached.

So picked up one of them and put it in the back of my Fiesta. Worked great, snug fit with no wrangling required to get it in, though as mentioned before, it does sit a bit high and the boot mat rests on the wheel, though only by 1cm at most.

Pics will come soon when the sun finally comes out again in Sydney

Caydus · 21-03-2011, 08:57 AM

Well, now I've run into another problem. Can't seem to find the hardpoints for the car jack to attach to to jack up the car for a wheel change.
Can't find it in the manual and can't find it when looking under the car.

Can anyone give me pointers?

Oh, and here are the pics

Still need to buy a bolt from ford to screw it to the well.

Edit: Ford Service dept just called me as i was writing this and apparently there's no official bolt from them to hold the spare wheel down. He said to try a WS bolt but he says it's only a slim chance it'll work.
Anyone tried this?

somers181 · 21-03-2011, 09:30 AM

I found the same issues.

I used a trolley jack initially to lift car but am now carrying a small bottle jack in with the spare tyre and a few tools, this helps keep the wheel in snug so theres very little movement, plus being a sedan theres no chance of damage in an accident if the spare did bounce around.

I also noticed when under the car there is no real areas for jacking points so carry a small piece of timber to put between jack and floor to spread the load.

trento · 21-03-2011, 08:25 PM

My WS has a moulded piece of high density polystyrene that hold the tow point, tyre lever and jack underneath the spare wheel.

As for jacking the WS jack has a groove that slots over the welded ridge underneath the sill, the manual says to jack 10cm rearward from the front or 10cm forward from the back.

trento · 21-03-2011, 08:25 PM

double post (whoopsies)

somers181 · 22-03-2011, 09:12 AM

I had to keep the original nuts as the new alloys use a different style and size nut.
The Ford dealer initially advised that it is not recommended to jack up the WT model as there is no jacking points........... who listens to dealers.

Caydus · 22-03-2011, 02:36 PM

Bleh, not that it matters anyway now, i have the wheel and damned if i'm going to forget about it and go back to the can of gunk.

dannyhilton · 22-03-2011, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caydus

Bleh, not that it matters anyway now, i have the wheel and damned if i'm going to forget about it and go back to the can of gunk.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! AMEN!

trento · 22-03-2011, 04:55 PM

I'd actually be interested in the gunk and compressor coz it's a B@#$% to get my stereo install out, plus it handles like a dog with three 17's and one 14 :S

Caydus · 22-03-2011, 11:27 PM

haha, im pretty sure ford would be more than happy to sell it to you.

somers181 · 24-03-2011, 09:07 AM

You do realise that once you have used the gunk your tyre needs to be replaced, you are only supposed to drive on it short term, max 80km/hr and have it replaced asap. So if you are driving on high performance tyres its going to cost you to replace them each time you have a flat........ sorry but thats not acceptable to me.................

trento · 25-03-2011, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by somers181

You do realise that once you have used the gunk your tyre needs to be replaced, you are only supposed to drive on it short term, max 80km/hr and have it replaced asap. So if you are driving on high performance tyres its going to cost you to replace them each time you have a flat........ sorry but thats not acceptable to me.................

hmmm...

maybe i'll just stick with the spare, my tyres are expensive lol

svo supporter · 08-08-2011, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by somers181

You do realise that once you have used the gunk your tyre needs to be replaced, you are only supposed to drive on it short term, max 80km/hr and have it replaced asap. So if you are driving on high performance tyres its going to cost you to replace them each time you have a flat........ sorry but thats not acceptable to me.................

I know this is a late posting by me, but this quote is a load of crock.

Providing the tyre hasn't been run flat, all that is required is the gunk washed out (whole 5 minute job) and the hole repaired. Then the tyre is perfectly safe to drive on. Oh and cost is the cost of a normal puncture repair.

For what it's worth, I reckon they should ban this gunk crap. It can be dangerous driving on a tyre that has gone flat and not inspected internally prior to re-fitting

Caydus · 24-03-2011, 10:26 AM

Ive heard people say it's a pain in the *** to clean out the gunk from a tyre, but it's doable and can still be repaired and reused.

somers181 · 24-03-2011, 11:02 AM

I asked the guys at two different tyre places and they said the time and cost to clean if possible would be as much as new tyre and Ford have said this new stuff can't be cleaned out, not sure what its made of but the cleaning material would probably ruin the tyre if you could do it?!?!?!?

trento · 26-03-2011, 01:51 PM

no worries, it'll have to be tomorrow as it's raining atm and I have to pull my stereo's false floor out to get to my spare.

Caydus · 27-03-2011, 01:39 AM

So during the service, I asked the technician to have a look and see if he could find me a bolt to attach the spare wheel to the car. He said he'd have a look.

He calls me up during the day to tell me it's done. That and he's flmodded up a custom bolt for the spare wheel. And for free

When I picked up the car he seems to have flipped the spare wheel over in the well and fitted up a bolt with a plastic washer in between. Doesn't look like a factory job but still. Love my dealer now

As for the jack, I picked up a bottle jack rated for 2 tones for $19.95. Got a rough plate where the jack is to touch the car and that fits to the ridge on the side of the car perfect with minimal chance of slippage. Tried jacking up the car tonight with it and it worked a treat. A few seconds on the jack without breaking a sweat and the wheel was off the ground with no damage to the jacking ridge.

As for the wheel, I got it at Bob Jane in Bankstown. They had all 4 steel rims and OEM continental tyres off a WT CL Fiesta, I took one but there should be three left if nobody's gotten to them first.

Caydus · 27-03-2011, 01:43 AM

And Junkie, yea thanks for the wheel nut advice, I'll prob swing round a wheels place and pick up a few along with probably a set of lock nuts for my alloys.

As for the alloy, why? Its only going to be a spare. The alloy won't be much lighter and Ford will probably charge you an arm and a leg for it.

Junkie · 28-03-2011, 08:29 AM

I have had a car with a Space Saver before, and I am just sick of having to change a tyre twice when I get a puncture.....
So, prefer the alloy.
But, if it doesn't come easy, then a steel will have to do.
Definitly not going to buy it from ford.
I will be keeping my eyes peeled at wreckers for the same ones I have.

Caydus · 01-04-2011, 08:03 PM

Now that i've got a spare in the back, there's no where for me to put the air pump, jack, towing eye and wrench, so i put it all in a big plastic box i carry around in the back.
Now when i go around corners, i just hear it thumping around in the back, which is not encouraging...

So how do you guys manage your mic tools in the back with a spare tyre?