Spare relocation

Some notes on my experience with this mod (see garage/mufflermod.html[/ucl]) Up front I want to say I'm happy with the result - the trunk is now cavernous! Getting there was an adventure though. My spare will not lay up flat against the underside of the trunk floor - my '94 has plastic in the bumper cavity and a rear sway bar - between the two it just won't quite fit. This meant the local muffler guy (thanks Don!) had to find a different, smaller muffler. Once he did the muffler install went flawless. Took it home and proceeded to fit the hardware. Because the spare fits in there differently, I couldn't use the drain hole for my bolt. (Side note: while trying to make this fit- on my back, lifting the spare into position while trying to line up the lug holes -  I hit the bolt/stud a couple times and dislodged the circular metal piece surrounding the drain hole. This seems to be very poorly spot welded in place. I would strongly recommend anyone doing this mod to brace the trunk floor.) I ended up drilling a new hole and bracing it with 6quot; square aluminum sheet. Now because my spare doesn't fit flat up against the trunk floor, the 6quot; bolt is not long enough to mount the tire in the preferred valve stem down position, so flipped it over. It rocks a bit, so I mounted an eye in the other drain hole (braced of course) and ran a ratchet strap across from a convenient hole in the driver side quot;towquot; hook area. Cinched it up tight, stopped swearing and went for a test drive. Works great, spare's still attached (!), trunk's still cavernous (!!). I recommend this to anyone who needs more trunk room, just do like Uncle Ed told you - measure twice, cut (or drill) once. TT

damn thats really nice. im have to try that one when im bord,lol

After all that work I hope you aren't using the original spare. In addition to it being crap in the first place, it would be really old, and it is now exposed to the elements. Personally I don't really care for temp spares, and don't even think they should be legal, but I'm pretty sure that any tire more than 10 years old is beyond the manufacturer's recommended life span.
Mine's been relocated to a scrap bin along with that POS widow maker jack. Fix A Flat fits great where the jack used to be.

Fine, but what do you do when you run over some road debris out in the sticks and Fix-A-Flat won't cut it? As good as modern tires are, I hate being w/o some sort of spare. Cell coverage doesn't go everywhere, and here in AZ, there's lots of very enjoyable, scenic, twisty-- and lonely-- roads to play on. I'm sure there are some similar situations in MI-- maybe w/o the mountains. Do you never leave town?

I did the relo on my '97 seven or eight years ago. It's worked great, but now that the muffler baffles have finally broken loose, I'm putting on a Racing Beat single tip, with their mid-pipe and probably a Flyin' Miata cat (new oxygen sensors, too). Why? Well, I've got 15quot; OEM five spokes and carrying a 14quot; spare doesn't seem to make much sense, and if Fix-a-Flat is good enough for the newer Miatas (and Z3s and Z4s and lots of others), I figure I'll risk it, too.
I completely understand your reluctance to give up the spare, though, which is why mine is still hanging there and will be until the new exhaust gets here...

I've traded the weight of the donut for a set of hand picked hand tools which include an 12v air pump and a plug set. I also carry fix a flat.

Originally Posted by shoult
I've traded the weight of the donut for a set of hand picked hand tools which include an 12v air pump and a plug set. I also carry fix a flat.

No beef with that, but just curious: have you weighed them both?

Originally Posted by Lotus Follower
Fine, but what do you do when you run over some road debris out in the sticks and Fix-A-Flat won't cut it? As good as modern tires are, I hate being w/o some sort of spare. Cell coverage doesn't go everywhere, and here in AZ, there's lots of very enjoyable, scenic, twisty-- and lonely-- roads to play on. I'm sure there are some similar situations in MI-- maybe w/o the mountains. Do you never leave town?

There is always the possibility that something will immobilize my car, but I'm not going to focus on the tire since at 18 years, 180,000 miles there are several things on my car that are more likely to fail than a my 7 month old tires. I'm not going to load my trunk up with those spare parts either. Especially since with Fix A Flat you are now not so much worried about flat tires in general, but only specific kinds of flats (severe tire damage, bent rims, mainly) then you're really reaching there.
So lets say I bend a rim 50 miles out of town. OK, that would suck, but do I actually want to drive 50 miles on an ancient temp spare? That sounds like a recipe for having two flats in one day. Since changing a tire in the wild kind of sucks, and even a brand new, mint condition tire has a rather low max speed, it would be faster and easier to ride back in tow truck (which is what I did when my crank pulley fell off).
I do leave town, btw. I didn't buy a Miata so I could sit in traffic all day. At the same time though I don't drive 100 miles out into some lethal desert either. Even if I did, I'd sooner bring jugs of coolant and spare hoses.
I had a flat in 2001, and one in 1993. So, on average, I'm due for another flat around...right about now, actually, and when it happens I won't regret not having the spare. I'd rather have use of my trunk for 7-10 years than carry around a spare that I'll only use once during that entire time. Also, I don't suffer from white paranoia, which is the leading cause for carrying a spare.
I'm not opposed to carrying spares, I just don't carry one in a Miata. In a the Jetta (which has a full size spare) its fine. If I did carry a spare in a Miata it would only happen if I also carried a spare starter, CAS, a jump pack, some two part epoxy, blankets, k rations, water, etc because I'll likely have a use for all that other crap sooner.

What are the strangest circumstances that have lead to your flats?  One of my admittedly worn tires had a blowout last week when it was backed into in my apartment complex parking lot.. with hardly a mark on the bumper!  The tire was completely flat by the time I got to it the next afternoon, but the spare held fine, all the way to a cheaper garage in the next town for mounting and balancing.  By the way, has anyone tried to move four tires in a miata?  Its a squeeze, with the flat in the trunk, two in the passenger's seat, two wedged between the headrests and top, and some creative mirror angling.
Also, what are your thoughts on the odds of the alignment or wheels being damaged after sitting on a flat tire for 24 hours?

Of the 5 flats I've had in my life, only 2 were repairable.

I have never had a flat tire I could fix with Fix A Flat.  Put it in just to see it run out the big hole.
In several years of driving the Miata I had one flat out on I-45 on a Sunday afternoon out side of Conroe, Tx. Belt separated and a drum of Fix A Flat wasn't going to help.  Without the spare I would have lost half a day (in 90' heat) fooling around with tow trucks and tire shops.  Back on the road in less than 15 minutes.  Drove to my destination and back home on the 17 yr old baby spare at 60 mph. I have seen people drive a thousand miles on a temp baby tire.  They may be lightweight but they are tough little tires.
So Tuck, good for you on your relocation!  I'm going to do the same for mine when I get the time!
Chance

I leave my spare at home and take Fix-A-Flat when I'm within 30 miles of home and the wife's home.  On trips to gunshows in Birmingham or my son's in MS I take the spare.  Only problem with this method is you get use to the big trunk until you put your spre back in.
Years ago I solved the trunk space problem in my A. H. Sprite by making a spare carrier that fitted on top of the trunk lid.  Used suction cups and hook straps to hold it on.  Same would work for the Miata if you wanted both trunk space for trips and the insurance of having a spare.

Originally Posted by Tuck
I couldn't use the drain hole for my bolt. (Side note: while trying to make this fit- on my back, lifting the spare into position while trying to line up the lug holes -  I hit the bolt/stud a couple times and dislodged the circular metal piece surrounding the drain hole. This seems to be very poorly spot welded in place.

  I'll betcha it's not even welded.  I hit the driver's side floor drain (on my old Miata; it hit a stone that was sticking up from a deeply rutted driveway.  Yeah, I know these cars don't have enough clearance for off-road use, but I live in the country.
So anyhow, I hit that corresponding floor drain piece on the driver's floor side, and the darn thing popped right out.  I discovered that it was only attached with body caulking, the substance that is used in most welded seams.  Additionally it was sealed-in over that using flexible black caulk, then the whole thing was painted over.  I felt fortunate that I was able to recognize the substances that I had to make the repair with.
I realize this is a bit of a side track, but I though some of you might find it as interesting as I did.

That's the stuff - boy was I bummed when it busted loose! Alum reinforcement solved it as noted. I'm enjoying the trunk space! TT

Originally Posted by SignOfZeta
There is always the possibility that something will immobilize my car, but I'm not going to focus on the tire since at 18 years, 180,000 miles there are several things on my car that are more likely to fail than a my 7 month old tires. I'm not going to load my trunk up with those spare parts either. Especially since with Fix A Flat you are now not so much worried about flat tires in general, but only specific kinds of flats (severe tire damage, bent rims, mainly) then you're really reaching there.
So lets say I bend a rim 50 miles out of town. OK, that would suck, but do I actually want to drive 50 miles on an ancient temp spare? That sounds like a recipe for having two flats in one day. Since changing a tire in the wild kind of sucks, and even a brand new, mint condition tire has a rather low max speed, it would be faster and easier to ride back in tow truck (which is what I did when my crank pulley fell off).
I do leave town, btw. I didn't buy a Miata so I could sit in traffic all day. At the same time though I don't drive 100 miles out into some lethal desert either. Even if I did, I'd sooner bring jugs of coolant and spare hoses.
I had a flat in 2001, and one in 1993. So, on average, I'm due for another flat around...right about now, actually, and when it happens I won't regret not having the spare. I'd rather have use of my trunk for 7-10 years than carry around a spare that I'll only use once during that entire time. Also, I don't suffer from white paranoia, which is the leading cause for carrying a spare.
I'm not opposed to carrying spares, I just don't carry one in a Miata. In a the Jetta (which has a full size spare) its fine. If I did carry a spare in a Miata it would only happen if I also carried a spare starter, CAS, a jump pack, some two part epoxy, blankets, k rations, water, etc because I'll likely have a use for all that other crap sooner.

Wow... really wondering where you got some of those statistics, especially the crack about quot;white paranoiaquot;... sorry, but I feel compelled to call you on that one.
Having waited for a few tow trucks over the years-- even in town--(for the record, the last time I had to wait for one was in July, when the engine of the '92 Suburban I was driving from Phoenix to Seattle for a friend died-- on the Lake Shasta Bridge in Northern California! Google Earth it-- it would be hard to imagine a worse place, even with the lovely scenery-- but I digress)-- and then comparing that to simply changing out to the spare in fifteen minutes and driving on-- a little more slowly, perhaps-- is a non-starter in my book! Spares are wear items also; they will eventually get old and dry rot, and need to be replaced every decade or so.
To each his own, I suppose.

How do you find the sound?

Stethoscope. Sorry - couldn't resist.  Are you asking if there is more interior noise? I did a bunch of sound deadening at the same time (including stuffing the tunnels either side of the gas tank, which made the biggest difference IMO) but I have noticed no increased noise. No empirical data, just earhole dyno. My guess is that the mod would tend to dampen possible resonance of the trunk floor if anything. TT

I used to carry fix a flat but I have never had a flat that fix a flat would fix and a simple plugging tool wouldn't.  I took it out.  Of the three flats I've had since I got the Miata, none were in the Miata and all were fixed with a plug and 12V pump.  One was even in a place that supposedly could not be fixed with a plug.  It finally had to be replaced but didn't leave me stranded.
Tires stored in the trunk will last a really long time (longer than there have been Miatas; I do a lot of junk yard diving) so if you use one of those donuts the big threat is not dry rot but lack of air when you need it.  If you don't check it regularly, carry a pump.  If you carry a pump it's another 3 oz for a plug kit, the loss of 12 lbs? of spare and a whole bunch of extra room in the trunk when the spare is removed.
Blowout?  $8 a year on the insurance bill for towing and a cell phone....
I am terrified by the phrase quot;white paranoiaquot;.

Doubtless the problem is exacerbated by the hot, dry climate we 'enjoy' here in the Southwest... case in point, we had a full-sized spare (Michelin Cross Terrain-- not a cheap, POS tire) stowed under our family Explorer that was never used, but had to be replaced after only about five years. Many years ago, I used to work for Discount Tire, and we'd see a lot of tires, in use or not, that succumbed to the heat and lack of humidity, sometimes catastophically.
And, although I'm not exactly terrified by the remark, I see no need for letting the intrusion of the racist serpent into this garden go unchallenged, especially when so many are working so assiduously to expel it.

I recently did the re-location also. Here are pics.

I'm really curious as to why you chose to have the exhaust exit on the driver's side, through a hole you had to cut?? Every other one I've seen has the spare on the driver's side (there's even a drain hole in the perfect place for the bolt!) and the muffler slants toward the passenger side and exits out the OEM bumper cut-out. From any angle on mine, you couldn't tell the tire was under there and the exhaust looked almost stock.
All gone now, since carrying a 14quot; spare and running 15quot; tires made no sense; there's a RB single tip in it now.

Originally Posted by azcat
I'm really curious as to why you chose to have the exhaust exit on the driver's side, through a hole you had to cut?? Every other one I've seen has the spare on the driver's side (there's even a drain hole in the perfect place for the bolt!) and the muffler slants toward the passenger side and exits out the OEM bumper cut-out. From any angle on mine, you couldn't tell the tire was under there and the exhaust looked almost stock.
All gone now, since carrying a 14quot; spare and running 15quot; tires made no sense; there's a RB single tip in it now.

There is a drain hole in the perfect place for the bolt on the passenger side as well and then you're not wrapping a hot exhaust first around the differential and then around the spare. It just seemed like a much more straight forward way to do it to me.

Originally Posted by 1drum
There is a drain hole in the perfect place for the bolt on the passenger side as well and then you're not wrapping a hot exhaust first around the differential and then around the spare. It just seemed like a much more straight forward way to do it to me.

Well, your car. Thanks for the response. FWIW, I modified the trunk heat shield to wrap part of the way around the tire after the pics were taken. Five years under there, and no sign of heat damage. No problems with the differential either.

I like your sig. I may have been wrong about the right way to do it, but I had no doubts.

I started that project years ago but couldn't pass on the Borla duals.  Something that really helped me put it together was a cardboard circle the size of the spare with one lug hole the proper distance from the center.  Saved a lot of wear and tear on the back.  You just had to be careful and realize that you could work it into an area that the spare wouldn't fit.