Prius Prime and spare tire

primes all have 15" wheels, but lift backs come in 2 flavors. (as did gen 3) see tidelands chart in the pinned gen 4 thread.

 

Not sure which you meant. I think the KB is most up to date.

Tony's Chart

Tideland's KB

 

thanks! i see other mods so rarely, i call everyone tide.

 

I don't often apply this label, but: the guy is an idiot.

 

A few thoughts...
The 2016 Prius owners manual lists both a 15 inch and 17 inch option. The 15 inch is P195/65R15 89S - the same size tire that is on my Prime. The 2016 owners manual then goes on to list the T125/70D17 compact spare tire on a 17 x 4T wheel for that particular 15 inch tire specification. This option is identified as Type A in the 2016 manual.

The Prime manual lists this tire information:
Tire Size 195/65R 15 89S
And for fun I checked, yep its the size tire on my Prime.

So I thought since the tire specifications the 2016 Prius and my Prime are identical likely the compact spare specified for the 2016 Prius could fit. I was not sure so talked with the dealer and they agreed to order the wheel and verify its fit. They checked it and told me it was good to go, they even mounted the tire I provided on the wheel.

Regarding the 2016 tires, your dealer is not incorrect. The 2016 Prius manual lists two other tire options.
Another 15 inch: Type B 195/65R15 91H which has a full size spare specification
and
A 17 inch: P215/45R17 87V which actually has the identical compact spare specification as the 15 inch Type A.
Compact Spare Tire is T125/70D17 98M
Compact Spare Wheel:17 x 4T

Based on comparing the specifications, my one time experience and as long as the tire and wheel specifications are consistent across the board - I think the probable answer to your question is yes. Good luck sorting this out, its sort of a puzzle.

One more related item is how to reasonably/properly tie the thing down back there. There are those two little flip out hooks that don't look very robust and nothing else like a decent metal d ring or some such.

 

The weld-nuts and orientation holes for D-rings might be there though.

Toyota doesn't make it easy.

FWIW, photos from our 3rd gen:

 

I hope so, when it warms up I think I will pop out one of the plastic buttons holding the trim. Maybe there are threads in there. One other, maybe bad idea is to somehow use the car seat hooks on the front side of the back seats to anchor straps - assuming its somehow possible to run them behind the seat.

 

I carry a compact spare in my Prime on long trips. The wheel/tire is the same as used on a regular Gen4 Prius (that comes with one), and has been successfully test fitted to my Prime. It looks strange, but works. This is also the same compact spare that is included with the Lexus CT200h. My wife has that car, so I didn't need to buy one.

Tire Rack will claim, as stated above, there is nothing in stock that works. Glad there was a way to locate their part hidden numbers.

If price is not an option, this whole set can be ordered from a Toyota or Lexus dealer. Junk yards seem to have already been scoured for this item. I called several of the big ones around Chicago and none could help me. Luckily one day I was staring at both cars and the light bulb went off. Same exact specs in each owner's manuals, Prius and CT.

The Camry seems to also use the same spare tire/wheel.

Mendel has specs info in post #155 on page 8 of this thread.

 

The only important specifications for the spare are the bolt pattern, big enough to clear the disk brakes, and small enough to fit the available space. And for vehicles with a space designed for a spare, the spare has to fit that space. So most any 15" or 16" Toyota wheel would work, including standard wheels and aftermarket fancy ones. To save money, Toyota uses steel wheels for the spare, but that's not necessary. The actual tire is generally a smaller one than the regular tires.

I've been researching the inflatable spare tires, and it looks like you'd have to purchase a Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, or VW inflatable tire. The Vredestein Space Master comes in 165 x 15 and 165 x 16 sizes. The 165 x 15 is 19.25" diameter deflated, 25" inflated.

These cars use a different bolt pattern than Toyota. The tire can be demounted (with difficulty), and remounted on a Toyota compatible wheel. The age of salvage spare tires might be a concern - I don't know how old they can get and still be dependable.

 

I think Camry is different, basically the wheel is a bit bigger. It's compatible with Prius v ?

 

I would be happy if the Prime even had those.

 

TY up north: I ended up carrying the same doughnut from my 2005 Prius, it seems to fit and I rode around the block listening for unusual sounds. None, so thats my doughnut solution. I also tend to think that any 15” spare tire with 5 bolt holes will work. Now, why can’t the dealerships figure this out ?

 

TY Very informative.

 

Well that's what I'm thinking: the D-rings maybe be missing, but the connection points for them may well be in there, albeit maybe hidden behind panelling without openings, and submerged a few inches due to Prime's higher hatch deck.

 

I hope the Toyota Engineers are not that goofy. There was a hunk of cardboard across the rear deck and I was able to fold it and have one portion of it more than the height of the spare laying flat in trunk area, I intrusion of the spare is very unlikely. Does that qualify as a run on sentence?

 

Quite a lot of people here have mentioned the Camry spare wheel, in the many many spare tire threads we have up here, but I haven't done the research myself if the specs are the same.

 

Six to ten years since date of manufacturer is the life time of any tire. It is shorten when put into service; mounted and inflated on a wheel, even if never driven on like most spares.

 

So from what I've read the donut from my 2004 Prius 2 should work? I've been driving around with it in the trunk for three months but don't feel like doing all the work to put it on for a test.

 

The rim should fit, but there's a couple of issues:

1. The outside diameter of the tire on 2nd gen is noteably less than 3rd/4th. This may be a problem: messing up speed sensors and what all.

2. A 2nd gen spare will be getting on, rubber has a "half life", say 10 years max.

Regarding #2, I've kinda ignored that on a few cars, but coupled with #1, might be good to invest in new, proper sized spare. Check reg 4th Gen owners Manual for spec.

And yeah check rim fit first.