Removing spare tire and tools to reduce weight.

A Warning to you. The spare tire also is part of rear impact protection.

Your crush zone will increase without it.

I would love a lighter aluminum or magnesium option.

 

Thanks PriusCpilot. I never would have considered that the spare tire is part of the rear impact protection. It makes sense though, learn something new everyday. Thanks again.

 

what did hyundai do to improve the crumple zone without a tyre? beef it up resulting in more weight?

 

Personally, I think I would avoid using a slime sealer on a punctured tire and would prefer an actual puncture repair kit. The slime might mess up the balance of the wheel. If this is totally off-base, someone please correct me. Plenty of people have removed it though, many for the purpose of installing a box for a subwoofer.

 

It really doesn't matter if it messes up the balance as anything liquid you put into the tire is not going to seal it permanently anyway. Plugs work better but are hard to do when the wheel is mounted on the car and it's cold, dark, and rainy and you can't find the hole you're trying to plug.
It is true that you may have to clean the inside out when the tire is plugged, though, but I wouldn't think that would be much more involved than wiping everything down with a rag after you break the bead (so you can get your hand and rag onto the inside surfaces.)

 

My wife has a saturn vue hybrid and it has the fixaflat can and compressor. Both of which are worthless.

one day while driving to work she got a puncture in the sidewall. she was about 1/2 mile form work so she drove to work. Thankfully I have ebnough freedom and only work about 5 miles away. i was able to tak emy HHR(before the prius) and use that jack to raise her car so I could get the wheel off and bring i tbakc to my work and put a new new tire and a new TPMS (which alos got hit by the puncture) and I had to buff out a few gouges of the rim as well.

So with out a spare tire, and with out a loving husband, it would have cost us probably minimum of a hunded bucks to get to towed to my work, and probably worse if I had to get towed to a shop, not many auto repair shops in down town DC. One tow job woudl have been more expensive than the jack/tire.

With the Vue Hybrid it was a weight saving measure as non hybrid versions have a spare and jack. inplace of the spare tire it has a big foam block with cutouts for the compressor and fixaflat can and a few other kicknack cubby's.

I think on many cars now a spare tire is an option...

I should probably put a spare and a jack in the saturn...since its our family car...

 

No because..............
The fuel savings from doing so are so tiny that you might save a dollar over ten years or so.
AND....not all tire failures are fixable with "goo".
It's a personal decision.

 

The grass is always greener on the other side I guess. While you're pulling out your spare, plug-in owners are pulling out their hair: buying spares or extra full size, and cobbling together methods to secure/transport them.

Keep in mind one screw or nail is going to mean a slime filled tire for you, while your spare sits at home.

 

A full tank of gas weighs, maybe 70 pounds or so.

The prius c and prius spare tires weigh about the same... the prius spare tire is only 20 pounds and the kit is another 10 pounds:

Weight of the temporary Spare and jack - Prius trivia | PriusChat

You're not saving much on gas by removing the spare tire.

 

I really don't care about a mileage hit.

Over the past 40 years or more, I've been in situations where I had two flat tires on one side.

I carry both the "donut" spare and a full size spare.

 

Auto manufacturers and Car Salesmen are going to promote the absence of a spare tire by trying to sell you on the "less weight" better gas mileage aspect.

I don't really buy that.

The weight of a spare is so minimal, unless you are carrying around a full sized hydraulic jack, I don't see the "savings" as being an issue. My guess is that for auto manufacturers the real reason is primarily cost. Probably cheaper to simply give you sealant and a compressor.

The "better" argument might be safety. A surprising number of people get injured or killed every year trying to change a flat tire.

Also I think a lot of the younger generation is just less adept at mechanical things like changing a flat. Most people never practice doing it, it's a bit less intimidating and easier to spray in some goo and then it either works or you call for a tow.

I feel better with a real spare. I also am perhaps self delusional and confident that in most cases I could get the spare installed without injury or worse. Been a long time since I've had a flat...but I use to be able to change a flat tire.

But I think with Cell Phones, Road Side Assistance, and greater profit margins and less risk...to both user and manufacturer, puncture sealants "systems" instead of spares...are probably the wave of the future. I'd be surprised if that doesn't become the norm for more and more vehicles.

 

I carry around the 23 pound $60 (with coupon) Harbor Freight aluminum racing jack.

I was once in a really bad neighborhood one night. I got a flat, put the aluminum cheater pipe on the lug nut jack handle and loosened the lug nuts, whipped out the jack, took off the tire, put on the spare, lowered the jack, tightened the lug nuts, and I was gone in 15 minutes.

A lot of those who get a flat tire are robbed both literally and figuratively by others on the highway.

 

I believe it would be a false economy to remove the spare. There isn't enough weight savings in the first place, and paying attention to your driving would more than overcome the small amount of weight.

I recall assisting a a rather nicely dressed female with a flat tire as I was leaving work last summer. She had out the compressor and fix-a-flat that came with her car. The only problem was that the hole in her tire was on the sidewall. It was really sad to see the white liquid drooling out of the sidewall hole. Good thing she had AAA on the phone when I got there.

A big part of life is putting yourself in a position to come out of negative situations on the positive side. I don't see your plan as assisting that quest.

Good luck.

 

I also carry a 36oz .45 to assist when required.

 

I carry a 15 inch of half inch nominal aluminum pipe to go over the prying end of the OEM lug nut wrench, since the lug nuts might be over tightened. The pipe weighs no more than 11 ounces.

I put a grip handle on the end, so that makes it a dual use tool, when it comes to "taking car of business."

In remote locations, where there is NO cell service like the farmlands of Nebraska and Iowa, I can see how a .45 inch Automatic Colt Pistol can help.

 

You just never know when a rabid possum will jump out of the ditch and require some remedial education...

I have a 3 d-cell maglight for the smaller possums. There are many brighter flashlights, but it has a nice heft to it...and lots of reflect-o tape.

 

To put it in perspective, cruising at 40mph a reduction of 20lbs reduces the required hp to maintain speed by ~0.45%. So if you drive 10,000 miles per year at 50mpg using 200 gallons you might save 1 gallon per year.

The savings is further reduced at higher speeds, as the wind resistance becomes dominant. At 70mpg the savings is about 0.27%.

 

However, peace of mind is priceless. I'd keep the spare.

 

Where did you read this? Hard to believe that anything that may be removed from the car is part of the engineered rear impact protection.