Spare tire

The best way to deal with that potential issue, in my opinion, is to check and make certain the nuts are not too tight to loosen with a normal lug wrench, or whatever wrench you carry. The best time to check and adjust lug tightness if necessary is immediately after anybody other than yourself has been messing with the wheels and lug nuts.

 

you got a pretty decent price dave. as i recall when i asked a dealer, the wheel and tyre, mounted and balanced were $450. and they wouldn't budge.

 

That just takes care of overtorqueing by the shop. Been there, done that too.

But I also have experience with some lug nuts that I personally torqued to spec, becoming far tighter when it was time for a seasonal tire swap. Not all of them, just one or two, but that can be enough to prevent a roadside tire change.

After snapping off some lugs (mostly old farm equipment, only one on my car) and other bolts, I also prefer to be able to apply pure torque, without the additional thrust of jumping up and down on the wrench handle. I.e. while pushing down on the far wrench end with one hand, balance the thrust by pulling up on the lug end with the other hand. But I need a longer wrench to get the required torque, I'm not strong enough to do this with the short factory wrench. With the short wrench, both hands need to be together on the far end.

If a reasonably fit 6'2" slightly overweight person can run into a strength issue with a balky lug nut, what will happen with a very trim person a foot shorter?

 

I torque mine always to 76 lb/ft, and 6~8 months later when removing them I've never encountered a hard to get started lug nut. Strange.

 

Note wifey and I have owned several Prius over the years and I have a full set of worn Prius tires, mounted with the TPMs as a back up set. As luck would have it, I hit a curb on a very foggy day last month while driving my PIP in another state and the Yokohama blew a hole in the side wall I could stick my thumb into. No sense in using either the 12v air pump or fix-a-flat cans I had with me. As it was after 9pm, several calls to tire stores and garages proved futile. I even called guys selling 195/65R15 on craigslist in the town where I was stranded. Luckily I had a free rental car certificate with me. I checked with the local airport car rentals but no Prius available, but there was a Corolla. I had Uber pick me up (first ride, so it was free) and drove back with the Corolla. After mounting the Corolla spare, I was able to get my PIP back to the hotel. Next day one of the craigslist ads I called, called back with 4 Goodyear Assurance with little miles. He wanted $120 for all 4. He didn't want to sell one, but I ended up with all 4 for a C-note and he sent me to a nearby Mexican-run tire shop that mounted and balanced one tire for $10. This was better than buying one new tire for $80 or so. I returned the rental car with slightly used jack and spare and had someone at the company I was at give me a ride from the airport back to my car and I was on my way. Luck also held out that the TPM wasn't damaged and the Low Tire Pressure warning light turned off with the replacement tire mounted. Lesson learned...I am still a cheap SOB. As long as it is a commonly available size tire (example where it is not is the BMW i3), and/or if you have AAA or a wrecker service nearby, carrying a spare is not really needed. You guys buying spares also need to get the jack and tools too, otherwise you will still be stranded. 30lbs extra to lug around and loss of cargo space. Not for me. Although some 12% of cars (including Cadillacs and most BMWs) now come with Run Flat Tires (RFT), albeit with terrible mileage and high replacement cost, I think Toyota went with the best feasible option by skipping the spare.

 

My 2014 PIP does have a jack kit under the driver's seat.

 

mine too!

 

I taught both my daughters 15-20 yrs ago - though I suspect that neither of them have done it since. But, in an emergency, maybe good insurance. One drives a SUV /truck, and I suspect the weight of the wheel might be too much for her, though.

 

If they'd get their engineers on it, maybe they could manage a truck-style drop-down spare?

 

they said there wasn't enough clearance. that was on the gen 3 though. i don't know if the irs allows more height. but it seems to me there's room under the hatch in all models, no?

 

Yeah it'd be competing with gas tank. There's gotta be a way.

 

if they're willing to bump up the hatch floor in prime, why not lift back?