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Re: Spare Tire Pressure
Posted by David Prantl (more from David Prantl) on Sun, 24 Dec 2000 14:26:47
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

>  ...the dirty flat tire, covered in brake dust,  is not placed in your 
>nice clean trunk.

True enough.  Space for the flat can be an issue if you're already fully 
loaded.  Dirt on the other hand is not really an issue.  Vehicles that have 
a full-size spare on a standard rim in the under-floor trunk area (e.g. 
Mercedes) will take the flat in the same space.  Who cares if you get a 
little crud in there, and you don't even have the space problem.  Take 2 
minutes to clean it out once the flat is fixed.  As for SAABs, this will not 
work unless you happen to have a 9000 running with 185/60/15 or 175/70/15 
tires mounted on 15x5.5 steel wheels.  These combinations fit under the 
trunk panel.  For all others cases, SAAB graciously provides a convenient 
plastic bag, into which the dirty flat is to be placed so that the trunk 
will not be soiled.  The bag is put into every SAAB at the factory.

>  ...you don't have to unload the trunk to get at the spare

Well, not really.  Consider the whole process of changing a Renault Clio 
flat:

Here's one problem.  If the release mechanism for the external spare was 
purely external, one would have to partially get under the vehicle with a 
wrench to release it.  Not my favorite activity when I'm on my way to a 
meeting, wearing my suit, and get a flat in winter when the road's covered 
with that nice salty brownish water.

For this reason, Renault (and no doubt others too) put the release bolt 
inside the trunk, which means that you have to unload the trunk 
significantly before you can lift the carpet to get to it.  Oh, and when you 
find it, you can only crank it 1/3 of a turn at a time with the supplied 
all-in-one lug wrench, so it takes you 10 minutes just to crank it all the 
way down.  Getting the spare past the fully-released hanging mechanism can 
also be a chore, especially when everything down there is covered with dirty 
slush.  Now you've spent a minimum of 20 minutes (more if you had to break 
out the owner's manual to figure out the contraption in the first place) 
getting the spare out, you're dirty, and quite frustrated.  You might even 
have to start scraping off frozen slush from the spare !  Now, assume you 
know exactly where the small inconspicuous reinforced part of the rocker 
panel is, and assuming that you place the flat-top scissor jack under it in 
such a way that the car won't promptly fall down when it's jacked up, you 
proceed to spend another 10 minutes cranking the jack, half a turn at a 
time, using the lug wrench as a not-so-effective crank/lever.  Swap wheels, 
and now you have to get the car back down (half a turn at a time), and jimmy 
the flat into the hanging contraption, and crank it up (1/3 turn at a time). 
  Then reload the stuff you had to take out of the trunk, and you're set to 
go !  You can't change a Clio flat, using only the supplied lug-wrench, in 
less than 45 minutes.  No way, no how.

Now consider that your car is probably going to get it's first flat after 
it's a few years old.  Assuming you've been maintaining the pressure by 
crawling under there periodically with the air-hose, you may still find that 
the hanging/cranking mechanism has become crudded and rusted up after all 
this time.  So, it may take a lot more effort and time to get the spare out 
and the flat in than I said earlier, or maybe it won't even budge with the 
cheapo lug wrench.  Now you're really hosed...

>...the French seem to have come up with a real good idea.

Intelligent French Engineering ?  Puhh-leeeaze !

Take the SAAB once again.  Simple and sturdy jack with a crank handle that 
allows you wind the car up off the ground in 10 seconds flat.  Clearly 
identifiable and extremely secure lifting slots in the chassis.  A spare 
that's always clean and easy to remove.  A bag for the flat.  No matter how 
bad the weather, I'm back on the road in 10 minutes (15 if I had a full 
trunk).  That's the way it should be.

David Prantl
david_prantlno39sdcx6spamx782hotmail.com
'84 900S, 5M, 210kMi, RIP
'86 9000T, 5M, 182kMi
'88 9000S, 5M, 142kMi
'90 9000S, 4A, 133kMi
'93 9000CSET, 5M, 64kMi
'89 900, 3A, 115kMi
'68 97 Sonett V4, 76kMi, #000467
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