[DML] Re: DeLorean Spare (Rear Installation)

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The factory donut is designed to be used on the rear as well as the
front. My car came without a spare, so I had to make one. The junkyard
challenge was to find a 15" rim with a 4" square bolt pattern. vintage
Chrysler seemed to be the only manufacturer with that bolt pattern
(4.25" or 4.5" square was much more common), but 14" appeared to be
the only factory diameter. I believe the rim I finally did find was an
aftermarket. An honest to goodness radial, sized to match the donut
(195/50R15) was fitted to the rim.

The big deal about the factory spare is that a flat rear will not fit
in its well after swapping them out. A flat front will, but not a
rear. If you're traveling solo, you can put the flat rear in the
passenger seat, otherwise there is absolutely no place in the vehicle
for it. Usual practice is to place it on the engine cover and bungee
the sunshade down.

More quality engineering in motion....

With all the debris on roads today, I think an owner is taking a real
chance driving without a spare. Just suppose a car in a caravan to DCS
picked up a nail, or even worse damaged the sidewall on a jagged
cement pothole (happened to my pastor's daughter last week). The whole
caravan would grind to a halt for AT LEAST many many hours trying to
repair or replace the flat tire (have you ever called AAA? I did once
on a Ryder truck: 12 hours!). You know how much trouble owners have
finding proper size tires just for wear replacement -- imagine trying
to do that in the middle of nowhere, or late at night.

And the silly thing is: The above scenario is totally unnecessary. DMC
put a spare tire under the hood for a reason. I am criticized ad
nauseum for not keeping my DeLorean stock. Well, the spare tire is
definitely one piece of DMC engineering that I intend to keep in place.

Remember: My spare is not a donut. Should be good for 60,000 miles.
Handling might be a little squirrely with it on the rear, but the
caravan will be moving again within 20-30 minutes. All my vehicles
carry full size spares. Used one of them Xmas eve (not the DeLorean).

If my passenger sits in someone else's car, I'll even have a place to
put the flat rear!

Bill Robertson
#5939


>--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Farrar Hudkins <fhudkins@...> wrote:
>
> Use a 17mm socket to take the bar off, then use the tire, then put the 
> bar back on and torque the bolts to 33 foot-pounds. :P
> 
> I took my 1981 spare tire out anyway. The hole is a good place to keep 
> the car cover. :) I have AAA and a cell phone. Besides -- with my luck 
> I'll put a hole in one of the rear tires!
> 
> Farrar Hudkins
> #2613




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