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Spare Tyre / Space Saver


gc88
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Hey again peeps,

I have 225/40/R18 tyres on my alloys.

I have a (horrid) space saver in the boot.

Im looking at getting rid and geting a full size spare on a steel rim, bit I don't know what size ill need?

Will I need an 18inch rim with the same size tyre on? If so would this fit in my boot hole?

Also I know ill loose boot space, that's fine. Anyone know where to get the new floor from. Does the old carpet still fit?

Thanks all!

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Im sure you have thaught of this, but thaught it might help if you havnt..

Take one of your wheels off and see if it fits in the boot?

Try fordpartsuk for the new boot floor. Or even message people on eBay who are breaking a focus'.

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Hey again peeps,

I have 225/40/R18 tyres on my alloys.

I have a (horrid) space saver in the boot.

Im looking at getting rid and geting a full size spare on a steel rim, bit I don't know what size ill need?

Will I need an 18inch rim with the same size tyre on? If so would this fit in my boot hole?

Also I know ill loose boot space, that's fine. Anyone know where to get the new floor from. Does the old carpet still fit?

Thanks all!

The biggest wheel you will fit is a 16'' with a 205/55/R16 mate,

but it would be usless to you since the car has 18's all around,

i carry a full sized spare with the floor lifted kit, the same carpet fits in place but the boot floor in now flush woth the opening sill,

and it weighs the car down carrying it around.

Image0995.jpg

Image0994.jpg

Image0998.jpg

the focus st has the 18'' wheels as standard and doesnt use a spare tyre at all,

instead it carrys the compressor and foam, thats why ford have fitted a 12v power supply in the boot of the car for models with 17'' wheels and higher to use the compressor kit.

here is a link to one and their is a foam pad to hold the compressor in the tyre well.

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4605c3c537

they also have a light on the side of them to illuminate the wheel and the internal cable reaches around 15 feet.

Take it from the Sherpa

buy yourself a compressor kit and forget about the space saver.

choice is yours regarding carrying the jack and wheel brace though, no need when you have the compressor.

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lenny where did you get that floor layout from? is it plastic or foam? or did your focus come with this equipped? i have 5 slloys same so i use one of these as my spare. Its 17" and fits but obviously raised. I need one of these you have lenny. lol. Cheers

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lenny where did you get that floor layout from? is it plastic or foam? or did your focus come with this equipped? i have 5 slloys same so i use one of these as my spare. Its 17" and fits but obviously raised. I need one of these you have lenny. lol. Cheers

its 2 parts and made of polystyrene mate,

i got it for free along with the full sized spare as part of the deal from the dealers when i bought the car in 2010

ill check micro-cat for a part number.

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nothing in Micro-Cat for it that i can see mate but here are some better images of of the kit.

IMG_1304.jpg

IMG_1301.jpg

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Tbh it's not really worth it.

If you have a spacesaver on then yes, it looks awful, and the car looks wounded (I always think it looks like they have a wooden leg or something). But it's only ever for short space of time until you can get the tyre repaired/replaced.

So for the short amount of time that any spare will be on, I don't think it's worth it to carry around that extra weight with no real benefit. Could maybe see the point if it was a spare wheel with the full alloy just for the aesthetics in the event of a blowout, but a steel wheel will look just as out of place as a spacesaver, but will cost you a few tenners or so in extra fuel consumption over a period of a year.

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Hey again peeps,

I have 225/40/R18 tyres on my alloys.

I have a (horrid) space saver in the boot.

Im looking at getting rid and geting a full size spare on a steel rim, bit I don't know what size ill need?

Will I need an 18inch rim with the same size tyre on? If so would this fit in my boot hole?

No you don't need an 18 inch rim for your spare, but what you need to do is make sure that the overall circumference of your spare tyre is the same as your normal fitment.

If you fit a smaller rim you need to offset that by having a deeper sidewall profile - as long as you make sure that the total circumference of the tyre is the same

But only do this if you are going to use the new tyre as a temporary thing (like a space saver).

If you are going to use the spare as a long-term thing then it's a different matter, as the different sidewall depth on that one wheel could affect handling and/or steering.

However you should be able to drive faster than on a space saver.

For example your 225/40/R18 tyre has a total circumference of 2004mm.

If your new spare were to be a 205/55/R16 (the size fitted to my Mk2 Zetec, and the size quoted by Lenny) then that tyre size has a total circumference of 1985mm.

The difference is 19mm or 0.95%.

Sounds a lot? It's less than the difference between a new tyre and a worn tyre of the same size (*), and is well within accepted limits - you are recommended to be within 1%.

So effectively your tyres (not wheels) are the same diameter as mine.

This also means that your 225/40/18 probably will fit in the spare wheel bay, as the total circumference is near identical to the tyre Lenny quoted in his post.

To illustrate what I mean, here is a (badly drawn) diagram of the two tyre sizes:

29yoaa8.jpg

You will see that the left hand example (your car) has a larger diameter wheel rim (18s) but a lower profile sidewall (40-series).

The right hand example (my car) has a smaller diameter wheel rim (16s) but a higher profile sidewall (55-series).

The wheel diameter and sidewall compensate for each other, and the total overall tyre diameter is the same for both.

See here for more details : http://www.alloywhee...Tyre_Calculator

----------------------------------

* A new tyre has a tread depth of 8mm, tyres must be changed at 1.6mm so that's a variance of 6.4mm.

But that's just on one side of the circle - the radius. The total diameter of the tyre has changed by twice that - 12.8mm.

Because the circumference is Pi x diameter, the circumference has changed by 40mm (3.14 x 12.8 = 40.192)

The tyre size I suggest above is less than half of this change.

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Tbh it's not really worth it.

If you have a spacesaver on then yes, it looks awful, and the car looks wounded (I always think it looks like they have a wooden leg or something). But it's only ever for short space of time until you can get the tyre repaired/replaced.

So for the short amount of time that any spare will be on, I don't think it's worth it to carry around that extra weight with no real benefit. Could maybe see the point if it was a spare wheel with the full alloy just for the aesthetics in the event of a blowout, but a steel wheel will look just as out of place as a spacesaver, but will cost you a few tenners or so in extra fuel consumption over a period of a year.

I did try to get them to change the space saver for an alloy the same as the ones on the car but they told me the best they could do was provide a full sized spare and the surround kit as part of the deal for free so i had to accept it or nothing lol

to be honest when i fit my bigger wheels ill be removing the full spare completly because its like carrying an additional half tank of fuel in the car and when its removed i can feel the acceleration is a little more free.

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No you don't need an 18 inch rim for your spare, but what you need to do is make sure that the overall circumference of your spare tyre is the same as your normal fitment.

If you fit a smaller rim you need to offset that by having a deeper sidewall profile - as long as you make sure that the total circumference of the tyre is the same

But only do this if you are going to use the new tyre as a temporary thing (like a space saver).

If you are going to use the spare as a long-term thing then it's a different matter, as the different sidewall depth on that one wheel could affect handling and/or steering.

However you should be able to drive faster than on a space saver.

For example your 225/40/R18 tyre has a total circumference of 2004mm.

If your new spare were to be a 205/55/R16 (the size fitted to my Mk2 Zetec, and the size quoted by Lenny) than that tyre size has a total circumference of 1985mm.

The difference is 19mm or 0.95%.

Sounds a lot? It's less than the difference between a new tyre and a worn tyre of the same size (*), and is well within accepted limits - you are recommended to be within 1%

This also means that your 225/40/18 probably will fit in the spare wheel bay, as the total circumference is near identical to the tyre Lenny quoted in his post.

See here for more details : http://www.alloywhee...Tyre_Calculator

* A new tyre has a tread depth of 8mm, tyres must be changed at 1.6mm so that's a variance of 6.4mm.

But that's just on one side of the circle - the radius. The total diameter of the tyre has changed by twice that - 12.8mm.

Because the circumference is Pi x diameter, the circumference has changed by 40mm (3.14 x 12.8 = 40.192)

The tyre size I suggest above is less than half of this change.

that is some detailed information their mate. top class

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You're very welcome, it's a pleasure to help :-)

ps - Glad it all made sense!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Managed to get the finis codes for the boot lifter parts guys

For the left Section its Finis 1354075 Cost £42.20

For the right Section its Finis1344800 Cost £44.33

IMG_1301.jpg

Edited by Lenny
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Managed to get the finis codes for the boot lifter parts guys

IMG_1301.jpg

YESSSS haha :D :P Nice one lenny. Much needed.

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The Finis codes seem to have gone off the image lol

For the left Section its Finis 1354075 Costs £42.20 From Dealer

For the right Section its Finis1344800 Costs £44.33 From Dealer

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Pretty steep price really for the 2. But.. what can you do if you dont want that silly saver wheel with you haha. Wait till my misses realises after a stupid amount spent on shopping and then the baby pram... Hmmm this boot seems to have lost space. No not at all, its your mind hahahaa

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Pretty steep price really for the 2. But.. what can you do if you dont want that silly saver wheel with you haha. Wait till my misses realises after a stupid amount spent on shopping and then the baby pram... Hmmm this boot seems to have lost space. No not at all, its your mind hahahaa

lol i was adamant at the ford dealers when i was buying the car that i didnt want a space saver in the boot, after being caught 210miles from home with a slashed tyre and only a space saver in the boot took me 40minutes longer than usual to get home driving under 80kph

and the puncture was a front tyre so had to remove a rear tyre, put it on the front and put the space saver on the rear because you cant put a space saver on the front of the car for cornering reasons.

so i got the full sized spare and spacer kit for the focus free as part of the purchase from the dealers. the slaes man didnt want me to get a full spare though lol he was offering me the space saver and the additional full sized spare to keep at home without having to sacrafice the boot space but i opted for the full kit.

but my sister -in-law has purchased a mk2 focus and the missus saw inside the boot she is now nagging at me about the amount of boot space im loosing while carrying a full sized spare in their. which is true and its also costing me around 12 litres of fuel a year to carry it around.

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Managed to get the finis codes for the boot lifter parts guys

For the left Section its Finis 1354075 Cost £42.20

For the right Section its Finis1344800 Cost £44.33

IMG_1301.jpg

That's a lot of dosh for a bit of expanded polystyrene packing; I had my last car with a space saver spare and never needed to use it in 10 years and 80K miles.

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Chance you take i suppose. Touch wood i buy it and then dont touch it again once fitted haha.

Oh Lenny i got a nice package this morning. My 5 LED strip for my rear footwells have arrived. Thinking of giving it a go in the next hour?? :wacko: haa

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If your near me ash, then its just strted to pish down.

Just as I was going to polish my car...

COD it is.

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Chance you take i suppose. Touch wood i buy it and then dont touch it again once fitted haha.

Oh Lenny i got a nice package this morning. My 5 LED strip for my rear footwells have arrived. Thinking of giving it a go in the next hour?? http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/wacko.png haa

nice one mate,

if its raining then you can wire up the lights in the comfort of the kitchen table,

then bring the pre-wired setup to the car and splice the final connection to the front footwell loom aswell as tucking in the cables and sticking the pods to the rear blowers.

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£86 for some expanded polystyrene? That's a bit steep! I wonder if most of that is P&P for such a large bulky item?

Add in a wheel & tyre, and you're well north of £100

In 18-odd years of driving I've only had one puncture (last year!) so I think I'll take my chances and stick with the space saver.

Must admit though, if the storage trays were a fiver I'd be tempted, they look mighty usefull at keeping my boot organised...

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If your near me ash, then its just strted to pish down.

Just as I was going to polish my car...

COD it is.

haha yea mate its started where i am. looks like doing them tonight then transfer them to my car tomoz. And yea COD all the way. you on xbox or ps3 pal?

Lenny when i go to connect into car, the 2 metre black red wire i got do i connect bothe leds to one end of that and then where does the other end black/red wire connect to? Cheers.

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haha yea mate its started where i am. looks like doing them tonight then transfer them to my car tomoz. And yea COD all the way. you on xbox or ps3 pal?

Lenny when i go to connect into car, the 2 metre black red wire i got do i connect bothe leds to one end of that and then where does the other end black/red wire connect to? Cheers.

yes mate,

connect the two of the led pods to one end of the red&black cable.

then when connecting to the car, remove the front centre console panel on the passenger or drivers side,

and unplug one of the front footwell lights, trace back down the loom a bit then splice the red to the orange and the black to the black.

you will only need around 14 inches of the red&black cable for this job but it is sold in 2metre lengths and you can use it for many modifications like the bird batch illumination for the rear too.

best to leave it at the 2 metres until you have them installed and you are ready to splice in to the front footwell loom,

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yes mate,

connect the two of the led pods to one end of the red&black cable.

then when connecting to the car, remove the front centre console panel on the passenger or drivers side,

and unplug one of the front footwell lights, trace back down the loom a bit then splice the red to the orange and the black to the black.

you will only need around 14 inches of the red&black cable for this job but it is sold in 2metre lengths and you can use it for many modifications like the bird batch illumination for the rear too.

best to leave it at the 2 metres until you have them installed and you are ready to splice in to the front footwell loom,

All wires connected together to go into car tomoro. Ive just ran out now to look at a rough idea what im doing. Where or more how do i get to the passanger side footwell wires? is it the wires that are exactly where the bulb goes in behind that? if so how do i get to it. Looked challenging if im looking and thinking right here? Cheers

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