So I get out of work a bit early, ready to take in a beautiful Florida Winter drive home and.. FLAT TIRE Luckily I had a spare tire (no rim) at home, so I called my pit crew* and managed to pump enough air into the flat to limp shamefully to the local tire shop, where they quickly determined my PZero was trashed and resorted to mounting my spare tire on the rim, and off I went. I have flatbed service, but honestly, I can change a tire in 30 minutes with a jack and be on my way. Many of you just carry the fix-a-flat. Is that a real mess to clean up when you have the new tire mounted? Anyone have an ugly rim lying around that holds air they want to part with for a reasonable fee? If not, is anyone else interested in perhaps buying and splitting a set of 4 so we all have a spare? Just thinking out loud while I enjoy my Spaten. *Wife, Niece and Daughter
Ooooh. Sorry this happened to you bud. By the way, Spaten ale, lager or Hefe (which has incidentally become my favorite Hefe of late)?
I have an entire extra set that I have been thinking of using one to make a spare, but didn't know what to do with the other 3. Couldn't sell them as a set every again. May be an idea to sell off 3 of them as singles and keep one for myself...
The rear's are wider than the fronts, if you split up a set, how would you get around fitting a rear rim to the front of your car? Just thinking out loud.
Duh-----Dumba$$ me didn't think about that....I guess a front will fit either way, but the rear may be too big for the front...Oh well - I'll just keep them -----then again I have seen single wheels fronts and rears sell on Ebay---I guess someone who bent the heck out of a rear may be looking for one....
Every wheel on a 348 is unique to its location... but I spoze if it was just used as a spare to get you home or to the tire shop, it would'nt matter. You can use a front on the rear, but not a rear on the front... so only the front wheels would make suitable spares. If you really want a spare, you'd be better off to find a car that came with a space-saver spare, with a 5x108 bolt pattern from a junkyard or something. You'll also need to buy some short lug bolts off ebay... and you may have to drill some holes in the rim for those pins in the rotors to stick thru.
+1. You might want to call tirerack, they have the small spares. You could ask if they have that bolt pattern.
That's a good call. I actually was aware that they were different sizes, but with a separate set of lug bolts I figure you could at least limp to the nearest service station. In any case, a small spare would be a better solution. I'll see if I can track down a good thrid-party solution and I will share any findings with the brotherhood.
but are they directional like the 348s? yeah, i would sell them one by one on ebay. there is always someone who just needs ONE and not a whole set
Why not just order one Enkei 17x7 with a 5x108 bolt pattern with a Kumho Ecsta AST tire mounted from streetdreams.org? http://www.streetdreams.org/wheels/rims/Enkei/CDR9/Silver/17/7 The wheel is $140, and the tire should be less than $100. So for around $250 you have a spare wheel and tire that you can use in a pinch. BT
Great idea. I was concerned with mixing wheel types for balance issues, but frankly, I suppose anything in the ballpark is good enough to get 10-15 miles at low speed.
The only caution would be to get shorter bolts if the stock ones do not compresss the wheel and carry a wrench to remove the mounting nibs... The streetdreams.org guys were really helpful when I ordered some tires from them recently and actually called the importer to confirm the hub diameter of a British car I have. I'd give them an A+. If you email them a picture of a wheel bolt they would probably know if it would work with the wheel I spec'd. You can go to their site and see what wheels are offered by bolt pattern... BT
