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Experience with the doughnut spare tire

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by CaliforniaBear, Apr 3, 2013.

  1. css28

    css28 Senior Member

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    Temporary spares have been around for decades. They are a compromise but work well if used appropriately.

    I second the previous comment about Subarus. Ours has an empty fuse socket under the hood labeled AWD or FWD (I forget). You need to put a fuse in that socket to disable the all-wheel drive. Otherwise the system freaks out that one of the tire must be slipping and potentially burns out an integral clutch pack.
     
  2. bsh

    bsh New Member

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    I was told that a standard size tire will not fit in the spare wheelwell? Do you know if it will? Thank you.
     
  3. bsh

    bsh New Member

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    I was VERY lucky. It was a Friday, about 4 PM and I was on my way to VT for the weekend. 1. My son was with me. 2. the flat happened directly across the street from an auto repair shop--so not a long drive!--, and 3! They had a tire that fit my Prius--15". It would have been pretty miserable if I had had to finish the trip at no more than 40 - 45 mph with over 200 miles to go. I lucked out but it made me nervous about having a donut.
     
  4. Robert Holt

    Robert Holt Senior Member

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    To recap:
    Donut was at 40 psi but I had air pump and could inflate to 60 psi before installing on vehicle. Very worried about driving donut on very rough road, so was driving only 10-15 mph and dodging potholes for 30 miles to Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. Jack is flimsy and unstable on dirt road. Jack handle is flimsy and awkward to turn with tire completely flat as chassis is quite low to the ground. Would prefer full-sized spare.
     
  5. Robert Holt

    Robert Holt Senior Member

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    I purchased a used OEM rim for my 2012 hatchback and had a standard Prius sized tire installed on it. Weighing that combo versus the donut was only 12 pounds more IIRC, and it will ALMOST fit in that wheel well if you remove everything else. It can be crammed in, but it sticks up about 2 inches further in the rear, so the black plastic tub does not fit right. I designed a replacement out of plywood but would prefer to modify the tub so it all fits. Am currently seeking a used plastic tub to experiment on. Will report later. Exploring human-electric hybrids for next 2 weeks.
    If anyone else has already solved this problem, please let me know how you did it so I can save some time/effort!
    Cheers!
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think a temp spare is the sweet spot. A full size spare used to be the norm, our '81 Civic had a full size spare, matched the other tires on the vehicle. It was great. Uh oh, talking myself into it, must stop...

    Anyway, a temp spare is the current norm, it saves space, and it will get you down the road, albeit cautiously. And I think it would take insurmountable effort to get manufacturers to revert to full size spare, now. It saves weight, space, and $ for the manufacturer. I'm inclined to keep it stock, and considering what happens if you try to shoe horn a full size spare in there, I'm ok with the temp.

    The pump with sealant, per the PIP, I'm not ok with. Because with the various scenarios that can happen, you're pretty much screwed. Even if the puncture is not a gash in the sidewall, is repairable with goop, you're looking at a nice clean up expense, have likely ruined the TPMS, and so on.

    And if the goop doesn't work, due to the gash being too or whatever, you're totally hooped.
     
    CaliforniaBear likes this.
  7. lenjack

    lenjack Active Member

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    It's something we all ignore. You should check the pressure in the spare at least TWICE a year. Maybe 3 times. It's so easy to ignore till its too late. You can get an extension hose for the tire that will enable you to check it without having to remove the tire. Said extension hose is about $8.
     
  8. Dakotamiles

    Dakotamiles New Member

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    Having bought a set of winter tires and rims, I tried to put the original tire in the space for the donut. I figure that the donut is okay for driving around town but I'd rather have the full size tire when going on a road trip. There are parts of South Dakota that are many miles far from the next place that can fix a flat.

    So I can verify that a regular size tire won't fit in the space for the spare, and that flattening the utility tray seems like it would help. I could just leave it out and pile the spare tools on top of the spare tire though.

    I noticed that there is an air duct connected to the traction battery under the utility tray. Will the battery not get ventilated right if I don't have the tray in place? Any concern about overheating it?
     
    Robert Holt likes this.
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Full size spare is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist: just creates a series of complications, as you've listed. I'd stick with the temp. It works, and fits. ;)
     
  10. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    I hate the doughnut spare, so when I bought my new 98 Camry, I decided to replace the spare with a full size tire. I waited until I had worn out my first set of tires, kept the best one, went to a junkyard, bought the proper size wheel, took the tire and wheel to a tire shop, had the tire mounted and balanced, threw my new sparein the trunk and went home to replace the doughnut. When I lifted up the cover over the spare, imagine my surprise to discover that Toyota had included a full size spare, there was no doughnut spare. NOW it's funny, then, not so much.
     
  11. Robert Holt

    Robert Holt Senior Member

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    My analysis is that the rear edge with the angled wall next to the exhaust from the HV battery serves to direct the airflow to the 12-volt battery to help cool that. Whether the 12-volt battery will overheat without that cooling is a relevant question, and is the reason I wish to preserve the basic tub on top of a full-sized spare.
    My second opinion is that the tub has been designed to prevent water or other liquids from infiltrating in to the spare tire well and possibly the HV battery casing, which would very possibly have disastrous results. So my preference for altering the plastic tub to fit a full-sized spare would be to re-shape the part over the rearmost part of the spare to give the extra 2 inches or so needed to allow it to all fit together properly. I was going to cut out and raise a crescent-shaped section and then reglue it in a slightly raised position. An alternative approach would be to melt the plastic in that area to reshape it in a higher position, but I am not sure if it is a,thermoplastic and, if so, what the working temperature might be.
    What approaches are you considering?