Prius Plugin's lack of spare tire.

Most (not all) of you will just call a wrecker and you know it. If your tire's condition is such that you just need to add air to get to the dealership or a tire store, then you have not been checking your tires. If you choose the Toyota slime or a roadside plug, and assuming this temporary repair takes, I could change four tires easily before you get done. Respectfully, ya'll do what you want, it is your life and your car. I will never...ever be caught without a serviceable spare, going to the corner or across the country. But hey...that's just me.

 

You actually tried the HF unit above on your Prius? I just saw it this weekend. Before I got the Slime Digital, I read the Amazon blogs. Some 12V tire inflators requiring 15A still blew out some fuses although not sure which types of cars, so I chose the one that was tried by a Prius.

 

In our local area, have had the TMPS come on 3 times for nails. Wouldn't need a spare for this occasion if this type of incident happened on a trip and close enough to roll into a station. We bring the GenII touring spare on longer trips.

 

Yes- I actually used it this past weekend when I changed out my winter tires for summer tires- it didn't blow the Prius accessory outlet fuse.

 

I got one of these a couple of weeks ago. On sale for ~$5. I tried it to just add ~2 psi to make sure it worked. It worked OK, but the pressure gauge is totally off...reads about 15 psi too high. But then I have a digital pressure gauge that cost more than the compressor that works fine.

Mike

 

That's good to know for a portable garage compressor but PriusMike says the gauge on his HF was 15psi over, it seems it would be hard to estimate when to stop filling. The Slime Digital 12V is within 2psi and has auto shutoff. Granted, it's more than $5. It also fits in the corner pocket. I did pick up at HF a perfect lightweight 5'x7' tarp for the cargo area for $3 though.

 

can you provide some instructions on how to do this? I'd really love to do it myself. can't believe toyota doesn't support this "out of the box".

 

Trust me- at the rate the $8.99 HF pump inflates- it would be almost impossible to over inflate your tire- unless you started the pump- went inside, ate supper (and dessert and coffee) watched the evening news then came out 20 min after that...

 

Sure. I'll put up some pics here with description..(description on top of pics)

First, look at the short nipple on the pump...this is what the tube is connected to...and there's not much area for a friction fit and no barbs so the tube must be a tight fit. I had some perfectly sized tubing on hand.





Then a pic with the tube clamped on. The clamp is on an angle to get maximum grip since the clamp doesn't have much room and you still have to screw it tight.





Third pic shows the tube and joint and final section that I cut off one of those $5 Harbor Freight cheapy compressors that was next to useless. And I had it on hand also. (Hey, I even keep crap to repair crap. )





Next pic is a close up of the middle joint.





This is similar to the barbed hose fitting I used on the center joint. Barbs on one end that fit into the last black section and threads on the other that I "screwed" into the clear tube. Clamps on both.





I had originally put everything back into it's storage spot with the tube bent over so it would fit. Thanks to your request Lensovet, I took it out for pics and noticed the tube had basically welded itself shut from the bend so now I'll leave the tube off and attach it if necessary. The needle nose pliers I keep in the car to remove any nails/screws from flats work perfectly to expand the tube end larger to fit over the compressor's nipple. Pic showing the "weld" on the previous connection on the tube's end.





These pics are hosted by Photobucket that limits visitor's bandwidth so once that's exceeded the pics won't show for something like another month. So since you asked Lensovet, hopefully you'll be one of the first people to see the pics.

 

Thanks! I was wondering if you could provide the diameters of the parts? Also, presumably some more flexible tubing shouldn't have the welding problem.

 

Right on !

 

finally got a spare! funny story, i was getting my toyotacare 8000 mile check up, and i asked at the parts counter how much the compact spare would be. after coming up with about $400., he goes out back and comes out with a spare. he said they got it from a salvage yard and then didn't need it and i could have it for $135. so i got my free oil change and tire rotation, plus $29. state inspection. total was $164 for the inspection and tire and tax, and i had a coupon for 15% off and a $150. gift card they gave me for messing up my pip preorder. so at the end of the day, they still owe me $2.

 

Your donut came out a lot cheaper than mine. Nice going!

 

That's hard to beat. Good job. The only benefit from the CA State ripoff artist is: Since 2005 I have not had any type of inspection on my Prii. Probably just a accidental F U !

 

thanks guys, it's nice to know i'll have it if needed. i'm thinking of building a little plywood shelf like yours andy, so when i have to take the spare, it's flat on top instead of piling things up on it.

 

Thus far, it's working pretty good, with my power cables on the trunk floor and the top shelf completely clear.

 

maybe a hinged lid and the cable coiled on top of the tire?

 

The doughnut only lies flat with the center opening down, otherwise it wobbles. I also wanted to use that space. You could make a carrier for the doughnut so it is stable and you can use that opening in the spare.

 

now we're getting creative! the fact is, i will only take the donut when i leave town. and i never leave town.

 

I will only take the donut when I leave town which is about 3-4 times a year to see my brother, it's a 500 mile round trip, other than that it's almost all in town driving.