lame spare tire bracket

uiuc240

Member
:
2002 Protege5
You will *not* believe what happened to me this morning...

Well, last night I picked up a screw in my passenger side front tire. This morning, I got ready for work, and went outside to put on the spare tire. I got out all the tools and started removing the bolt that holds the spare in place in the trunk. For some reason, it was *really* hard to spin off, but I just kept going. I stopped for a bit and took a break to go loosen the lugs on the wheel with the screw in it, and then get the jack in place. Then I went back to the spare. I kept wrenching on it and then finally *squeak*...the pressure was gone. I looked down to find out that I had completely ripped the welded nut-sert apart. This meant that the bolt was stuck in place and I can't remove my spare tire. At all. I even tried literally ripping it out of the car. So I stood there for a while thinking of what I should do, and then I just decided to tighten the bolts on the wheel and just drive the car to the nearest tire store.

Unreal. I'm just glad that this didn't happen on some road trip, because I would have been stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to access the spare tire. How ridiculous. I'm sure it was because some monkey in the past put the spare in place and tightened the bolt down with an impact wrench...it was on there so tight. It's not designed to handle that kind of pressure.

Any ideas on fixing this issue? At the moment, I have no way of tightening down my spare, or getting it out of my car. Right now I'm thinking of just cutting off the bolt and removing the spare completely...thoughts?

Eric
 
this has happened to a couple people...

I'd cut it off and get a new base re-welded for the spare (or just let it float in there).
This is a good reminder to check your spare often, make sure it has good pressure and that you can get it out! :)
It may be because the last person to put the spare in overtightened it (it doesn't need to be ungodly tight). As for anyone else who runs into this, try hitting it with some PB Blaster and let it sit for 10-30 minutes, then try again.
 
Interesting...so the Mazda design is probably a little weaker than it should be. I'm going to start by seeing how bad it is if it's just floating in there and then decide if I need a new base. Or maybe just take the spare out and get a can of Fix-A-Flat.
 
This obviously doesn't help you if you actually need to use the spare on the side of the road...but maybe letting some air out of the spare would reduce the friction on the bolt.
 
uiuc240 said:
Interesting...so the Mazda design is probably a little weaker than it should be. I'm going to start by seeing how bad it is if it's just floating in there and then decide if I need a new base. Or maybe just take the spare out and get a can of Fix-A-Flat.

horrible idea!

Fix-A-Flat destroyes the inside of your rims and tires, ask any tire shop.
Also, fix-a-flat cannot repair a large leak/total blowout or bent rim.
 
mogi said:
horrible idea!

Fix-A-Flat destroyes the inside of your rims and tires, ask any tire shop.
Also, fix-a-flat cannot repair a large leak/total blowout or bent rim.

I was mostly kidding. I was aware of this...just illustrating my frustration. I'll probably just end up fixing the bracket or just leaving the tire in there loose if it doesn't rattle around too much.
 
mine is just sitting loose. Doesnt really rattle at all unless i go over train tracks or something. I have a bit of extra room around the tire where i keep a can of WD-40, pair of work gloves, extension cord for my block heater, etc etc.
 
Back