Replacing oem spare with a roadworthy spare. Story why inside.

moto932

Member
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08 cx-9 touring
storytime:

i recently went on a family vacation and got a flat when were were almost to our destination, 800 miles from home. the tire was trashed with a 2 inch gash in the tread. we get to the resort and start calling around. no one had a replacement in the area. finally ordered one online and had it shipped to the resort. got the tire and went to get it mounted. before i took it into the shop i noticed whatever i ran over that gave me the flat also poked the wheel(we have the 20" wheels) which put small dent in the center of the wheel. well, it had a very small crack where it was dented. so i had the shop remover the trashed tire and i go on my merry way. i called all the service shops, wheel supply houses, welders in the area, dealerships, junk yards, custom car shops and no one had a replacement OEM or aftermarket wheel just to get us home. having already put about 250 miles on the spare donut, i wasn't about to make the 800 mile drive home on it. this is where it gets sketchy after i exhausted all options. my last option was to put some JB weld over the small crack so it would hold air. went to home depot, got some JB weld and some sand paper and JB welded the inside and outside of the wheel where it was cracked. following day, next problem, nobody would mount the new tire because of the liability which i can understand. finally got a shop to put the tire on after i kinda hid the "patch" carrying the wheel into this one shop. i told the tech about it when he went to put air in it to get the tire on the bead so he wouldn't blow my JB weld off since i didn't know how strong it would be. well their balancer was broke so i had to find another shop that would balance the gimp wheel. well luckily i found another shop that was just getting ready to close and i sweet talked them into doing it for me. so i check the pressure in the parking lot and the patch is holding. i put the wheel with new tire on the suv in the shops parking lot and start our 800 mile trek home. as much as i didn't want to drive on a jerry rigged wheel, i had no other options. i took it slow the whole way home and we made it safe and sound.

now that we have replaced the damaged wheel, i want to replace the spare with something that you can actually travel a long distance on. i did a search and didn't find much. i read that the spare tire carrier holder won't fit through the center bore of the factory 20" wheel which is what i would like to replace the OEM spare with. i also read someone modified the tire carrier holder so it would work with the 20" wheel, but didn't say what he did to make it work.

so my question is: does anyone know of a roadworthy replacement spare tire, or how the modify the tire carrier holder to work with the factory 20" wheel?

thanks in advance for any info!

oh yah and, I'm ready for a vacation!

EDIT: my solution and how to do it is in post #6
 
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Great story. Thanks for sharing.
The OE wheels (18" or 20") won't fit in the spare tire bay. That much I am sure of.
 
then how does the 20" spare fit under there? it will fit but a full size will just hang a little lower since it is wider than the spare. i do know that the tire carrier nut won't fit through the center bore of the stock rims so i would have to do some reconfiguring there if i decide to do a full size spare. don't think the weight would be an issue but maybe i will look into a rim and tire that is a little less wide that the stockers to save weight just incase.
 
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Sorry that I wasn't clear.
You already answered the question "Why doesn't the stock tire/rim fit?"
It is the tire carrier nut.
Also, a stock rim/wheel there might interfere with the installation of hitch, if that matters.
 
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To moto, did you manage to get a full size spare yet? i am also interested in this as i had the same problem as yourself. I was fortunate that i only had a flat and when one shop told me that they couldn't fix it they sent me to another that did. This happened in florida. Flat tire repair is very expensive there. Double of what i paid in new york where i am from. Please let us know if you were able to fit a full size spare in there.
 
To moto, did you manage to get a full size spare yet? i am also interested in this as i had the same problem as yourself. I was fortunate that i only had a flat and when one shop told me that they couldn't fix it they sent me to another that did. This happened in florida. Flat tire repair is very expensive there. Double of what i paid in new york where i am from. Please let us know if you were able to fit a full size spare in there.

i sure did. at least im not the only one that had bad luck in florida. my experience was bad enough where i dont really care to go back to florida for a long time. my wife might have something to say about that though. could happen anywhere though, i guess. tire repair shops in vacation areas can charge that because they know people will pay it to get home.

heres what i did. first, i took the spare tire cable hoist off by removing the 6 nuts holding it on. then i removed the E clip holding the tire nut tight to the cable spring. you will not be putting this clip back on. next i took a grinder and cut the flanged edges off the sides. try not to take too much metal off at first. cut the flanges and do a test fit. you can always keep grinding a little more off until it slides thourgh. to get it though, you will slide the cable base and spring through first then the tire carrier nut. the last thing you need to do is grind off the little welded tab that held the tire carrier nut on the center bore of the original spare because it wont work with the factory 20" wheel. one thing you need to be careful about is when raising the full size spare, you need to make sure the tire carrier nut is centered and sitting flush in the center bore of the spare when the cable gets tight and starts to raise the wheel off the ground. luckily i was able to get the crack in the original wheel welded and saved one of the old tires so that its my new full size factory 20" spare. another reason to do this is if you get a flat on while going on vacation like you and i did then you have to put the flat somewhere inside the vehicle which is completely packed with luggage and the kitchen sink. horrible design by mazda. luckily i brought a couple bungie cords and put it up on the empty luggage rack. if you have any questions of if i left something out let me know. hope this helps.

here is a link for a picture of what i did to the tire carrier nut:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/360379/cat/500
 
Much appreciate the thread. Performed task this past weekend with no issues on our 2007 CX9 GT AWD. Picked up factory CX9 20X 7.5 wheel on Ebay for $280 in great condition (Expensive but a lot cheaper than new), mounted on single 245-50-20 Bridgestone Dueller I had been saving in garage for this occasion. Discount Tire mounted and balanced for $38. 2-3 hrs from start to finish including test fit to ensure trailer hitch clearance, grinder work, touch up paint on cable base and reinstall. Sits lower as expected but barely visible behind 2" modified trailer hitch I have in place of the original 1.25" hitch all within the factory 1.25" valence cut-out. Reason behind this, is we tow a 2009 StarCraft 18RB hybrid travel trailer for local, and long distance camping trips Houston, TX to Destin, FL as well as road trips to Colorado and next year Lake Tahoe. Feel a lot better having a spare tire while towing trailer or loaded vehicle for summer vacation as highlighted in earlier threads. Should have come this way from factory. Difference between spare and wheel weight was approx. 20lbs, ~ 43lb to 65lb or so. I am currently running 255 Yokohamas, looks like plenty of clearance for slight increase in diameter and yes I will swap in a 255 spare tire with next set of new tires.
 
My daughter lives 5 hr away and had a piece of road debris cut her tire today. She has been trying to find a replacement tire for her CX9 Touring in central Georgia. Discount tire has tire but 2 hr wait. She wants to avoid this from repeating so I'm looking for full size spare solution. Her rims are 18" not 20" but your solution sounds great. Thanks for posting! Now to find a rim...
 
Moto932, thank you for the information! This is exactly what I was looking for. I had a similar bad experience on vacation, unable to find a replacement tire while on the road, but was luckily able to get someone to patch it (after Walmart refused) and limped home to Texas.

I was determined to install a real spare, only to be bummed after measuring the existing center support and researching that it would not fit, but this is a great solution.
 
Moto932, thank you for the information! This is exactly what I was looking for. I had a similar bad experience on vacation, unable to find a replacement tire while on the road, but was luckily able to get someone to patch it (after Walmart refused) and limped home to Texas.

I was determined to install a real spare, only to be bummed after measuring the existing center support and researching that it would not fit, but this is a great solution.

(2thumbs)
 
Thanks for the post! Glad you made it out alive. I always drop the spare and fill to 60 pounds prior to any road trip in our cx-9 but even so, the temp spare can only get you so far. Had I been in the same situation as the OP, I would have probly just rented a vehicle from Enterprise, or bought a wheel off ebay, as there are ton's of 20's for cx-9's on ebay for cheap. But in any event, its never a fun situation to be in, and generally speaking, 99% of time when you have an incident where the actual wheel is damaged, you're not just gonna be able to replace the wheel. You'lle have a full blow insurance claim, needing suspension / steering parts. You just had a very unusual circumstance where it was between needing a tire and filing an insurance claim...which is very rare to have a dent with a crack in the wheel.
 
As I read the story, I was thinking about what I would do in the same situation, and took a look at Tire Rack. They will sell a wheel and tire together, with the tire mounted and balanced. That would mean that anywhere Tire Rack can deliver, you could get a complete replacement sent and installation wouldn't even require a tire shop. Sure, you be left with some work to do (getting an OEM Mazda wheel, selling the Tire Rack wheel, and getting the tire moved) but it would get you home easily and safely.

For the price some last-resort tire shop might charge for a new tire and mounting, the Tire Rack price for a wheel plus tire might look pretty good.

Just trying to sort out the options, in case this ever happens.
 
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