2017 CX-5 Spare Tire Mod for U.S.

...the larger wheel now takes up the empty space where I used to put my heavy duty emergency orange triangles, and with cargo space at a premium, I didn't want the triangles up in the cargo area, I wanted them to remain in the hidden spare tire compartment, so I cut a little of the foam to the left of the spare, that extra foam was useless and doing nothing and just taking up precious space. Now everything fits nice and neatly and ready for any emergency.


Thanks Bigtex for the heads up on the mismatched spare.

I like the trick for the triangles. I think I have the same ones. I've got to remember to do this.
 
Geez, thanks a lot guys, now I need to go spend another $200! (bang) Just checked my '14 GT and yup, I've got the 16" small spare. Never noticed it before, but now it's gotta go! (yes)

On a different note, my spare came with a black plastic "spinner" with the hold down bolt embedded in it (I have Bose, but there is no spare wheel subwoofer). Then I noticed that there was a yellow plastic "spinner" off to the right in the molded styrofoam around the spare. I pulled it out and noticed that the bolt in it was longer which I assume means that it would be long enough to hold down the OEM 19" wheel in the wheel well. So I shouldn't need to mod that bolt at least when I get a proper-sized spare.

A followup question: The Kumho T121 says the rim width range is 4"-4", yet the wheel is 5.5". Is that going to be a problem? Hopefully not since I just ordered the wheel!

Further update: Tire rack says that the tire won't work with the 5.5" rim width, so I think I'll go with the 18" option like Tomcat1446 used.
 
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I like the trick for the triangles. I think I have the same ones. I've got to remember to do this.

Thx yeah, it's the same heavy duty type that truckers use, good heavy weight and large big bright oranges triangles when unfolded, they are pretty standard and readily available on eBay, I got them cheap like $12 for two, but they sell them in 3s in a red plastic box https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)

Prior to knowing about the mismatched spare tire, the smaller tire left enough gap for the triangles on each side of the smaller spare, with the right size spare now, the triangles no longer fit.

Then noticed that huge chunk of styrofoam on the left of the spare taking up a lot for space where I can fit the two triangles, took a quick measurement and used a handsaw to trimmed off the foam to fit the two triangles, perfect fit and didn't need to sacrifice any precious cargo area.
 
Geez, thanks a lot guys, now I need to go spend another $200! (bang) Just checked my '14 GT and yup, I've got the 16" small spare. Never noticed it before, but now it's gotta go! (yes)

On a different note, my spare came with a black plastic "spinner" with the hold down bolt embedded in it (I have Bose, but there is no spare wheel subwoofer). Then I noticed that there was a yellow plastic "spinner" off to the right in the molded styrofoam around the spare. I pulled it out and noticed that the bolt in it was longer which I assume means that it would be long enough to hold down the OEM 19" wheel in the wheel well. So I shouldn't need to mod that bolt at least when I get a proper-sized spare.

A followup question: The Kumho T121 says the rim width range is 4"-4", yet the wheel is 5.5". Is that going to be a problem? Hopefully not since I just ordered the wheel!

Further update: Tire rack says that the tire won't work with the 5.5" rim width, so I think I'll go with the 18" option like Tomcat1446 used.
You found something about the temporary spares on the rim width. All of these temporary spare tires are fit on 4" rim width. I believe bigtex overlooked this part and chose a wheel a little too wide for those temporary spares.

Further, turned out Mazda USA does have 18x4 spare wheel listed in its parts ONLY for CX-5 AWD! This further proves T155/90D18 113M was supposed to be the spare for our CX-5 AWD but got pulled in the last minute in favor of saving some pennies for Mazda! (pissed)

WHEEL, SPARE 18X4 - MAZDA (9965-01-4080) List Price: $270.69

When I saw the jaw-dropping price of the 18X4 wheel, I'm really jealous of tomcat1446 found such a fairly new 18" spare tire for only $65!!! ;)

And the longer yellow flat-tire hold-on bolt is for damaged road tire which is much wider than the temporary spare. bigtex's mod on spare hold-on bolt is for 2017 CX-5 which comes with a sub-woofer on Bose. According to 2017 CX-5 Owner's Manual, there should be a longer flat-tire hold-on bolt with wing nut somewhere with Bose sub-woofer. His mod on bolt may not be needed.
 
I think Bigtex might be ok, I found this chart online,

for rim width 5.5" : minimum tire width is 165mm like the Kumho T121, it's not ideal but acceptable.

max tire width allowed is 195mm but might be difficult to find the perfect aspect ratio to match Mazda CX-5.

am I missing something?

jHVET.png
 
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You found something about the temporary spares on the rim width. All of these temporary spare tires are fit on 4" rim width. I believe bigtex overlooked this part and chose a wheel a little too wide for those temporary spares.

Further, turned out Mazda USA does have 18x4 spare wheel listed in its parts ONLY for CX-5 AWD! This further proves T155/90D18 113M was supposed to be the spare for our CX-5 AWD but got pulled in the last minute in favor of saving some pennies for Mazda! (pissed)

WHEEL, SPARE 18X4 - MAZDA (9965-01-4080) List Price: $270.69

When I saw the jaw-dropping price of the 18X4 wheel, I'm really jealous of tomcat1446 found such a fairly new 18" spare tire for only $65!!! ;)

And the longer yellow flat-tire hold-on bolt is for damaged road tire which is much wider than the temporary spare. bigtex's mod on spare hold-on bolt is for 2017 CX-5 which comes with a sub-woofer on Bose. According to 2017 CX-5 Owner's Manual, there should be a longer flat-tire hold-on bolt with wing nut somewhere with Bose sub-woofer. His mod on bolt may not be needed.

Wow, good find yrwei52, you are right , this proves we were always suppose to get the T155/90D18 113M , but Mazda just threw in the smaller spare to save money without regard to their customers..... does that $270.69 include the rubber tire?? or just the steel wheel ?

I see more and more the trend where mfg don;t even include a spare anymore, just a can of fix a flat, for the spare you have to pay separately now.... :(

OEM spare kits run like $200 on Amazon.... https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
 
Geez, thanks a lot guys, now I need to go spend another $200! (bang) Just checked my '14 GT and yup, I've got the 16" small spare. Never noticed it before, but now it's gotta go! (yes)

On a different note, my spare came with a black plastic "spinner" with the hold down bolt embedded in it (I have Bose, but there is no spare wheel subwoofer). Then I noticed that there was a yellow plastic "spinner" off to the right in the molded styrofoam around the spare. I pulled it out and noticed that the bolt in it was longer which I assume means that it would be long enough to hold down the OEM 19" wheel in the wheel well. So I shouldn't need to mod that bolt at least when I get a proper-sized spare.

A followup question: The Kumho T121 says the rim width range is 4"-4", yet the wheel is 5.5". Is that going to be a problem? Hopefully not since I just ordered the wheel!

Further update: Tire rack says that the tire won't work with the 5.5" rim width, so I think I'll go with the 18" option like Tomcat1446 used.

The T121 in the 165/90R17 has a section width of 6.3" and will work perfectly fine on the factory Mazda 17" spare wheel I listed earlier. It does end up being about 1.5" wider than the 18" option, which I like but really doesn't matter that much, and the diameter is still correct. That, along with the fact that the 18" wheel was much more expensive when I was looking, along with a more expensive tire, is why I went the 17" route. If you can find a good used 18" one like tomcat did, that would be the best option. Even if you find an old one and replace the tire, it may still be cheaper than the 17" option. Glad this is working out for you guys.
 
for rim width 5.5" : minimum tire width is 165mm like the Kumho T121, it's not ideal but acceptable.
minnesotaart noticed 4" rim width spec for those temporary spare tires. With the different design and very high inflation pressure at 60 psi, those temporary spares may need narrower rim as specified by the tire manufactures. The chart you posted may only be applicable to regular road tires.
 
Wow, good find yrwei52, you are right , this proves we were always suppose to get the T155/90D18 113M , but Mazda just threw in the smaller spare to save money without regard to their customers..... does that $270.69 include the rubber tire?? or just the steel wheel ?

I see more and more the trend where mfg don;t even include a spare anymore, just a can of fix a flat, for the spare you have to pay separately now.... :(

OEM spare kits run like $200 on Amazon.... https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
$270.69 list on 18X4 spare wheel is just for the steel wheel, a new Dunlop Space Miser T155/90D18 113M costs another $109.46 from Tire Rack! That's why I envy tomcat1446 found a fairly new T155/90D18 spare for only $65!

I believe giving a can of Fix-a-Flat is better than giving a wrong-sized spare to the car owners. This smaller spare may demage our AWD system when we're using it for longer period of time, and we simply don't want to deal that potential risk!
 
minnesotaart noticed 4" rim width spec for those temporary spare tires. With the different design and very high inflation pressure at 60 psi, those temporary spares may need narrower rim as specified by the tire manufactures. The chart you posted may only be applicable to regular road tires.

In my opinion, they recommend the narrow wheels and tires because they save weight and increase fuel economy ever so slightly. Those temporary spares need high PSI because they are so skinny and need the air pressure to provide enough load carrying capacity. Road bicycle tires require 100 to 130 PSI, but the wheel is only about 1" wide and only carrying a person.

And as far as wheel width, here is a 165/90R17 temporary tire at TireRack that shows rim width range of 4" to 5.5". https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...wall=Blackwall&partnum=69MR7CST17V2&tab=Specs

I wouldn't just trust a guy at Tirerack because he tells me something without looking into it myself. But I would stick with the 4" width wheel if you are going with the narrower 145 or 155 mm width tire.
 
I think Bigtex might be ok, I found this chart online,

for rim width 5.5" : minimum tire width is 165mm like the Kumho T121, it's not ideal but acceptable.

max tire width allowed is 195mm but might be difficult to find the perfect aspect ratio to match Mazda CX-5.

am I missing something?

No, you are correct that 165 is fine for the 5 1/2" wheel. Also, notice Mazda is using 225's on our stock 17X7 and 19X7 wheels which is the max width available for a 7" rim.
 
bigtex's mod on spare hold-on bolt is for 2017 CX-5 which comes with a sub-woofer on Bose. According to 2017 CX-5 Owner's Manual, there should be a longer flat-tire hold-on bolt with wing nut somewhere with Bose sub-woofer. His mod on bolt may not be needed.

The longer bolt with the wing nut that you mention is included, but it bottoms out about 1" before it gets tight on the bose speaker with the 5.5" wheel, but you are correct it will work with the full size rim. With the 18X4 wheel, the factory hold down bolt already used for the spare should work without modifications.
 
Well folks, today I SCORED!

I just brought home this Kumho spare tire for $45. I did some research and figured out that rims for Hyundai and Kia match Mazda's as far as center bore and bolt pattern. Using this I found that tires on newer Kia Sorento's and Hyundai Santa Fe's are 29.1". From there I figured that since ours were 28.7 and we know that there aren't that many different temporary tires made that the spare for one of those must fit our CX-5's.

So I went online and found that our local salvage yard had a wrecked 2017 Kia Sorento with 3,000 miles. They listed the spare as Grade A and $45 (plus $3.20 tax). I just brought it home and cleaned it up. Sure enough its a Kumho T165/90R17 118M which is the same as the T121 at Tire Rack. The date code on the tire is 0816, so it's not brand new, but it's newer than the small donut I just pulled from CX-5. I'm a happy camper! (idhitit)

SpareTire.jpg
 
AWESOME find minnesotaart !!! only $45, you win LOL, that's a bargain, what is the width on the Kia Sorrento steel rims ? 17 x ?? is it like Mazda 17 x 5.5" ?
 
AWESOME find minnesotaart !!! only $45, you win LOL, that's a bargain, what is the width on the Kia Sorrento steel rims ? 17 x ?? is it like Mazda 17 x 5.5" ?

17 x 4" which is what Kumho says (on their website) is the only width compatible with that tire.
 
bigtex - I need to remove those extra bumpers from the bottom of the wheel well cover too. How did you do it?
 
Well folks, today I SCORED!
I just brought home this Kumho spare tire for $45.
Great find! I'm still looking but nothing around here yet ⋯ :(

As far as removing those foam blocks, have you tried using the razor blade or dental floss?
 
bigtex - I need to remove those extra bumpers from the bottom of the wheel well cover too. How did you do it?

I just pulled them off. A little glue residue was all that was left.

I would measure how much thicker your new spare is vs the old one. Since you used a 4" width wheel it may be a little narrower than mine but it may be fine. And I just noticed yours is a '14, so the bumpers may be a different size. Mine were about 2" thick I think.

Nice find on the Kia spare!
 
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Well folks, today I SCORED!

I just brought home this Kumho spare tire for $45. I did some research and figured out that rims for Hyundai and Kia match Mazda's as far as center bore and bolt pattern. Using this I found that tires on newer Kia Sorento's and Hyundai Santa Fe's are 29.1". From there I figured that since ours were 28.7 and we know that there aren't that many different temporary tires made that the spare for one of those must fit our CX-5's.

So I went online and found that our local salvage yard had a wrecked 2017 Kia Sorento with 3,000 miles. They listed the spare as Grade A and $45 (plus $3.20 tax). I just brought it home and cleaned it up. Sure enough its a Kumho T165/90R17 118M which is the same as the T121 at Tire Rack. The date code on the tire is 0816, so it's not brand new, but it's newer than the small donut I just pulled from CX-5. I'm a happy camper! (idhitit)
Good on the center bore and bolt pattern. What about offset? Did you try putting the spare on your CX-5 to verify fit?
 
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