I just installed a spare tire. I got it off of ebay from someone who thought he needed the room for his system more than he needed the spare. Needless to say, I didn't have the installation instructions. I think I got it installed OK though. I have some questions and a couple of comments.

Questions:

1. I installed it so that the stops on the vertical parts of the support bar are resting on the clamps. It appears to me that the bar can be raised about 3/4 of an inch more before the top of the tire bumps up against the roof of the trunk. How do the rest of you have yours installed?

2. What is the strap with the three inch hooks used for?

3. Once I installed the spare, I couldn't fit the emergency tire repair kit in it's customary space. Is it supposed to still fit there? I guess now that I have the spare the only useful thing in the kit is the compressor, and that fits just fine, but I'd rather put the whole kit in.

Some observations:

This spare tire is a poorly designed afterthought:

1. It reduces a cavernous trunk to something that is suitable mainly for odd shapes and sizes. If you have kids and can't use the back seats for storage, the trunk is adequate for a multi-day outing without the spare. With the spare, forget it.

2. It blocks the trunk light.

3. The compressor supplied will only compress the spare up to 45 psi. The requirement is 60 psi. Yes, I know, they never figured to use the compressor on the spare, but it just seemed an obvious thing to try.

4. The spare blocks the utility of the pass-through door.

5. Despite these inconveniences, I just can't see traveling in the Mohave without an honest to goodness spare.

Originally posted by bernieunger
1. I installed it so that the stops on the vertical parts of the support bar are resting on the clamps. It appears to me that the bar can be raised about 3/4 of an inch more before the top of the tire bumps up against the roof of the trunk. How do the rest of you have yours installed? I got mine installed at port before I took delivery. If you want, I can take some pictures of the bar and trunk.2. What is the strap with the three inch hooks used for?Here you go: http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17599&highlight=spare+wheel.3. Is it supposed to still fit there? IYes, it is.Some observations: I agree. Valid points which have been made before.

Originally posted by brothervoodoo
I got mine installed at port before I took delivery. If you want, I can take some pictures of the bar and trunk.

No need. The thread that you referred me to has just the pictures I need. Thanks. The support IS all the way down to the stop. I notice that if I take it any heigher the tire would encroach on the Bose system amplifier. Maybe there is a heat issue?

Yes, it is.

That's weird. I see the pictures and there it is. I don't think I did anything different, but I can't fit the darn kit between the wheel and the vertical bar. Seeing the pics, though, I'm motivated to try again tonight.

I had no trouble laying the wheel in the trunk and tilting it up to where I could screw in the clamp without using the strap.
Maybe that's how I mispositioned the wheel so the kit won't fit. Contrary to the posts, the manual is very sparse on spare wheel info and I didn't see any mention of the strap there. I get the impression the the writer doesn't see the need for a spare.

Thanks again brothervoodoo

Here's a pic I posted a few weeks back...not sure it helps any.

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17295

Originally posted by i3man
Here's a pic I posted a few weeks back...not sure it helps any.


Compare your pic (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17295) with this one (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10852).

Some how, Bridged13B got his kit tucked away better. That's what I was trying to do yesterday and couldn't. Back to the drawing board.

I just left mine the way it came. I haven't messed with it at all.

Originally posted by i3man
I just left mine the way it came. I haven't messed with it at all.

That's good to know. That means I'm at least as good an installer as the hack they got at the port. That doesn't means it's the way the engineer originally designed it.

By the way, does your port-installed spare cover the functional trunk light? I'm hoping they found a good place to move it to. They've rendered it pretty useless in my car.