Nice idea, looks sweat.

But I'll second Nicole's concern and say that even that D-ring on the leather strap Andrew pointed out might not be enough to keep the wheel in place in even a low speed wreak. I mean my concern would be how well that D ring is connected to the wheel cover or where it is anchored to.

Perhaps a steel cable tether rather than a leather strap would be the fix needed. Running the cable up through the bottom of the spare tire cover & feed through wheel lug holes and the other end attached to the car via a cleat (under the carpet) on the rear deck or other hard point to minimize movement. That way it’d be securely anchored yet can still be removed easily when needed and the cable can be stashed under the rear tool cover.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I agree that the mounting system could be more secure, and that's something I'll look at for v.2. I like the idea of a one piece strap that passes through the wheel, or Bret's "hidden cable" idea is good, too.

 

Chaad,

That would look ridiculous in my car.

OK, that would make my car look ridiculous because it's so clean and OEM looking, while my car is, well, not.

Nice solution! Looks very clean.

 

I agree that it would kind of break up the OEM look for those who made better use of the spare tire compartment. But I think Chaad's idea is really only meant for those long drives where a spare would make sense, not necessarily for daily use where around town tripple A would have a faster response time or you could limp into and/or walk to a gas station to have that flat fixed.

Great solution for those of us who plan to long trips with long intervals between services where waiting for the tow truck might not be the best option. Besides on long trips chances are besides the spare the back hatch area would be cluttered up & filled with other stuff like overnight bags etc. So who cares what it looks like

Again great idea. Just look at securing it a little better.

 

Taking Nicole's numbers 40G means it will essentially act as if it weighs 40x as much - a stock Porsche wheel is usually 20-30lbs? so we are talking about 800lbs - 1200lbs equivalent - I'd want to be sure not only the straps but also the body of the cover could hold that much (as well as the anchor points - presumably the existing tie down loops).

I agree it looks nicely done - but maybe an internal strap sewn securely to the external straps could hook to the wheel center somehow... This should still be easy to add on and would not affect the look at all.

Whoops - I should have read page 2... I would do webbing to match the interior - webbing is plenty strong enough and much easier to hande than wire. Leather is not a great choice except just as a matching cover over the webbing.

Alan

 

Sweet!

 

Hi Mac! Glad you like it. Here are a few pics of yours (I swung by the house this morning and popped it in for you!).

This is the v.1.2 with the tidier, stronger, better placed mounts. The color match is not quite as good as I'd hoped (the flash makes it look more stark, too), but it looks good; a lot better than the naked tire! Also, I'm thinking an actual hood badge would be a cool emblem, rather than an embroidered patch. Lemme know.

 

Chad--

Why is the spare out of the well when you have that woofer mounted up on the deck in your dad's car? What's in the well?

Engineers are trained to look at the worst things that can happen, then assign some probablity to that event so an importance factor can be determined. Worst thing that could happen would be a high-speed accident that would cause that tire to come flying forward through the cabin. Loose stuff in the car becomes charged with energy that's of the opposite of what's in your head, such that all loose stuff in the car during an accident will seek out and find your head. Maybe the tire won't fit between the seats, so you'll be OK so long as the latch on the rear seatback holds during the impact. What's the probability?

 

Dr. Bob, he's got crossovers and amps in there.

Yeah, that's the question, and one I can't answer definitively. BUT, I figure it's far less likely than me getting a flat!

 

I was in an accident in a 924 years back, I had the sunroof out and not strapped/latched down. The roof came flying forward in the impact and I was lucky, it managed to not find my head but it DID break the seat bolts on the passenger seat on impact.

It can happen. I am guessing that these straps should be OK as they look no less secure than the nylon straps in the 924/944 roof covers. I am also thinking that the tire compressor and other stuff in there combined w/the tire are quite a bit heavier than the sunroof so who knows.

It is a really good idea though none the less for long road trips. Just need to figure out the latching down. Maybe there is a bolt or something back in that corner that you could use for a braided cable to attach to the rim? For that matter it would be really easy, stitch a 2-3in hole in the botom of the cover, grab a bike cable (available in all kinds of colors) 2-3ft and loop it thru the wheel center and back to that same location you are using, and fasten it w/a carrabeaner. That should work pretty well.

Michael

 

You should consider including some disclaimer/waiver paperwork with each unit. As others have pointed out, that tire could become dangerous in any sort of frontal impact.

 

Chaad, looks good to me, Thanks

 

Frontal impact? Hell, slamming on the brakes will cause something as heavy as a wheel to be deadly. The rear seats will NOT hold this back. Ever see a crash test where a 200lb person is thrown over the front seats?

I travel without a spare - call me crazy. If a new Ferrari comes with a tube of "fix-a-flat" it's good enough for me.

 

Looks good but as others said its very dangerous! Doesn't really matter how strong the cover is, the anchor point will be the weak link. That part is nothing more than a thin piece of plastic and it will snap even in a very slow collision. I would run a small chain behind the tool cover and anchor it to the body of the car, then run the chain throught, under the tire cover and around the tire. You can make a tube out of the same material as the cover and have the exposed chaing covered for better look. In any case you really should beef it up.

 

Spare tire - no,
Tire pump - yes.

Almost all flat tires can be re-inflated enough to permit driving the car to the nearest Tire Dealer for repair.

If the spare tire didn't support the spare tire cover, so that the carpet rests flat across the luggage space, I would have removed mine long ago.