Jack667

I've been carrying around a spare tire in the frunk for about 7 years and finally used it today. I was on the tail end of a 4-day trip from Atlanta to Charlotte to Asheville, and back home.

About 20 miles from home, I was driving down a local 45mph 4-lane road and hit a center reflector lane marker and it sounded like I ran over something much bigger. It was much more dramatic than it should have been and I got worried.

I pulled into a parking lot and saw the rear driver tire was quite low on air. I keep a small compressor in the car and it didn't seem to help. I was losing air on the inside of the tire.

I pulled out my 996 spare and jack kit and removed the tire to see that it was quite worn and there was no chance for plug repair.

I thought about putting the spare on the front and the front tire on the rear, but the 996 spare will no longer fit on my front hub, now that I have girodisc. I'm pretty sure I've tried it before and it worked, but now the wheel is unable to clear the caliper, maybe bc it's low profile.

So I mounted the spare on the rear and got home just fine. The whole thing took less than 30 mins, even with the wasted time on the front tire.

Lesson learned that I need to figure out a solution in case I get a flat in the front - maybe a spacer and some longer studs?

Anyway - no AAA or other roadside service, so very happy to DIY and get on my way...

Cheers!

the_buch

Nicely done, and good to know your backup system works! Sounds like it's time for some new rears, and maybe all four. Cheers.

Jack667

yeah - I've been meaning to buy all 4 but have just been too busy... Ugh. But, I'll get it done now!

okbarnett

how can the dics change the position of the caliper?
If is doesnt fit, add spacers but you need to see if it allows the car to turn with out hitting the fenders etc

Jack667

yeah - that's 100% correct. I'm trying to remember what happened 7 years ago and I was a bit frazzled with the flat yesterday.
I was thinking today that if things changed with my new rotor hats, it would have messed up my current wheels offsets / position within the wheel wells.
So - it must be that it never would have worked.

But I still think I'll want it to work for the front, so I'm going to work on a spacer solution and longer studs. I already have the spacers that I used with my other pcars, so I can work on that without buying anything, until I need studs...

LexVan

Where did you put the YUGE flatted rear wheel/tire? Passanger seat? That's why it's good to also keep a large garbage bag in the frunk.

PasPar2

I recall reading that when the rear goes, you are supposed to put the spare on the front and the front on the rear...

LexVan

Correct. But I think the OP had/has fitment issues with non-OE parts onthe front brakes. On the intended application in the 993s and 996s this is very true use of the space saver spare.

Jack667

Rear tire went into rear passenger seat with ease. I moved the front passenger seat up toward the front quite a bit - not all the way.

and - yes - to the other point, I would have put the front wheel on the back and the spare on the front but it wouln't clear the caliper.

I ordered in new tires and they'll come on Tuesday or Wednesday latest. I'll get the car up on jackstands and put the wheels in the Suburban to get the new tires fitted. While it's up on stands, I'll change oil and to some other work. And I'll also work on that spare with some spacers, to see if I can get it to fit. Then I'll report back...

scorcherjf

Girodisc rotors for the 996/997 are larger diameter and come with caliper spacers, pushing the calipers out farther and reducing clearance for rim choices so this could be what causes the spare wheel not to fit anymore.

Awesome that you can use a spare though. Wish there was some solution like that for centerlock cars =(

jhbrennan

Tough situation for CL cars - you almost need a chase car carrying the additional tools plus a spare. There are a few members here who swear by the plug kits and carry one of them as their backup.