Here is something I’ve been toying with on and off over the years. Might be the answer to a question nobody has asked.

For those that don’t see the value of a functional spare tire, move along. You either don’t drive your car much, or never venture to areas where roadside assistance and cell phone service is sparse. Or you just like living dangerously. That’s cool. That’s your choice. I’m not looking to debate that point here. If on the other hand, you do prefer to have a good spare in the trunk like I do, read on. You might find this interesting.

One of the challenges I’ve run into after installing aftermarket tires and wheels on my Mopars is having a spare tire that closely matches the rear diameters. This is critical if you have a sure grip differential and don’t want to wear out the clutches in short order.

Just mounting the same size tire as the rears on a spare wheel doesn’t work. Many of the popular sizes won’t fit in the trunk, or function as a front tire. Truck space is at a premium in E-bodies, so even if they do fit, you’re left with very little space for anything else. They also can be really freaking heavy, weighing about 60 lbs in some cases.
Another potential issue is brake clearance if you are running larger than stock brakes.

Two of the most popular rear tire sizes are 255-60-15 and 275-60-15 with diameters of 27 and 28 inches respectively. Those are relatively tall tires, and their widths make it impossible for them to fit under the package tray in the trunk storage location.

So the challenge is finding a narrower tire with a similar diameter. There really isn’t much out there. Some 70 series tires come close, but the cost of a new tire and hassle of cleaning up a crusty wheel got me looking for other options. That led me to start looking at late model compact/temporary use spares.

While most “donuts” are way too scrawny, a lot of SUVs are now coming equipped with a 155-90-16 as a spare. These measure out just shy of 27 inches in diameter. Perfect relative to the 255, and probably as close as you’re going to get to the 275.

The bigger challenge is finding a wheel for it. All of the tires I’ve found in this size come on a wheel with a ton of positive offset which just won’t work. Jeep Cherokees are a good source for the tire (note that some have a 125-90-16), and have the correct bolt pattern, but the wheel has about 3 inches of offset and it contacts the brake drum preventing the wheel from seating on the drum face in some cases. I’ve actually used one of these spares with wheel spacers, but it’s not a very elegant solution.

Searching for another 16-inch spare with the correct bolt pattern and less offset I found the spares used in Ford Crown Vic, Mercury Marquis and Lincoln Town Car. The later model years of these come with a 16x4 steel or 16x4.5 aluminum spare. These appear to have less than an inch of offset. Tire size is scrawny at 145-80-16 (25 inches), but it’s the wheel I’m after. The Town Car is your source for the aluminum, which is what I chose to test.

Anyone who as ever tried to install an OEM Ford wheel on a Mopar knows that the center register is too small in most cases. These spares are no exception. A few minutes with a die grinder takes care of the issue though. Only a couple thousandths need be removed, so I took my time and test fitted frequently.

After getting the wheel to bolt up, I made a trip to my local used tire store with both the Lincoln TC spare and Jeep Cherokee spare. For $10, I had the tire from the latter mounted to the wheel of the former.

What it yields is a compact spare perfect for a Sure Grip equipped Mopar. The aluminum wheel looks pretty trick. The whole thing weighs under 40 lbs, which is a modest ten pound savings over at typical conventional spare. I definitely wish I would have had one of these for the space savings in the trunk of my Challenger on the Power Tour a couple years ago. I’d like to have tested it over the 13 inch Cobra brakes on the Cuda I use to have.

While this spare might a solution to a number of problems, there is one it won’t solve. If your 275-60-15 goes flat, after you install your spare, you still have to figure out where to carry that flat tire. It’s not going to fit in your spare tire storage location.

I’ve probably got $70 invested in this exercise. Both the wheels came off Ebay, but a trip to the local salvage yard may have yielded both for less than what I paid.
The Ford “Panther” series cars are the only ones I’ve found with the needed wheel size, offset and bolt pattern. I think there maybe some obscure Mustang or Thunderbird spares as well.

There are a lot more sources for the tires: Jeep Cherokee’s, Honda Pilots, GM S-series pick-ups, and some GM SUVs. I’m sure there are others. Small to midsize SUVs seem to be the best source.

Posted are some pictures showing the examples and results. Standard disclaimers apply. This has only been tested on my 72 Road Runner with factory discs and drums.

picture of the jeep spare

picture of the TC spare

jeep back space

town car back space

the crossbred jeep town car spare

Nice info. Just a note, prior to 1998, crown vics had 15" rims and 1998-2001 Crown vics had 16" rims and a different offset to their rims. 2002-current had a flush mount rim due to change in suspension design. Thunderbirds from 89-97 all though 5 lug, were a 5x4.25 bolt pattern. Prior to that, they were 4 lug. The Lincoln MKVII I believe were 5x4.5 and came with aluminum spares, but in a 15". Other than that, I do like the homework you did.

That confirms everything I observed while hunting for a 16" spare with minimal offset.

Great info. Thanks for taking the time to do the write up. I have a donut spare from the last generation Dodge Intrepid in my 71 Challenger. I forget the size, but it's tall. I'll try to remember to look at the size tomorrow, and report back. If I remember correctly, it was within a half to three quarters of an inch on the 275-60's on the car.

I don't recall the exact size of the Intrepid spares, but they were about 25". I'm thinking they are 125-90-16.

Picture of it on the car.

Awesome homework. If someone had the info for E bodie's, Im sure we would love to have that as well.
Thanks

Pic of a Jeep TJ poly spare, don't know the tire size or offset offhand, but they work great for rollers. I'll probably keep one as a spare when I put my good wheels on.

It's a P225/75D15 on a 15x6 wheel. Didn't notice any issue mounting them up, clearance is probably kinda close but it's a narrow tire so it's not an issue that I can see.

I looked at those, and at about 27.5", the diameter is good. Just not particularly compact or lightweight.

Check the brake clearance. They might not clear the shoulder on a finned 11x3 drum.

Good source for a cheap 15" tire for sure. Might look good on a aftermarket wheel of some sort.

I have a similar spare wheel from a Crown Vic that I use with my 1947 teardrop trailer. I opened up the center hole so it would also fit on my '64 wagon and I actually had to use it on a long camping trip when a tire went bad on the wagon. The wagon has the original spare in it so I didn't want to risk it. I used the Crown Vic one because I needed a 16" wheel that would fit over the funky suspension that fits inside the wheel on the trailer. I guess I should pick up a Jeep tire so I can get some height like you did.

This one isn't really that easy to find as I found it only came with a certain handling package on the Crown Vics and such. You can also get a version from the bustle back Lincoln Continental in the mid-late '80s. It has spokes instead of holes and seems to weigh a bit more. I have one at home I can take a picture of.

This wheel is listed on Ebay as for a Mustang SVO. It looks like the one I got from the bustle back Continental. The SVO is the only Mustang from that era to have 5 lug wheels and they are 4.5" bolt pattern.

This wheel is listed on ebay as a 17" Cobra spare tire and although it looks like steel, they say it's aluminum. There are a few on there. The particular listing this one came from says it also fits '05-06 Ford Escape which does happen to have a 4.5" bolt pattern. Maybe from the hybrid version to cut down weight. Hard to tell the offset from the pictures they have. Other Ford Escape spares look like they have too much offset like your Jeep wheel.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/05-06-Ford-Escape-99-04-Mustang-GT-Cobra-SPARE-TIRE-/110792746506

Here's the Continental spare I have. It's marked 1986. 3 1/2" backspacing.

Back side.

Size.

Yep. I started looking for the SVO and LSC spare early on, but they are rare as hens' teeth. I think they have a bit more offset than the Town Car spare.

The TC / Panther spare is going to be the easiest to find with the best offset. Pretty much guaranteed to be able to find one in any salvage yard.

I actually did a much more in-depth write-up of what wheels might work and what ones won't. I edited it down quite a bit for posting in the forums.

There's another way to get there... I picked front and rear tire sizes with almost the same diameter. Originally 225/45/17 front and 255/40/17 rear. Now 10 mm wider on both. I got a 3'rd front wheel and tire as a spare. It fits in the trunk and will work at either end.

mods: think this should be saved?

I will admit that it took some shopping around to get my Town Car wheel at the price I paid. Several of them on Ebay now for $65+.

Just checked my records and saw I only paid 20 bucks for the Jeep half of the equation, delivery included.

WOW'' Very good article. I have been looking for a small spare for my 72 cuda for years.15 inch 5x 4 1/2. Anyone know what wheel would work? Maybe the dodge entrepid spare?

Sorry for the late reply.....been out of town all week. I just went out and checked it, and it's a T135/80D16. I couldn't get to it to get it out because of where my car is sitting, but the best measurement I could get on it was 26". I've never had to use it, but I put it on the front of my car to make sure it cleared the brakes, and it does so without using spacers. I have 11.75 rotors and pin type calipers on my car. I have Torque Thrusts on my car, so I keep 5 regular lug nuts tie wrapped to one lug hole. That is covered by the jack plate, so nobody ever sees it.

When a brought it home, I stood it up next to the 275 on the back of my car....and it was less than a half inch short. But that was with no weight on it. I think what I will do is try to find a 155/90-16 and have it installed on my wheel. The wheel fits great, but my tire is probably too short to drive very far. It would work for AAA to get it drug up on a rollback though.