tires and wheels Spare Tire Size

[Henryn02]

Will a 185/70/13 tire,mounted on a stock rim, fit within the spare tire well, with the cover board fitting correctly?

 

thanks

Henry

[Conserv]

Almost! On a 5 1/2" turbo or e21 rim? Definitely not. On a 5" rim? Perhaps, but depends on the actual tire. On a 4 1/2" rim you slightly increase your odds but few run 185/70s on 4 1/2" rims!

Good luck.

Steve

P.S. I've seen at least a couple tire well "repairs" that added some depth to the well to solve this problem without going the turbo -- a.k.a., raised-floor -- route.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Conserv

[M3M3]

may depend on year of car too. depth of wheel well may vary. i have not measured, but seems to me earlier cars wells look deeper. a 175/70 on a 13x5 wheel was almost an inch too wide to fit in the well of my 75.

[JohnS]

185/70 tire on a stock 13x5 steel wheel or a stock 13x5 tii alloy wheel fits perfectly in the spare tire wells of my '73 and '74 tiis.

 

EDIT 02/02/14 -- I was mistaken.  The '74 tii had a 165/80 13 tire on a 5x13 steel wheel.  I tried the same type of wheel with a 185/70 13 tire and the trunk board does sit slightly high (about 1/4" high).  On my '73 the 185/70 spare tire fits fine, but not on the '74. 

Edited February 2, 2014 by JohnS

[jgerock]

Now the quote button is really messed up!  Using Google Chrome on my home laptop (there is a green bar with three blinking dots -

 

185/70 tire on a stock 13x5 steel wheel or a stock 13x5 tii alloy wheel fits perfectly in the spare tire wells of my '73 and '74 tiis.

 OK - now it shows up???

 

185/70 tire on tii steel wheel makes my board ill-fitting in the 73tii.   The board sits too high.

[Conserv]

I liked Marshall's idea that perhaps the year of the car makes a difference, but John's '73 and '74 tii's seem to straddle the most easily definable divide: round versus square taillight. So is it the brand and/or model of the 185/70 tire?

John, what tires are you running that work in your tii's? I'm assuming neither of your cars' tire wells has ever been modified or replaced.

Marshall and Jim, what brand/model of tires did not fit in your cars (I realize you tried a 175/70, Marshall)?

Steve

[jgerock]

I have Yokohama Avid T4 (think so).

[JohnS]

I liked Marshall's idea that perhaps the year of the car makes a difference, but John's '73 and '74 tii's seem to straddle the most easily definable divide: round versus square taillight. So is it the brand and/or model of the 185/70 tire?

John, what tires are you running that work in your tii's? I'm assuming neither of your cars' tire wells has ever been modified or replaced.

Marshall and Jim, what brand/model of tires did not fit in your cars (I realize you tried a 175/70, Marshall)?

Steve

 

I'll check when I get home.  I'm pretty sure that the spare on the '73 is a Yokohama and on the '74 is a Sumitomo, but I'll confirm.  The trunk boards lay flat on both cars and the spare tire wells haven't been modified as far as I can tell.

[JohnS]

Now the quote button is really messed up!  Using Google Chrome on my home laptop (there is a green bar with three blinking dots -

 

 OK - now it shows up???

 

185/70 tire on tii steel wheel makes my board ill-fitting in the 73tii.   The board sits too high.

 

I have the tii alloys on my '73 and the later style 13x5 steelies on the '74.  Maybe the early vs. late steelies is the difference?

[M3M3]

my spare was a sumitomo hrz. it is Jim's now...

[Conserv]

I have the tii alloys on my '73 and the later style 13x5 steelies on the '74. Maybe the early vs. late steelies is the difference?

Sound idea. So I pulled out a 5" (tii) roundie steel rim, a 5" styled steel squarie rim, and a late OEM alloy (I don't have an early OEM alloy in my collection). But they were all identical in overall width and diameter, and I suspect the early OEM alloy will also be identical. BMW increased the ET by 2mm for the square taillight cars but that does not effect trunk storage, I think. I also looked at the rims' lip and rim styles, but all 3 were "J" lips with double hump. So tires should mount similarly on the various factory rims.

So I don't know: Does tire well depth vary from car to car? Does trunk floor panel thickness and flexibility vary from car to car (some people use wood replacement panels)? Is it tire brand and model? Or is it some combination of the above?

I'd like to hear more from people who can accommodate a 185/70: rim size and make, tire brand and model, year of car. (It might be nice to able to tell forum members which combinations are most likely to work!)

Thanks and regards,

Steven

Edited February 1, 2014 by Conserv

[JohnS]

I apologize guys.  I checked the ’73 tii this morning and it has a Yohohama AVID T4 185/70 R13 tire on the early style tii alloy wheel and it fits perfectly (the trunk boards lay totally flat).  Then I checked the ’74 tii and to my surprise, the spare was an original 165/80 13 Michelin X tire on a 5x13 later style steel wheel.  So, I took out the spare and replaced it with another later style steel wheel that had a Yokohama AVID Touring 185/70 R13 tire and the trunk board does sit high by about ¼” just like Jim and Marshall said it would.  Both cars have the original trunk boards.

 

Thanks,

John

Edited February 2, 2014 by JohnS

[M3M3]

interesting data.  thanks for checking and posting John.

[Conserv]

OK. So, as Marshall suggested, round taillights might have slightly more tire well depth than square taillights, but just a "smidge"!

Thanks for circling back!

Regards,

Steve

[ray_]

Is it the E21 spare tire well that can be swapped in?

 

Erm, none of my cars have suitable spares on board. Except the 1600!