14" spare with 16" wheels

redcanoe · Samba Member Joined: August 13, 2007 Posts: 150

GW 16" wheels, michelin hydroedge all round. Big brakes up front. 14" spare on a steely in the clamshell. In event of a flat anywhere round the van 14" must go on the rear because it won't fit up front due to big brakes.

How far would you be prepared to drive with a 14" on the rear ?

Captain Pike · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 12:59 pm Post subject:

0 miles. Your trans will think it's doing 360*, F it up in a hurry.
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LEARN TO SELF RESCUE
59 Panel bus, 1966 Single cab. 73' 181. 73 Westy. 91' H6 Vanagon 3.3L.
.....................All Current.......................

MarkWard · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:08 pm Post subject:

Further than I am willing to walk for help or pay for a tow from the middle of no where. I have the same setup, but after our last trip intend to spring for a 5th GW rim and modify the clamshell to hold it. You may want to consider a second jack for your tire ballet if you need to do this.

I don't believe it will "f" up the transmission. The spider gears are designed to accomodate for the different revolutions the rear tires turn. You might not want to drive at highway speeds for the rest of the trip, but certainly make it to a point where you can get a new tire.

Most mini spares that come in cars are a smaller diameter and the only limitation is the top speed you can safely run them.

A flat is only one type of failure. I managed to bend two rims at the same time on this last trip. Bummer.
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PDXWesty · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:30 pm Post subject:

Check the overall tire diameter of each tire. That matters more than the wheel diameter. If the tire diameters are close, there probably won't be much of a problem. My guess is your 16's are 25"-26" diameter, which is close to the stock 195 -14's.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

James 93SLC · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:07 pm Post subject:

buildyourown · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:23 pm Post subject:

Your van won't care at all as long as it's 2wd. Most modern cars have donut spares.

A 16" x 6" Passat steel wheel will fit in the clamshell with no mods other than a 1/2" spacer. With a 205 wide tire too.
This wheel will fit over just about any brake. I've got huge G60 calipers and it clears.

davevickery · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:46 pm Post subject:

Donut spares are a sad excuse for a spares. Even the car makers discourage using them. And not on the drive axle. What happens if you get a flat and need to actually drive on your spare for a while. 35 MPH top speed. That is no fun.

Anyway, the hydroedge tires GW sells are only a little bigger than stock 14" tire sizes. It is nice to have 5 of the same tire and I would think the GW tire would fit in the spare tire carrier if you take out the metal bar that is in there. I fit a bigger tire in mine than the 215/60/16. Worst case you lower the hinges on the spare tire carrier (with U-bolts) and they will definitely fit.

j_dirge · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:22 pm Post subject:

Around town, I don't care much.. And often drive without any spare tire.
I haven't flatted in 8 yrs.. <knock on wood>

Until last year I made do with a 195r14 in the clamshell.. even on 200-300 mile round trips. A 14" wheel won't fit over my home-brew big brakes - G60s on 288 disks

But those days are gone, thankfully.
With family.. I want to make potential flat changes as painless and as quick as possible.. I REALLY don't want to be sitting like a lame duck on the side of some interstate with cell-phone-texting-schmoes flying by doing 85mph... not wile I am trying to execute a two wheel and a spare swap.
Don't wanna be a "Flying Dutchman"
No, thanks.

So if I am leaving on a trip?.. I carry my full-size matching spare.
This with an open differential 2WD. (which could easily handle mis-matched tire sizes for many miles)
I also carry a flat repair kit... and learned how to use it over the years on a few Baja trips.
I even have a big can of if fix-a-flat.

I use Burley's swing away tire carrier to hold my full-size 29" spare on a 16" wheel. Dancing

But I may have to try that 16" Passat wheel as a full tme spare under... and then carry the matching spare, as well, on the back on the longer excursions.
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-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.

-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
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Captain Pike · Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:33 pm Post subject:

Wellllll excusssseeeee meeeeee.
I don't like spinning the shit out of 25 year old spider gears. To each their own.
_________________
LEARN TO SELF RESCUE
59 Panel bus, 1966 Single cab. 73' 181. 73 Westy. 91' H6 Vanagon 3.3L.
.....................All Current.......................

stan0matic · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:49 am Post subject:

One solution and four reasons not to worry.
At the risk of repeating ideas already in this topic:
Solution
1.Get your hands on a rim tyre will fit over the front brakes and set up the clamshell to fit. No need for highway-two-wheelswap-antics.

Reasons not to worry
1. You would need to get a flat or something to actually use your spare.
2. As noted by other posters, difference in circumference between standard 14" and lower profile 16" can be quite small. What's yours?
3. The idea off a diff is to enable driven wheels on an axle to turn at different speeds, for example when going 'round a corner, which has probably happened quite often (The diff won't know you've got the spare on unless you tell it).
4. It's a spare, not permanent, right?
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'89 Caravelle, 2.1, 5 speed.

redcanoe · Samba Member Joined: August 13, 2007 Posts: 150

For the record, physical measurements

14" Michelin LTX 195/75/14 OD 25" (spare)
15" Nokian WRC van 205/70/15 OD 26"
16" Hydroedge 215/60/16 OD 25.5" (on van)

j_dirge · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:24 am Post subject:

PDXWesty · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:38 am Post subject:

It looks like there is only a 1/2" diference from the spare to what's on the van.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

IdahoDoug · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:55 am Post subject:

Always good to know what vehicle we're talking about here....
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

j_dirge · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 10:26 am Post subject:

speedtek · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:12 pm Post subject:

redcanoe · Samba Member Joined: August 13, 2007 Posts: 150

My bad, didn't think to post all details when asking the question.

2wd, regular differential but with a rear locker.

Buying a new set of tires this w/e after a non repairable puncture on 5 year old HydroEdges.

MarkWard · Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 9:38 am Post subject:

redcanoe · Samba Member Joined: August 13, 2007 Posts: 150

No. no. It's a manually operated locker installed by GW 5 years ago. Just to clarify.

Love My Westy · Samba Member Joined: August 08, 2007 Posts: 1839

I have used a stock 185 x 14 tire for a spare on my 2wd since I started running 27 x 8.50 14 BFG's as the second set of tires back in 1990. I've never found any problem driving with the smaller spare. It may not be the safest as far as handling is concerned but it won't hurt the differential as far as I know. Isn't that why they call it a differential--so the two tires can rotate at different speeds while going around a corner?

I wouldn't do it on a Syncro as the differential in speed will heat up and burn out the VC.


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