Spare Wheel Question

[Beau Nidle]

Hi...   I suspect this issue has been raised before - so apologies to anyone whose feathers get ruffled. I have gone through the threads but there are so many variations of model and year that I can't seem to find an answer relevant to my particular model.

Specifically:  My car has a scissor jack and wheel brace which appears to be original equipment, along with the repair pump, but no spare wheel.  There appears to be the perfect compartment to store a spare wheel but the dealer says this model didn't ever have a spare from new - I suspect it's a cost cutting exercise, in which case shame on you, Lexus.  Now I'm not comfortable with the idea of just having a can of gunk in the boot and would like to get a spare wheel of some sort even if it's a 'get you home' jobby. I'm quite prepared to buy one of those if I need to but I was wondering if a full size 17 inch Lexus wheel and tyre from a breakers yard would fit into the boot compartment (trying not to have to take the wheel off to check)....  or maybe even a Prius wheel, which would probably be easier to source.

What do you guys do?  Hoping someone has already done the research on this and can advise for my particular model.

 

Rob

 

 

[Dim Tim]

Hi Rob,

 

I have a 2011 model and felt the same about the lack of spare.  There are many comments about the grunge not working in some circumstance then you have to pay for recovery etc. and then replace the tyre anyway because the fitter says they can't fix a grunged tyre.

I believe the space saver spare from a Prius will fit in the spare wheel well (I think that is what I have) but the boot floor will not lay flat if the underfloor storage tray is not left out.  To overcome that I made a cut across the rearmost face of the tray and then diagonally down toward the bottom front-most corners.  Overlapped the bottom and the top halves along the rearmost edge.  Put everything in place and measure the amount of overlap then pop-riveted the overlapping parts giving a somewhat wedge shaped tray about 7inches deep at the front and 3 inches deep at the rear.  Some hot air from a hot air paint stripper allowed me to "tweak" the fit.  Now the spare,  jack, etc fits under the tray and the floor still fits.

 

Then I did the same to my daughters.  :o)

[thar]

Someone on this forum linked to this site http://www.wheelfitment.eu/car/Lexus/CT200h%20(2011%20-%20).html which advises the Prius space saver is compatible with the CT200h. As you suggest, Prius spare wheels are easier to source. I got a barely used one from eBay for £31 the other week. It fits in the well, but I had to take out the tray.

My two previous cars had no spares, just the the gunk, and I sourced spares for those too. The gunk isn't much use if a valve snaps off either, which has happened to me.

[Beau Nidle]

3 hours ago, Dim Tim said:

Hi Rob,

 

I have a 2011 model and felt the same about the lack of spare.  There are many comments about the grunge not working in some circumstance then you have to pay for recovery etc. and then replace the tyre anyway because the fitter says they can't fix a grunged tyre.

I believe the space saver spare from a Prius will fit in the spare wheel well (I think that is what I have) but the boot floor will not lay flat if the underfloor storage tray is not left out.  To overcome that I made a cut across the rearmost face of the tray and then diagonally down toward the bottom front-most corners.  Overlapped the bottom and the top halves along the rearmost edge.  Put everything in place and measure the amount of overlap then pop-riveted the overlapping parts giving a somewhat wedge shaped tray about 7inches deep at the front and 3 inches deep at the rear.  Some hot air from a hot air paint stripper allowed me to "tweak" the fit.  Now the spare,  jack, etc fits under the tray and the floor still fits.

 

Then I did the same to my daughters.  :o)

Hi Tim.  Interesting solution.  If you've got the kit, any chance of a couple of photos of the job?  It's just the sort of thing that Lexus should have thought of.

[200h]

lexus did think of the supplying a spare wheel but this was only available in the USA

later uk models of the ct do come with a space saver either as standard or as an option.

 

[Dim Tim]

Sorry,  I did try to photograph the boot tray but being black there was no detail to be seen.  So I did a couple of drawings which might help understanding.  Please note,  I accept no liability for anything which might go wrong if you attempt to do this,  I am merely describing what I HAVE DONE.  :o)  Sorry for the poor quality drawings.

Drawing 1 shows the boot tray and the lines I cut (red lines)  and the green dots show where I drilled holes.  The blue arrow points to the front of the car.

The green blobs are 10mm dia holes and help to ease the stresses left in the plastic  (cuts coming to an abrupt end instead of a hole may split later)  and make bending easier without puckering etc.

 

Drawing 2 shows the side elevation and the blue arrow points towards the front again.  The blue wedge shape is the bottom of the tray hinged upwards and inside the top half.

The point "B" will have to be pushed backwards to meet the top rear edge.  Heating the plastic with a hot air paint stripper or similar eases the bending.

 

Measuring how deep the bottom must be pushed upwards can be done by placing the spare and tray back in the vehicle  (after the cut)   and pressing the tray upper half down until the top edge rests in place and then adding a few millimetres for clearance.  Pop rivets can be used to join both halves together again.  There is one warning on using pop rivets in plastic,  use a washer on the outside otherwise the rivets will just pull through the plastic.  I bought the cheapest riveter tool I could find on eBay,  black rivets and washers (I used about 30 rivets) and the total was under a tenner.

When all was done the front right hand floor was pressing on the spare wheel so I heated the plastic floor of the tray and pressed down allowing the bottom of the tray to bow upwards by a few millimetres.

Cutting was done using a jigsaw with a fine-ish blade,  carefully!

There are some thin web things  (stiffeners ?)  that need to be trimmed off of the bottom half,  I used a sharp chisel but I guess a Stanley knife or similar would work.

In my case the tray is about 80mm deep at the rear and original depth at the front.

 

Hope that all makes sense.

 

 

[Beau Nidle]

Thanks for that, Tim.   Not sure I'm brave enough to try it, but a great mod nonetheless. 

 

Rob

[Dim Tim]

Fair enough but it should be within the abilities of anyone who has a reasonable grasp of DIY.  Maybe a friend or family member could help you out.  Other than the pop riveter all the tools are common or garden items.

 

Take care and enjoy.

[stormchaser]

Great way of doing this. Thanks. Seen a few CT spacesavers on eBay now.

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