[snaranjo]

This may seem like a stupid question, but what does one do about a spare tire when you are running two different sizes of tires on a classic coupe? I'm looking at 215 or 225/60/15 for the front and 235 or 245/60/15 for the rear. These wheels and tires are not the same height. I plan to use the car mostly for weekend cruising but I want to be able to travel some distance once and a while and don't want to be without a spare. I could be a nerd and carry two spares; one for the front and one for the rear but I doubt there would even be room for two tires in the truck! I would imagine that even the small size in diameter would lead to an unsafe situation. Any ideas? What does everyone with different fronts and rears do? Do they make donuts for classics?

[andrewmp6]

Two spaces or triple a.

[dodgestang]

You simply carry a spare that matches the front size.
It will bolt onto the rear and be usable since you are only looking at width difference and the heights are almost the same...even if there is a difference in the height, unless you are running a spool you enough slip in the rear to accommodate it.

[Zedd]

Okay Ideally you should have all four tires the same size for the obvious reasons. You can rotate them, they will last longer, no spare issues blah blah blah we all know an older stang looks good with the "rake' that a larger rear tire will give it.

You can try and find a donut but depending on the year anything with your bolt pattern will probably be a front wheel drive offset and won't work and even if you could find one it is still going to be shorter or taller then what you need. I don't know about you but I would rather ride around on a "real" spare rather then a temporary even if it is off a little. Just remember to treat the spare just like it was meant to be " a means to get you off the road and to a tire store" and you will be fine.

Here is a little information, overall dimensions on the sizes you mentioned.

215/60/15 25.2
225/60/15 25.6
235/60/15 26.1
245/60/15 26.6

Now these can average up to 1/2in between manufacturers so get the specifics on the brand you plan to buy and find out what size wheel the MFG measured them on that should be in the data book of any brand tire or on there websites. Read the specs and the notes because the overall diameter can change depending on the wheel width.

If it was me I would run the 225/60/15-245/60/15 combo and use a
215/65/15, which has an O.D. of 26.0, as the spare.


Sorry I am so long winded but thats just too many years of doing tires coming out.

Good luck!

[snaranjo]

Thanks all for the good advice. I will have a 9 inch posi so I guess a little different diameter between front and back won't cause major issues for the short trip to the tire shop. Guess I could run a 225/60/15 in front and a 245/55/15 in rear which should give very close to the same height depending on the make. Of course finding a 245/55 might be a little tough - thats kind of an odd size.