Yea, So I was dicking around today planning out an enclosure for my trunk. I am on a system kick and feel I need some bump now months after I have sold my previous system. So I am trying to do a clean install with one 12" Eclipse sub, but I may have to ditch the spare tire if I don't have enough room to put a hatch lid to it. So how many of you drive without a spare? Do you cross your fingers on not having a blow out or do you have AAA or something

i havent had a spare tire for like 2 years, i cut out the tire support with a cutter and have a sub box molded into the trunk right there with two tens.

im not really worried about flat tires, that doesnt happen very often and i doubt a donut would work on my car anyway....im slammed

I have my spare but like Turby said, it's kind of pointless. With my rims on there and being lowered I don't think I could use the donut anyway. Carry a can of fix-a-flat and just keep your fingers crossed. I don't use my Eclipse for long trips anyway, so I'm never far from home with it.

lol once you take it out......drive up the road and pop your tire. Then that should cure the curse of you being 20 miles from the house and it happening then. I wanted to take mine out for my battery box install but I said to hell with it. Then again it will probably take me more time to unhook all my stuff to get to the spare then it would be to get a tow or a spare brought to me. I say stick with peace of mind if its a daily driver.

Oh yeah that too. My Eclipse is not my daily driver. I really only take it out for the purpose of taking it out. So something happening is not only unlikely but not a big deal for me.

I drove from Northeast Ohio to Va Beach without a care in the world or a spare for that matter. I feel much safer with that 12 w7 sitting in there than with a donut..because like the other guys said..won't do too much good when your slammed.

Havent had mine in for about 3 years now. First had a battery back there, then a sub enclosure, now a battery again, lol.

I haven't had one for 2 yrs now but i don't have a custom sub enclosure but i wish i did though. just empty space underneath the cardboard cover.

I haven't had one for about 4 years now and I just recently bought a full size 18" spare of the same rims/tires I have on my car now so if I do get a flat I just use the spare which is the same rims/tires that are on the car so I have no worries, and so if I am on the way to a show I can still show my car and not loose points with the judges.

I just built a bracket and use it as part of my stereo setup with a neon behind it! It pays to have a full size spare on tap in the case of an emergency, even if its a 14" stockie with a 55 series tire! I only got another one of my rims as a spare for the simple fact that I show my car a lot! Plus with all the bad luck I have been having lately I do not want to take a chance reguardless if I am going to a show or just daily driving.

What's a spare? :shrug

the box i used to have in my car (before it got stolen) was actually i believe made by someone on this board, then another 2gnt'r had it in his car, i got ahold of it and rebuilt it



i had spare tire access... it was one box in the middle that enclosed 2 12's that fired downwards with compartments on either side and the rear board acted as porting where the air came out towards the back of the trunk. the box sat on top of the trunk floor. mirror tinted plexiglass backlit with neon, so u could only see the subs inside when the bass hit :)

Originally posted by lrseclipse
the box i used to have in my car (before it got stolen) was actually i believe made by someone on this board, then another 2gnt'r had it in his car, i got ahold of it and rebuilt it i had spare tire access... it was one box in the middle that enclosed 2 12's that fired downwards with compartments on either side and the rear board acted as porting where the air came out towards the back of the trunk. the box sat on top of the trunk floor. mirror tinted plexiglass backlit with neon, so u could only see the subs inside when the bass hit :)

WHAT?! Your car got stolen, that really sucks sorry to hear that. I kinda am modeling my car after your c\f with fenders and hood and the interior to.

I dont run with a spare though for your info :)

Originally posted by Aggression
I haven't had one for about 4 years now and I just recently bought a full size 18" spare of the same rims/tires I have on my car now so if I do get a flat I just use the spare which is the same rims/tires that are on the car so I have no worries, and so if I am on the way to a show I can still show my car and not loose points with the judges. I just built a bracket and use it as part of my stereo setup with a neon behind it! It pays to have a full size spare on tap in the case of an emergency, even if its a 14" stockie with a 55 series tire! I only got another one of my rims as a spare for the simple fact that I show my car a lot! Plus with all the bad luck I have been having lately I do not want to take a chance reguardless if I am going to a show or just daily driving.

sounds interesting.. got any pics of that setup?

haven't had mine since the day I bought my car.

How slammed do you have to be? I never new about this issue before...

I thought about taking mine out, until I had a blow out near Waco,TX during my drive from delaware to San Antonio,TX

now I will never take it out

i couldnt use my spare on my NA, i tried to put it on when i had a blowout, and the car sat on the ground, so i kept my 16" steelies at home for when i needed a spare. suggestion... if you buy aftermarket wheels, have a full size spare :)

Originally posted by EclipseTenzoR
Yea, So I was dicking around today planning out an enclosure for my trunk. I am on a system kick and feel I need some bump now months after I have sold my previous system. So I am trying to do a clean install with one 12" Eclipse sub, but I may have to ditch the spare tire if I don't have enough room to put a hatch lid to it. So how many of you drive without a spare? Do you cross your fingers on not having a blow out or do you have AAA or something

If I were you I'd just carry a can of Fix-A-Flat with you. However, if it sits within the tire for too long it may deterroriate the rim you're riding on. No more than 8 hours driving on it IMO.

I don't think your spare would even work on your 18" application.

I took mine out. Now my dad is pissed so im probably going to just put it back in even though it will be useless since I have wheel locks. Apparently according to him its "the law" to have a spare. WTF.

Yea, I am thinking about just taking it out, I took a look in there the other day and I noticed that I dont even have the jack in there. So that spare would have done me no good for the past 6 months. Curious also why the spare wont work on my 18" application, is the balancing like way different? I'll just keep a can of fix a flat in the car and deal with no spare.

Originally posted by EclipseTenzoR
Curious also why the spare wont work on my 18" application, is the balancing like way different?

Ha, well I'm just speaking out of mere theory. The donut is fairly small and not even close to the stock tire size 205/55/16. The tire calculator claims the overall height of the 205/55/16 is actually a little taller than the 235/35/18. Maybe you could take off a wheel and test my hypothesis. :shrug

i say you should too... i compared mine. when i put my 17's on my car my mph was off by about 7 mph. when i put my 19's pn with skinny tires its back to stock because the stock tired where so high. but there's no way that spare would hold up my car. the body literally dragged on the ground. keep your steelies like i said! or pick one up from someone's garage.

one reason a donut wont work with larger rims, especially in front, is the diameter of the wheel itself, and the speed it has to turn...smaller wheel = more rotations to get the same speed as a larger one, so if it's on the front, you risk messing up your alignment at LEAST... as for the diameter thing...the Donut made my car lean with my 17s...so i took one of my 14" steelies and put it in place of it for the time being until I get my other setup in....