Spare Tyre Options for Australian GT

This is my first time posting anything, much less starting a thread (which I've nver done in my life before). I have been keenly following all the Australian threads over the past few months. One thing that I'm still confused about is spare tyre options.

I have ordered a GT and understand that you just get a hole in the boot where a spare would normally be, plus a can of foam to (supposedly) get you to safety - which is great, except if you have a blowout on the wall of the tyre (has happened once to me - scary), or if you are a long way from safety.

So, I see that Ford Australia is offering a mini-spare for a ridiculous price:

• includes tire and valve stem
• Scissor Jack
• Wrench attached to jack during storage
• Retainer bracket with bolt and washer
• Easy to install
• NOT SUITABLE FOR GT

Part Number: FR3Z1K007C
RRP: $1,157 (inc. GST)*

But note: NOT SUITABLE FOR GT, which I assume is because you can't put it over the front Brembos (odd that the Ford site allows it to come up for a GT when you "build your Ford").

So some questions:
1) Could you still get this mini-spare and, if blowout is on the front, rotate a serviceable tyre from one of the back wheels to the front and put the mini-spare on one of the rear wheels?
2) Could you try to find a full-size spare that will fit over the front brakes (preferably the stock GT wheel)? Which begs the question of whether a full size 19" spare will fit in the boot space. Does anyone know?

I wonder, if the latter is possible, if someone who is going to change to after-market wheels might one day want to sell their original wheels individually as spares.

Apologies for long post, but this has been bugging me for a month now. I know there are much more interesting accessories and mods to discuss, but having a car with 4 useful tyres at all times is important to me . I am extremely uncomfortable about going into battle without a spare.

Just use the patch kit

My current DD has a patch kit. It's never been used (in 18 years!)

I also have roadside assistance, so if I did get a flat, I'd probably get a tow - that's always a backup option, which I'll probably use for the Mustang.

If you want a reliable DD Mustang - maybe an EB?

I am not a fan of no spare either, having torn a sidewall recently in the middle of a storm, in the middle of nowhere...It was good to have a spare on that occasion. Someone made a reasonable suggestion that you get a spare wheel and tyre of some description to suit the front...it can be used on the rear if needed and keep it in the spare wheel tub in the boot. It will just squeeze in apparently if stored deflated. It will sit a bit proud of the well, but that will just have to be how it is. You will need a reliable compressor and the usual jack and brace paraphernalia then to change it out if needed. I intend to look into it once (if) the car arrives. For a dd around the city, you could probably live without one, relying on calling out a tow truck if you split a sidewall...but for country adventures it is a bit of a risk. Low profile tyres split sidewalls a lot easier than normal tyres, they run at higher pressures and allow for a lot less sideways flex.

Thanks Bob. Yes, it might not be worth getting too bothered about, as I have the highest level RACQ membership, where you can get a pretty long tow for free, etc., if you happen to be in the sticks (not that I expect to ever be too far off the beaten track).

Car's not due until July/Aug (supposedly), so I've got time to think about it.

Car won't exactly by a DD. Might drive it to work once a week or so, and use it on the weekends.

For what its worth, my Toyota 86 came with goo and a compressor, along with scissor jack and wrench. I'd never recommend using the goo, it makes a mess of the alloy wheel inside.

The scissor jack and wrench to me is the most painful omission for the mustang.

I've previously repaired two punctures (both bolts) with the tyre turd kits, where you ream out the hole and insert one of those sticky turds into the tread. Admittedly it doesn't work on sidewalls, but it's certainly got me back home once you pump it up with the compressor after the fix. But you need a jack and the wrench to get the wheel off, which the mustang doesn't get.

So I'll probably buy a secondhand jack and wrench to suit, and get some of those tyre turds. Any more serious punctures will need to be towed.

I will be seriously looking into this when mine gets here next week. I know for some a flat is a rare occurrence, but I have used the spare in my current car at least 5 or 6 times in the last 4 years. This will be my DD - and no I don't want an EB, or to tow a trailer or to drive a hilux etc... There is a company next door that always lose tech screws on the road near the driveway, had two of them through the side of the tire and also have some serious pot holes in some of the roads near home after heavy rain. No matter how careful you are sometimes you just cant miss them if something is coming the other way at night and you don't see it, have had to have two rims repaired in the 4 years also, so not having a spare is really an issue. I am happy to swap front to rear and muck around if I have to on the odd occasion, but need to have some sort of way to get out of trouble.

From what I have read the problem is a wheel large enough to fit over the brembos wont fit in the wheel well, and if you keep a smaller diameter wheel and use it on the back you can trash the diff pretty fast. So you really have to have something with the same rolling diameter as the rear wheel, but can be narrower than the standard wheels on the car. If you have a front flat move good rear tyre to front and spare on rear. if you have a flat rear then just put the spare on the back. I am assuming that the rear wheels will fit on the front, but will check myself once I get the chance.

Gnome, front and rear wheels are slightly different width. 9 vs 9.5". Hopefully that's not so big an issue as to cause a problem in transferring them from front to rear.

Just looking at the brochure, these cars come with so much electronic gadgetry and gimmicks that I will probably never bother using (I'm used to driving fairly antique vehicles and can't at the moment see myself bothering to synch my phone with the car and all that stuff - I like to think of my car as an oasis from all that stuff - I only want to hear the engine and sometimes music), but don't have something that every car I've ever had has in its boot: a wheel. As someone who's not planning to get rid of the car for a long, long time, if ever, or at least it's not in my thinking, the fewer electronic nuisances that will quickly become outmoded/outdated/broken, the better. Or perhaps I'll come to appreciate them. Not sure.

The funny thing about this new Mustang, I guess, is that it has to cater to two markets. Those used to older-school Mustangs/Fords/GM stuff (like me), and those who are moving across from other products that do have all the modern stuff. You can't really sell a new car without that stuff and, to keep the weight down, some things have to go I suppose - or so the designers of it/bean counters must have reasoned. I do like the parking camera having driven an XR6 with one recently, so I'm not a complete dinosaur.

I look forward to hearing about your solution Gnome!

I am not a fan of spacers and have never used them, however I feel that these and a smaller width wheel will do the trick.
Apparently the wheel well is not that deep and the standard sized wheel sits up a few inches.

I have been researching this issue came across this site and put in the tyre specs for the GT. if I am correct.
still have no solution yet, as there is a 16mm difference in height between front and rear, the LSD might not be happy with 1 front tyre on the rear,

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

[FONT=&quot]Front: 19.0" x 9.0", +45.0mm offset, 255/40ZR19 tires
Rear: 19.0" x 9.5", +52.5mm offset, 275/40ZR19 tires
Hub Bore: 70.6mm
Bolt Pattern: 5 x 114.3mm[/FONT]

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No spare tyre but then again still waiting for the car to arrive, wonder which will turn up first?

Unless I am missing something here...well I am on nightshift so I might be a tad tired...lol

But it shouldn't matter, both front and rear are 19" with 40 profiles. Only difference would be that when placed on the front it would need to clear the brakes, hence a spacer of some sort.

FPV GT said:

Unless I am missing something here...well I am on nightshift so I might be a tad tired...lol

But it shouldn't matter, both front and rear are 19" with 40 profiles. Only difference would be that when placed on the front it would need to clear the brakes, hence a spacer of some sort.

Click to expand...

Front and rear are different widths. The sidewall height is a percentage of the width so a 275 wide tyre will have a larger diameter than a 255 wide tyre even though they are both 19" 40 series tyres.

FPV GT said:

Only difference would be that when placed on the front it would need to clear the brakes, hence a spacer of some sort.

Click to expand...

My understanding (?) is that the rear wheel, when mounted on the front will foul the strut (shock absorber). Hence the spacer to move the wheel further out and clear.

Gnome said:

Front and rear are different widths. The sidewall height is a percentage of the width so a 275 wide tyre will have a larger diameter than a 255 wide tyre even though they are both 19" 40 series tyres.

Click to expand...

Thanks [MENTION=19128]Gnome[/MENTION] I have learnt something today. Been modding cars for 30 years and not that I ever gave it a thought, but would have believed that an 8" wide tyre is the same as a 10" of the same rim size and profile.....
Forums.....real life knowledge:hail: