Anyone Buy Modern Spare Tire Kit?

[Feathermerchan]

Check where Road assistance is available and don't go there.

 

[Old 356 guy]

I’m getting my 3 next week and can’t live without a spare. Five minutes getting hands on vs hours waiting for the someone else. Found a Hyundai Gennisis 18x4 Spare complete with tool kit and jack under $100 on evilbay with free shipping. Will hone the wheel, modify the jack to lift suspension member and Bobs your uncle.

 

[TonyJag]

I made a lug nut cover remover and suggested to Modern Spare that they include it in the kit. Wasn't sure where to post it...
DIY Lug Nut Cover Puller

 

[TonyJag]

At home for doing tire rotation I use a JEGS 80006 2 T. low-profile aluminum floor jack, the total weight is 50 lbs or 22 kg

View attachment 425139
but for road emergency I carry the following jacks: (They fit nicely inside an older laptop bag with my lug wrench and torque wrench)

- To lift the front, I use an aluminium 1.5 T from an Audi TT, I added a hockey puck, the total weight is 3 lbs or 1.4 kg

View attachment 425140 View attachment 425141

- To lift the rear, I use a metal 2 T scissor jack (mentioned above) I added a hockey puck, the total weight is 6 lbs or 3 kg
View attachment 425142 View attachment 425143

Note: I removed the existing rail support and fixed a hockey puck.

View attachment 425144

I also carry two 12" x 12" pieces of plywood to put under the scissors jacks in case I am above muddy ground.

Why won't the smaller jack also work for the rear??

 

[Hblick48]

Just purchased a used 2016 Model S, of course no spare. 19" Slipstream Wheels. Frunk too small for spare.

Waiting hours for road service isn't my idea of fun. I'm getting ready to have my wheels powder coated along with new tires. Found used matching wheel on EBay for $100. When I install new tires, going to mount one of the old ones on the used rim and I have a spare for $100. Already have lug wrench and hydraulic jack, so I'm all set.

Still trying to figure out how to secure in the truck without loosing a bunch of space. Anybody have any suggestions? 245-45/19 wheel diameter is only 1/2 inch larger than Modern Spare from first post. It is wider, though, but not by much.

 

[PACEMD]

Have the Modern Spare. Takes up some trunk space and it ain't cheap but worth all that on the backroads of Montana. I do like the kit details, well done.

 

[Watts_Up]

Why won't the smaller jack also work for the rear??

The Model 3 Dual motors weight distribution (front-rear) is 47% - 53%, so very similar but I noticed that lifting the front was easier.

I use two jacks to balance the car, so going back and force between the two jacks is easier than using only one jack.

However, those jacks are more for emergency, I would recommend using a floor jack otherwise.

I would recommend putting a larger piece of wood below each jack for better stability especially if you are park above dirt or mud.

 

[TonyJag]

The Model 3 Dual motors weight distribution (front-rear) is 47% - 53%, so very similar but I noticed that lifting the front was easier.

I use two jacks to balance the car, so going back and force between the two jacks is easier than using only one jack.

However, those jacks are more for emergency, I would recommend using a floor jack otherwise.

I would recommend putting a larger piece of wood below each jack for better stability especially if you are park above dirt or mud.

I see. Seems logical. I also use floor jacks when at home. You might find this story interesting:
MASTER THREAD: Jack Points — location, use, damage, pads, etc.

 

[TonyJag]

This story shows how a Modern Spare kit for Tesla Model 3 can be improved. While the tools fit nicely in the bag, the jack is too big to fit within the wheel. That caused shipping damage to the inside of the wheel and will likely continue to beat up the wheel and annoyingly rattle unless something is done. The following four Figures explain a temporary solution using common, inexpensive items.

Fig. 1. L to R: Home Made Puck, old Honda Jack fits, but only 1540 Lbs load, Light weight chocks from WM, Tennis balls to protect wheel from jack

Fig. 2. Jack is too wide to fit in wheel and moves around. Note shipping damage to wheel. Kid's tennis ball is a bit bigger. Wheel also protected from bottom of jack using scraps of door edge molding.

Fig. 3. Locating pin added to help center pad under jack point. Loose fit, unlike puck that sticks in place.

Fig. 4. Locating pin made from 3/4" long 5/8" Diam. maple dowel. Red tape makes it plug-in snugly. 9/16" ID vinyl enlarges it, could be bigger yet.

I am exploring alternative jacks, some of which have been mentioned in this TMC Thread, that would also solve another problem: The jack, roughly an inch or two too big, has to sit at an angle, thus forces the face of the bag upwards, taking more precious trunk space than necessary.

 

[Watts_Up]

I see. Seems logical. I also use floor jacks when at home. You might find this story interesting:
MASTER THREAD: Jack Points — location, use, damage, pads, etc.

Thank you for the information. I always secure the car with some extra cement blocks and pieces of wood in case a jack failed.
I also start lifting my car with a small scissor jack, so I can use a regular floor jack instead of low profile one which are costly.

Note: Security is a big issue when lifting a car. Near where I live, many Prius got there catalytic exhaust stolen.
Unfortunately, someone get killed recently when the scissor jack collapsed while trying to cut the exhaust.

 

[Watts_Up]

This story shows how a M3 Modern Spare kit can be improved.
While the tools fit nicely in the bag, the jack is too big to fit inside the wheel.

I am exploring alternative jacks, some of which have been mentioned in this TMC Thread, that would also solve another problem:

The jack, roughly an inch or two too big, has to sit at an angle, thus forces the face of the bag upwards,
taking more precious trunk space than necessary.

I agree with you that the spare tire takes a lot of space,
in particular because of the 6" width, the 18" height entrance access get reduced to 12".

In particular, you cannot put some grocery bags which typical height is about 16" height.

I recently removed the rear trunk cover and I noticed that there was quite of unused space underneath.

So I build a smaller sub-trunk, large enough to hold all of my jacks and other tools.

This allowed my to lower the trunk floor by another 6".

I am now able to carry larger items, such as some cumbersome grocery bags.

 

[TonyJag]

Nice. Did you find any holes or studs where you could add cargo tie down d rings like Saabs and Volvos have?

 

[Watts_Up]

Nice. Did you find any holes or studs where you could add cargo tie down d rings like Saabs and Volvos have?

There are some holes to put plastic rivets used to hold the floor and wall carpet.

But I think it would be simpler to select the locations corresponding to your needs
and plug some Rivet Nuts by making holes into the wheelhouse non structural metal sheet.

 

[Feathermerchan]

I thought the rear trunk cover was just a liner. How can there be more space under it?

 

[TonyJag]

There are some holes to put plastic rivets used to hold the floor and wall carpet.

But I think it would be simpler to select the locations corresponding to your needs
and plug some Rivet Nuts by making holes into the wheelhouse non structural metal sheet.

I would like to avoid drilling holes while it is under warranty. How big are the holes you found? FYI, I used a well nut in an existing 16mm hole to add bag hooks in the trunk:
DIY Rear Trunk Bag Hooks

 

[Watts_Up]

I would like to avoid drilling holes while it is under warranty.

I agree, but I was talking about making holes into the side wheelhouse non structural metal sheet.

How big are the holes you found?
FYI, I used a well nut in an existing 16mm hole to add bag hooks in the trunk: DIY Rear Trunk Bag Hooks

Thank you for mentioning your previous posting, I was in fact thinking to include it.

But using Rivets Nuts solve the issue of not be able to hold a nut.

You can then put a bolt through the carpet to hold some anchors or a rail like some European car have.

About the existing holes, there are quite a few. See this video: Tesla Model 3 Teardown

 

[Watts_Up]

This show how much space is lost in the trunk under the carpet cover.

In particular a spare tire could have perfectly fit with with a better design.

Engineers need to think sometime than car are not only designed for cities.

If you want to sale a car from Alaska to Australia or Russia,
there will not be a Service Center every 50 miles to provide a spare tire replacement.

Please look at this other thread dealing with the same subject: Model 3 has no spare tire

 

[Watts_Up]

To give an example, this is the trunk of a Hyundai Niro EV trunk.
There is not Spare, but you can easily put one if you desire.

 

[Feathermerchan]

I wonder what a spare would do for crash protection. Probably a larger crumple zone without one. If you designed the car to have one and it was removed, it could have a negative affect on crash protection.

 

[TonyJag]

I wonder what a spare would do for crash protection. Probably a larger crumple zone without one. If you designed the car to have one and it was removed, it could have a negative affect on crash protection.

Good point!
I once owned a 1974 Fiat 128SL, which had the spare mounted over the engine and as I recall, it was claimed to improve frontal crash protection. Keeping it from creaking over bumps was an ongoing challenge.

For the cargo-space-challenged Model 3, I half-seriously suggested a continental kit that attaches to a trailer hitch. Us old guys remember these from the fifties and before.
Continental tire - Wikipedia

Another way to mount a spare is to have it hoisted up from underneath. That method worked well in my CorV-8 (My first car with a Frunk),
CORV-8
it was applied in other cars with room underneath, like the Dodge Caravan. It also worked well on my open race car trailer.