Model 3 has no spare tire

[Daniel in SD]

How much range do you think people would lose carrying a spare tire? I bet 99% of the time, no one keeps stuff in their trunk that couldn't be placed elsewhere.

It weighs about 40lbs so it increases the weight by 1% but doesn't affect aerodynamics so my wild guess is 0.5%. The problem is when I want the spare most is when I'm on road trips. If I'm in town I can just Uber home and get a spare or try to get a friend to deliver one to me.

 

[CrayZ1]

Note that the Model 3 pattern appears to be 5 x 4.5" (114.3mm) which is a common bolt pattern. There are bound to be Temp Spares that will fit. Caliper clearance must be checked. That company that charges $300 for a spare is gouging. That spare fits many different cars.

 

[lowtek]

It’s pretty pathetic that the Model 3 doesn’t have a spare tire.

Neither of the $50,000+ Fords we have came with spare tires.

Seems like a trend for new cars ...

I guess the justification is that flat tires are as uncommon as other failures that we don't have spares for ...

 

[CrayZ1]

Neither of the $50,000+ Fords we have came with spare tires.

My first car without a spare was a Corvette. It came with a bottle of snot, a 12v inflator, and instructions how to hitchhike.
Oddly enough it did come with a VHS tape telling you how to race prep the car.

 

[CrayZ1]

This might fit. AFAIK, it's 5 x 114.3 on an 18" wheel:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Genuine-OE-Ford-Spare-Tire-Kit-Mini-FR3Z-1K007-C/514673584

Who feels lucky?

 

[jonquiljo]

Note that the Model 3 pattern appears to be 5 x 4.5" (114.3mm) which is a common bolt pattern. There are bound to be Temp Spares that will fit. Caliper clearance must be checked. That company that charges $300 for a spare is gouging. That spare fits many different cars.

Are you talking about the "Modern Spare" spare tire kit? Well, it's $350 for the kit with bag. If AAA will install it, then it seems reasonable enough. In really extreme situations, it can be installed by yourself.

My question is whether the "Modern Spare" tire kit is junk? If it is junk, then gotta find something better for my car.

 

[CrayZ1]

Are you talking about the "Modern Spare" spare tire kit? Well, it's $350 for the kit with bag. If AAA will install it, then it seems reasonable enough. In really extreme situations, it can be installed by yourself.

My question is whether the "Modern Spare" tire kit is junk? If it is junk, then gotta find something better for my car.

Plus $45 shipping and tax if you're in CA probably? $400?

Note that Modern Spare sells wheels with dual patterns and some cars include wheel spacers. ie - These are not specific to the Model 3.

 

[jonquiljo]

Plus $45 shipping and tax if you're in CA probably? $400?

Agreed, it's overpriced. But unless you've got hours to kill, a spare is necessary.

With - what - 500K Model 3's sold, no one has any solution to the lack of a spare other than the "modern Spare" solution, or watching Netflix for hours?

 

[Daniel in SD]

I guess the justification is that flat tires are as uncommon as other failures that we don't have spares for ...

The claim on the internet seems to be that there are 220 million flat tires a year in the US which seems like it would be way more than the number of all other critical failures combined. 220 million does seem high to me though...
Anecdotally I've only had a car leave me stranded once in 25 years of driving and I've had a few flats (though I think all of them could have been fixed with a patch kit).

 

[CrayZ1]

Agreed, it's overpriced. But unless you've got hours to kill, a spare is necessary.

With - what - 500K Model 3's sold, no one has any solution to the lack of a spare other than the "modern Spare" solution, or watching Netflix for hours?

The Modern Spares solution fits many cars. You just have to find out which other cars it fits. It appears the Ford Mustang is one of them? Hard to tell. Both are 18" wheels with 5x114.3.

 

[jonquiljo]

The Modern Spares solution fits many cars. You just have to find out which other cars it fits. It appears the Ford Mustang is one of them? Hard to tell. Both are 18" wheels with 5x114.3.

That's the problem. It's untested. You can get a Ford kit for $200 plus shipping, but no one knows if it will work.

Having a spare tire avoids a long wait for Tesla RA (can use AAA instead - or yourself). You have to get towed to a service center, leave your car and then come back for it.

The green slime (alternative #2) tends to piss off tire techs. Some places will refuse to fix the tire. If so, it's $300+ for a new one?

Not may options out there. This modern trend of no spare tires is really a PITA! Have people been using slime for 2+ years and 500,000 Model 3's?!

Has anyone here successfully used a Modern Spare spare tire - ever?

 

[OCR1]

People frequently buy Model 3’s with 18” tires and then decide to upgrade to 19’s shortly after their purchase. When they do they sell their set of 18” wheels and tires for a fraction of the cost of what Tesla would sell them for. I found a forum member who was selling all four 18” OEM wheels and tires with only 1,000 miles on them for $600. Tesla would charge that much for one.

So I bought all four of them, kept two in my garage and sold two to other Model 3 owners looking for a spare. I think this is the best solution to keeping a spare tire around in case of a flat. If you go with the Modern tire it’s a temporary tire and it still takes up a lot of space. I would recommend going with the OEM tire and keeping it in your garage, and then putting it in the trunk if you are going on a long distance trip and want the extra piece of mind. With a full spare you can take your time to get the damaged tire repaired or replaced and do it at your convenience.

You can look through the Tesla parts for sale section of this forum. I’ve seen several almost brand new sets of OEM tires for sale very recently. There are enough forum members looking for a solution that it should be easy to coordinate a group by of all four tires.

 

[house9]

My question is whether the "Modern Spare" tire kit is junk? If it is junk, then gotta find something better for my car.

This is a great video, goes over the entire kit and does an install. I don't have one but have been thinking about it.

 

[rotus8]

I used my Modern Spare within a month of getting it. It worked perfectly. I have it strapped to the roof of the trunk using threaded rings on the protruding bolts on the back of the back seats and at the rear of the trunk.

I also got a lightweight aluminum Porsche jack that has a stud that fits into the jacking point hole, no Puck needed.

 

[jonquiljo]

I used my Modern Spare within a month of getting it. It worked perfectly. I have it strapped to the roof of the trunk using threaded rings on the protruding bolts on the back of the back seats and at the rear of the trunk.
View attachment 502703
I also got a lightweight aluminum Porsche jack that has a stud that fits into the jacking point hole, no Puck needed.

How far did you get on the spare - or how far do you think you can get? I'd hope you can get 30 miles at reasonable speeds. It's hard to find that information.

Also, did you get the Porsche jack because the one they supplied was cheezy? Or is it just better? I have a set of pucks "just in case" - and I leave them in the lower compartment. Thanks.

 

[rotus8]

The tire they supply is rated for 80 MPH and should be good for several hundred miles. The jack that came with the tire is reasonable and heavy duty, but the Porsche one is half the weight and nicely made. The locating pin is a bonus.

 

[jonquiljo]

The tire they supply is rated for 80 MPH and should be good for several hundred miles. The jack that came with the tire is reasonable and heavy duty, but the Porsche one is half the weight and nicely made. The locating pin is a bonus. View attachment 502710

Thanks again. Does this all weigh a lot?

 

[jkoya]

used my Modern Spare within a month of getting it. It worked perfectly. I have it strapped to the roof of the trunk using threaded rings on the protruding bolts on the back of the back seats and at the rear of the trunk.

I was thinking of doing this with the Modern Spare also. I was curious on the weight of the Modern Spare and is it putting any stress at all on the metal it is hanging from ?

 

[Andrew_SE23]

With - what - 500K Model 3's sold, no one has any solution to the lack of a spare other than the "modern Spare" solution, or watching Netflix for hours?

Spare wheel vending machines at supercharger stations.

 

[jkoya]

OK ... What is a good modern spare tire (w/a minimum 50 mi range), suitable lightweight rim for Tesla Mod 3, and a reasonable jack and lug wrench. All that certainly couldn't weigh more than 50 lbs.

I was curious about the weight of the Modern Spare, because I'm still deciding on whether to purchase that or an extra wheel/tire setup. I dropped down in size from the stock 20" wheel (28.75 lbs) to 18" Titan7 T-S5 forged wheels that weigh 18.3 lbs. If the Titan7 wheel/tire setup is not much heavier than the Modern Spare, I will probably go that route. I did a test fit using one of the factory 20" wheel/tire in the trunk with our luggage and their was enough space for us, so storage is not a concern for me as this is for a road trip only.