DJWLDW

So I have been looking at all the parts to install the spare tire conversion kit. Some of the parts I can get new and cheaper off e-bay and the rest from My Lexus Parts. I asked the Dear Wife what she thought about this and did she think we would take the SC on any trips. Trips being defined as to Nebraska or Virginia. Her response was that if it is more than 125 miles one way which means a run to Costco in Tulsa that we would most likely take the LS 460L. So what I really want to know is this:

1: How many folks have the Spare Tire Conversion Kit

2 How many are still running run flat's

3 How many have gone to a regular tire (non run flat) and carry a tire repair kit and a small 12 volt compressor in the trunk.

The DW will be 69 in May as I will be and if she had a flat tire she is not going to change it. If I have a flat while driving and I already have the SC on the jack to change the tire and assuming it is just a nail in the tread issue not a sidewall issue then how much more effort is it just to pull the nail and then plug the hole using the tire repair kit and inflate using the 12 volt compressor?

So I guess I am asking given that the SC will not be going on any long trips is the spare tire conversion kit worth the money?

Dennis

DJWLDW

Oomfh

Define Independence? Where do you take your SC with the donut spare that you would not take it other wise?

Dennis

GmanSC

riknchar

Dennis, My 2006 SC430 came with the spare tire kit already installed (and weirdly, the tires had just been replaced with run-flats... why????). I quickly switched to Michelin non-run flats for a better ride.

I don't really take my SC on trips either, though I may at some point. It's nice to know I have the spare tire, but in reality I'd probably be better off with the extra trunk space, since I do mostly local driving (and only 2-3K of that per year).

I would not have paid the $600-700 cost of having a spare installed, but am kind of happy that it was already present in my car when I bought it. Good luck!

GmanSC

Just a dumb question: why do you need the kits?
I know someone on this board just bought the RX8 tire and dropped it into the spare tire slot. No kits.
What’s wrong for doing that?

DJWLDW

GmanSC

Are you saying just drop it down in the well and not have it secured to anything? Just let it ride there? I would think you would at least need to get part 64716-24080-B0 which is the floor mat w/o run flat's to fit over the jack/tools? I think what kinda started me thinking did I really need this was when the shipping on part 64716-24043-B0 which is the rear cover was $163.00 on a part that cost $128.42 from Mu :Lexus Parts.

Dennis

GmanSC

Dennis, I don’t really know since I don’t own the spare tire kits. I just remembered someone on this club bought a Mazda RX8 4X spare tire and said it worked well. He didn’t buy a kits but I am assuming he must have some kind of secure and protection.
That why I asked.

DJWLDW

GmanSC

If I look at the pictures of the parts on My Lexus Parts web page without the rear cover and the extra bracket which bolts into or through the rear cover which is then held on by the retain bracket there is no way to secure the tire. It would just be sitting down in the wheel well? I doubt it would jump out of the well but I would guess it would bounce around and it might even hit the roof when it was down if you hit a big enough pot hole. It's not a very complicated setup.

Dennis

Avmanager

I plan on rolling the dice with the spare tire on the car. I don't have a spare tire kit, and just plan on running the gamble on whether I will have a flat or not. My wife might drive this car 2000 miles a year. Considering her primary vehicle is a GX460 that she has had for almost 2 years and it has 9K miles. 99% of her trips are all within 10 miles of the house. I haven't even put a portable compressor or a plug kit in this car. I might get a full size tire to keep in the garage just incase I need to change it. Or for the $600 for a spare tire kit, that's a lot of AAA or about 9 full tows to the tire shop in my area.

DJWLDW

Avmanager

Great point I never thought about just having an extra tire in the garage in case the DW got a flat. Given she like your wife in most cases will not be more than 10-15 miles from the house. I could then quickly load up my trusty (1990 Crystal Blue Ford Bronco II) Steed and ride to my (once upon a time) Damsel in Distress and once again becoming the Knight in Shinning Armor to the Rescue. That role did come with benefits in the past. She drives the LS 460L most of the time and in as much as she has already stated we will not be taken the SC on any long trips the $600-800 is not really well spent.

Dennis

nomods4me

I'm too lazy, cheap etc to get one so I'm gonna make do with having good tires and a can of flat fix.

Avmanager

I know that my wife wont ask anyone other than me to change a tire. She is going to be calling someone.....me.....Its hard to justify in my mind the space it takes up, plus the cost. All the years I have been driving, I don't think I have ever been forced to change a flat tire. Part of it is I am lazy. I'll plug it, and pump it with a portable compressor. But majority of that has been in the driveway of the house. Don't think I have ever been somewhere where I have been stranded with a cut/ punctured/ flat tire. I'll keep the $600. For that price, I can buy a whole set of takeoffs with tires to keep in the Garage. But I guess the main thing is for me, this is not a primary driver and one that is a fun car driven around town. Doubt it will go on any road trips, but if it does. I'll use AAA if I get stranded and need a tow. They will tow you if you don't have a spare....my aunts SC430 doesn't and she was stranded. They towed it straight to the Lexus dealer for her.

Harold57

I installed the kit. I found a Supra spare tire for $40 and purchased the rest of the kit without the tire. Then I added the compressor and a plug kit. I run regular tires, not run flats.

The guy that did the RX8 spare tire has a thread about it. He modified some of the parts in the trunk. It is worth checking out his thread.