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No spare nightmare!

28K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  Annabella 
#1 ·
Hello friends!
I'm sure this issue has been talked about before but I cant seem to find the answer I'm looking for. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated...

Long short... Just purchased a 2014 Sport. Wife hit a pot hole and somehow got a puncture right on the edge of the tread... more towards the sidewall. Plugging at that location not recommended.

Ok, no problem. Living in Philadelphia we are use to dealing with flats pretty much regularly. Imagine my surprise when I went to go look for a spare that was not there. Yikes! Green goo? Keep it... Did nothing in my case. Sure glad we have roadside assistance right? Nope! Cant help us without a spare... but did offer a tow... in 3 to 6 hours. Aghhh! Really!?! Its JUST a flat! This shouldn't be so complicated! We got a new tire hours later but I swore I'd never deal with this again... So this is where I need your help.

What is the best spare tire remedy? I would prefer a full size spare and seriously thinking about sacrificing the trunk area to keep one if it would fit. Obviously that's not a great "solution" so my question is... I think I already can guess... Would a full size fit under the car? Didnt think so... Which brings me to my next question. How hard is it to buy a spare tire kit from the dealer (best option?) and mount it where it should have been had the original buyer had sprung for said option? Did I read somewhere you need to drill through the trunk or someplace? Assuming I can easily mount it under the car... How difficult is it to remove in the event my wife is stranded roadside? She has no problems changing a tire on other cars, I'm just concerned about her actually being able to access the spare. Difficult? If so I suppose I could always just keep a "donut" in the "trunk" as well but I'd rather not.

Third option could be buying a roof rack or even one of those rear window racks and mount a spare there... you know, for that really car look? Thoughts?

This is a "issue" I've never had to deal with... We love the car but this is something I need to take care of assuming we are going to be replacing tires as often as we have on other cars.

Thank you so much for your help!
 
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#2 ·
I think it's part number 82212995... but you'll need to verify with your VIN. (There are 2 models of the kit, IIRC.) Online they sell for $260, but after shipping your dealer is probably cheapest and most reliable source. Amazon has them for about $380 with Prime shipping.

This is a jack, tire, and the installation kit. The tire is raised/lowered by a crank nut in the trunk, and the tire tucks up underneath, behind the rear bumper.
 
#15 ·
Too bad it won't work on a 5ooL. I used to have a Honda CRV and RAV4 and I liked having the tire there.

When I bought my '15 L I too was in an uproar - not that there was no spare, but that the salesperson didn't mention it (don't ask, don't tell). So I ended up getting an underside spare..... which I'm really glad I did since I got a flat last night. a few blocks away so I'm going back in the daylight and utilize it!
 
#4 ·
The underneath, tire. Like what’s on my car here. Only can handle a space saver tire. There are 2 types of the underneath. One for the 2012 models. Another for the 2013, to date. In 8 1/2 years. I’ve never used this tire once. The European, Asian, Middle East 500’s. The spare tire, is inside the cargo area.

 
#6 ·
Many new cars come without a spare tire, not just Fiat. I bought complete kit for mine from “500 Madness” for a total of about $325. I then bought a spare tire cover on Amazon for another $15 to keep rode grime away underneath the car.
 
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#7 ·
my 12 sport came with a spare under the car like the one above (with the crank nut in the trunk) and I used it twice within 3 weeks thanks to the lovely roads here in LA..... anyways I got a third puncture due to another pothole 6 months later and I could no longer retrieve the spare from its spot. something with the crank mechanism broke and anyway I would ratchet the nut it just wouldn't turn and would make a big click sound with no movement.

this sucks for me cuz I had to get the car towed instead of using the spare again. and now the only way to get the spare off is gonna be to have to take a cutting wheel to it and cut the holder apart so it can fall off since there is no visible way to unbolt it from the bottom.... wish me luck.

I also want to remove the spare so I can install the dual exhaust from the Abarth since the spare gets in the way.
 
#8 ·
I do not have the spare tire kit on my 2012 Sport. I found the insanity of having under-the-rear spare tire carriers a decades old design. I carry my spare inside, with the rear seats folded forward. I figured if I had a rear tire go flat, with as low as these cars sit off the ground, it would be more difficult to withdraw a tire from underneath than to pull it out of the hatch. I picked up a screw-type jack at a wrecking yard for $5.00 and have a 1/2" ratchet and extension from Harbor Freight. The 17mm socket is from a full set from HB. What's funny is the 19mm socket from my FIAT 128 days fits the nut on the jack.
 
#10 ·
My previous experience with undet-body mounted spares are: BS !
But - I live in the north or Europe, where frost and salt is "natural".
What happened ? Over time, the nut an bolt that elevates and lowers the spare just rusted and froze up.
Luckily I discovered that on a summers day - without having a flat, so I could WD40 it and wrestle it apart, clean and lubricate when reassembling.
Trick is to remeber to lube it regularly - I would not have beeen able to remove the spare without WD40 and bigger tools than I carry in the car !

And it still surpises me that our 500 is so different between Europe and USA - does it really pay off to develope two different udeerbodies - and maintain two designs ?
Every time Fiat consider updating - it has to be done twice...
 
#12 ·
My previous experience with undet-body mounted spares are: BS !
But - I live in the north or Europe, where frost and salt is "natural".
What happened ? Over time, the nut an bolt that elevates and lowers the spare just rusted and froze up.
Luckily I discovered that on a summers day - without having a flat, so I could WD40 it and wrestle it apart, clean and lubricate when reassembling.
Trick is to remeber to lube it regularly - I would not have beeen able to remove the spare without WD40 and bigger tools than I carry in the car !

And it still surpises me that our 500 is so different between Europe and USA - does it really pay off to develope two different udeerbodies - and maintain two designs ?
Every time Fiat consider updating - it has to be done twice...
lol actually fiat hasn't updated the 500 in North America since 2011.... and they just discontinued it here so consider yourself lucky XD
 
#11 ·
I can understand about the spare, but under vehicle spares are moderately common in US cars. At least w/ the Fiat you don't have to crawl under the car and twist the locking mechanism, while having dirt pour in your face.

The US would love to have updates as often as Europe, but with the extreme expense to redesign a car for the American market, Fiat doesn't update our models. Well, except for the 2017-18 non-structural updates and fixing a few failed parts. It all comes down to the US not negotiating with EU for common standards.
 
#16 ·
I've found that having the spare is a necessity, as I've had 3 tire incidents over the past 2 years when I didn't have a spare and therefore required a tow each time. But the placement under the car is problematic for all the reasons others have outlined, not to mention that you don't want to have to finagle with a stuck spare in cold and wintry weather. So I looked around and purchased a good spare from an auto recycler, including the jack and tire wrench. Much less costly than ordering one from the dealer. I've strung a long bungee cord between the rear seat anchors to hold the spare up tight up against the back of the rear seat, which works quite well. Have not actually had to use the spare but it's only a matter of time considering the conditions of our roads.
 
#17 ·
I'd consider finding a better way to secure the spare.

I was stuck in stalled freeway traffic and got smacked from the rear hard, maybe 50 MPH closing speed. A light spiral ring notebook flew from the dash and left a spiral imprint in the rear window plastic. It sailed over my head, as the seat back collapsed rearward. In a 30 MPH crash, objects in the car have momentum up to 30 times their weight... so your spare could suddenly be a 1500 pound forward projectile at normal driving speeds. That's why spares are tucked underneath, or in a reinforced well with a secure bolt.

 
#18 ·
I'm aware of the dangers of items being thrown about the car in a collision, but the rear seats must have been designed to not move forward nor backwards in a collision as they are latched into position (and presumably with occupants in them as well). So as the seat backs are latched securely into place, the spare cannot move either as it is sandwiched vertically between the seat back and the rear hatch. The bungee cord is simply there to take up the little slack that exists, and to stop the tire from rattling around during normal driving. It seems a relatively safe arrangement to me, but I'd like to hear if perhaps it is not.
 
#20 ·
My experience with the no-spare situation is documented on this site, from several years ago. In short, a flat that happened at the dealer ended up taking several hours to resolve (without any dealer assistance). It was a comedy of errors between FIAT Roadside Assistance, AAA, getting home, and getting a replacement tire the following day.

Needless to say, I ordered the spare tire kit. There's no drilling to install it, the hole for the little suspension cable is already there, just plugged. I installed it, and if I can do it, just about anybody can. I'm the guy that took something like four hours to change the air filter (also documented here), so when I say, "I did it and so can you," I really mean it. :)
 
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