As the manual states: ".. if the vehicle does get a flat tire, there is no spare tire, tire changing equipment, or place to store a tire. Contact Roadside Assistance for help.", are there aftermarket options for a spare tire kit ? like a donut space saver ?
Bolt spare tire options
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moombolt
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It's all there under the false floor!
What was the size of the tire that came on the Cruze spare wheel? If you're going to only be using these on the rear wheels (always putting OEM tire on the front) is the diameter really that important?
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I got a sidewall tear last month, I won't bore y'all with the details. Suffice to say the compressor and sealant kit was worthless for this kind of damage and it was 4+ hours before I was back on the road. A flatbed tow for any kind of tire damage is unacceptable for me. While sidewall damage is rare, I have heard of at least 5-6 occurrences of this within our small Bolt owners population. I now have a full-size stock rim/tire, jack and tool in back. Next time the down time will be a few mins.
But since I have a spare, of course it will never happen again...
But since I have a spare, of course it will never happen again...
Attachments
Me too. But I don't have the spare tire cover yet. Curious what size you got. I'm looking at a 26" x 6.5" from Walmart. Wouldn't wrap very far, if at all around the top side of the tire, like yours does. But I don't see a need to cover any of the top side. What do you think?
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Spare-Trailer-Tire-Wheel-Storage-Cover/38068471
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I got mine at Amazon for $13.53. I wanted all the tire covered so it would not dirty or stain the interior or anything
I placed around it. Fits fine and has a draw string to cinch it tight.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MDZLR2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Great. Thanks.
I have an inflated full sized tire on an OEM wheel sitting in the lower cargo compartment and the false floor fits on top of it just fine. I can't imagine there being any problem with a more compact spare.
OK I think I'm going to buy a 15" steel wheel for a Sonic and a regular (non-temporary spare) tire to use as my spare. Should actually be cheaper than getting a used Cruze spare from a junkyard and then a temporary spare tire that's closer in diameter to the OEM tire size while still being smaller (thinner) and quite a bit cheaper than a full sized OEM wheel & tire.
And as a bonus I could drive on his tire for as long as I needed if I had to (like if I wanted to order a replacement tire that would take a few days to arrive) and I could drive at highway speeds.
15" Steel Wheel for Sonic
205/65R15
According to the tire size calculator (see attached) these two tire sizes even have the exact same diameter so I could in theory run this as a spare on the front if I had to (probably wouldn't)
Thoughts?
And as a bonus I could drive on his tire for as long as I needed if I had to (like if I wanted to order a replacement tire that would take a few days to arrive) and I could drive at highway speeds.
15" Steel Wheel for Sonic
205/65R15
According to the tire size calculator (see attached) these two tire sizes even have the exact same diameter so I could in theory run this as a spare on the front if I had to (probably wouldn't)
Thoughts?
Attachments
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1,576 Posts
I was going the same route as you, raitchison, only with a 16" wheel since 15" wasn't available at time on Tire Rack. Ultimately, the price difference was only $40 and I decided to go with my local Discount Tire since they treated me so well with flat repairs and timely service.
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Look for a silver sticker with black lettering and a QR code around the edge of your driver's door (the edge on the Bolt's body, not the edge on the door itself). That sticker lists the GVWR which I forget but I think it means a fully loaded vehicle with passengers and some cargo using some averages for passengers and cargo.
Mine shows a GVWR of 4458 lbs, with the front being 2237 lbs and the rear being 2221 lbs (~51/49 split) so fairly symmetric distribution. I guess you could WAG it at about 1/4 of the GVWR, or 1100 lbs / corner *ASSUMING ALL TIRES TOUCH THE GROUND*.
It's been a while since mechanical physics, but depending on how rigid the Bolt is, wouldn't lifting one corner of the Bolt eventually lift the other nearby corners? So you could be lifting 1100+ lbs as you raise a corner higher and other adjacent corners start lifting up. When lifting at the lifting pads with my floor jack, I did notice the entire side of the Bolt started lifting once I got past a certain height.
On that note, has anyone actually used the pinchweld for lifting or placing your jack stands? I have seen this diagram, but I got nervous hearing horror stories about heavier vehicles (3500+ lbs) crunching/pending at the flange when lifting. I ask because @ldesaul bought a saddle-type lift for weld flanges.
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1,717 Posts
That jack will easily lift one corner enough to change a flat, what may be a concern is ground clearance. The sticker on the jack lists the minimum height of 14cm, about 5.5 inches. On level ground the Bolt’s pinch weld is only 6.5 inches high with a fully inflated tire, it would obviously be less with a flat tire.
The actual jack minimum height may be a bit lower than the rating, but I would fully deflate a tire and test clearance, both front and rear. Also, if using a compact spare the car will be lower, so getting the jack low enough to get the spare wheel onto the ground may be a problem.
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112 Posts
I use the jack points and frame bolt locations for raising the car (haven't seen the pinch welds).
Seems to work well for me.
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Glad it works, some jacks don’t fit under the factory jack points, some do.
I rotated my tires, for the second time, Wednesday. I finally got around to buying a TPMS tool. All went without a hitch.
This got me inspired to finally finish my spare tire setup. You can see pictures, and my write up here:
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Chevy Bolt first drive - Page 6 - Endless Sphere
This got me inspired to finally finish my spare tire setup. You can see pictures, and my write up here:
Chevy Bolt first drive - Page 6 - Endless Sphere
That's very cool - where did you get the tire cover?
My local Advanced Auto store. They had two sizes. As I recall they were 26"-27", and 29"-30". I bought the smaller one. It appears to be a black polyethylene film laminated to a loose polypropylene felt. I wanted the back side open too. After putting it on the tire I freehanded a circle on the closed side with a felt tip pen, and cut it out with a scissors, My wife folded, and hemmed the raw edge of the hole on her sewing machine. Looks like it came that way.
I've skimmed this thread, possibly too quickly. I am not seeing that anyone has found a temporary spare that will fit in the lower storage area after removing the styrofoam. Is that correct. I know the size would be problematic to use for any distance on the front. If needed there I would only use if for very short distances, or swap it out with a tire from the rear. I'd really like to get it down in that lower area.
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That lower area would be impossible to fit a tire flush with the deck above the recessed area where the styrofoam insert currently resides. The contours of the area prevent fitting a tire, even a compact one with smaller width and diameter. I would wager a tire that is both small enough in both width and diameter would be dangerous to use as a compact spare. It would be too different than the other tires on your Bolt and you'd have an off-filter Bolt.
Sadly, you'd have to pound out more space or cut into the bumper to make more space, or so I've read on this forum. All things I think would compromise rear crash crumple zones and safety.
Sadly, you'd have to pound out more space or cut into the bumper to make more space, or so I've read on this forum. All things I think would compromise rear crash crumple zones and safety.
It's interesting that the lower-most or subfloor area (Bose country) of the rear cargo area appears to include a partial stamping for a spare. On one of the various videos about these cars I heard a reporter ask about body sharing with other vehicles and the engineer replying mentioned that the body is a "nearly" completely model-specific effort, with just a few shared stampings. I wonder if the truncated spare well was one of those? I could see where avoiding a complete redo of an important crush zone on the car along w/collision bumper etc. might be a significant savings.
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