[DeTomaso] Spare tire question

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Chris, the dropped part of the rear trunk insert only accepts the rim 
portion that shows below the backside of the tire when collapsed. The casing sits 
up on the lip-edge of th dropped part. The stock wheel was a plain-vanilla 
steel 7x14 Ford wheel and depending on the year of your car, the OEM 
collapsible spare may have been one that was involved in a recall decades ago for 
sidewall cracking in storage, and a different series collapsible substituted. 
All this stuff was so generic that no s/ns are involved. Collapsibles are 
still around in many sizes and can be remounted on other rims if you find a 
tire guy that knows what he's doing. Since they're only good for about 50 
miles distance @ 50mph max, mine is mounted on a superlight drag-race wheel. 
The collapsible was first intended up in the front trunk, but came thru the 
windshield during crash testing, so was moved to the back and a restraining 
stud added. If you add a stud in front, a 7x14 with spare will still fit 
fine; I added such a stud and carry mine there. Its also possible in most cars 
to carry a small-cross-section high-pressure spare mounted on a Thunderbird 
forged-alloy wheel if it's welded & redrilled for a 5-bolt pattern. I have 
one that fits in either trunk; this assembly clears big brakes too. Don't 
forget a non-explosive inflater can & stem-adapter if you carry any spare, and 
proper nuts if you run aftermarket non-hub-centered wheels. Cheers- J 
Deryke