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No Spare . . . What to do . . .


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We just bought a 2014 Spark and were surprised to find out when we got it home that it didn't have a donut spare tire. We went back to the dealer and asked why he didn't tell us about the Spark not haveing a spare. He said that he thought we knew because Chevy has stopped putting a spare in a lot of its new models. We asked about a spare tire kit for the Spark and was told that Chevy doesn't offer one. The parts man was a nice guy at the dealers garage and told us about a spare donut that he had laying around in the parts room. It was from an older model Corona and had the right bolt pattern which is 4 bolt holes and 100mm dimension diagonally. This spare was a 14 inch donut. We took the spare donut for free. We then went to a junk yard and bought a jack that was never used for 5 dollars. We could have bought a tire changing wrench there too, but I wanted a 4 way tire wrench for my little wife to give her some leverage. We asked about a 15 inch donut spare that would fit the spark at the junk yard but there doesn't seem to be one. We then went to advance auto parts and bought a 4 way tire changing wrench. We also bought 4 extra lug nuts that would fit the spark. We were told that the stock chromed lug nuts from the Spark might not fit the donut rim correctly. It turned out that we didn't need these old fashioned open ended lug nuts. Then it was back home to try to fit the donut rim on the Spark. it wouldn't fit. We had a problem. The center hole of the donut rim was 100 thousands of an inch to small. Sometimes I'm a lucky man my neighbor has a milling machine in his garage. It took him about 20 minutes to set up the machine and to remove the unwanted excess metal. If it wasn't for him we would have been grinding for a few hours with my electric drill. We then put the donut rim on the back of the Spark. It fit great and everything cleared and the chrome stock lug nuts from the Spark tightened it good. We then went for a short ride. We couldn't even tell that we had a 14 inch donut spare on the Spark it rode great. I figured the car might lean slightly because the rest of the wheels on the Spark were 15 inch, but nothing wrong was noticable. The spare, the jack, the can of goo, extre lug nuts and the compressor fit into the Spark wheel well nicely. This whole job only cost me about 30 bucks and about an afternoon of my time. I was lucky. We feel safer now we have a spare. Hey guys don't run an undersized tire on the front of the Spark. If you have a flat up front rob a good tire from the back, put it on the front and run the undersized wheel on the back.

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Yea, even dealerships don't keep them in stock. The markup is so low on these and there are so few cars out there with that size that it isn't cost effective to keep them in stock. I don't carry them in my shop, takes me about a day to get them in. It is why I got a donut right after I got the car.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Just an update. Here is the Chevy, Aveo tire in the trunk of the 2014 Spark.

Fits with no problems, and everything else can pile in. And after a bit of cutting, I managed to get the top foam piece back in too!

(Just in case anyone wanted to see how much room it had.)

So this really works my wife and I just bought a 2014 Spark and we are 62 and don't know much about all this new school stuff. Don't like being without a spare. Wife she is oxygen and I sure don't want to get stranded somewhere and her oxygen runs out then we would be in a world of trouble then. What all wheels and tire works as a spare. Also what about the tpms light ? I have seen use wheels on eBay and donuts wheels also. I am just really lost on this. I am also a high risk stroke patient so I need to know what works and what don't.

Edited by Frank Baxley
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  • 3 weeks later...

So this really works my wife and I just bought a 2014 Spark and we are 62 and don't know much about all this new school stuff. Don't like being without a spare. Wife she is oxygen and I sure don't want to get stranded somewhere and her oxygen runs out then we would be in a world of trouble then. What all wheels and tire works as a spare. Also what about the tpms light ? I have seen use wheels on eBay and donuts wheels also. I am just really lost on this. I am also a high risk stroke patient so I need to know what works and what don't.

NO, NO, NO! You need three things. A donut spare from an Aveo and an AAA membership and a cell phone with AAA on speed dial. A high risk stroke patient does not change a flat...ever! And... your wife on Oxygen....one spark from the wheel wrench and..well..you get the picture. Right?

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Need a jack and 19mm socket wrench too.

This goes a little beyond normal, but the spare in my Fiesta is an alloy with the same 8 spoke pattern as the main wheels. Couldn't believe that when I had to use it for a screw in the tread! Ended up stuffing a plug in the hole and it has been fine for 1000 miles now. The tire plug kit now lives in the car for other repairs and for rapid response for other cars.

Edited by Greg_E
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  • 8 months later...

Hey guys, just bought my Spark a few days ago and I just realized that it comes with a tire sealant instead of a spare. I like pretty much everything about the car except for that fact. Just wanted to get some feedback on what other people have done about it. I am thinking about getting a donut and tire case and thowing it in the trunk with a jack and lug wrench. It would take some trunk space away but I feel like it might be worth it. Anyone else think of something better storage wise or just wingin it with the sealant?

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Hey guys, just bought my Spark a few days ago and I just realized that it comes with a tire sealant instead of a spare. I like pretty much everything about the car except for that fact. Just wanted to get some feedback on what other people have done about it. I am thinking about getting a donut and tire case and thowing it in the trunk with a jack and lug wrench. It would take some trunk space away but I feel like it might be worth it. Anyone else think of something better storage wise or just wingin it with the sealant?

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I have a 2013 spark with the 5 spoke aluminum rims. I bought a matching rim and tire off eBay and it fits right where the spare tire is suppose to go. I even added a lug Wrench and jack. It sits slightly higher that the foam did but you. Ant even tell.

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