Black CTS-V: Spare Tire

Black CTS-V: Spare Tire

My CTS-V follows the modern trend of cars to not include a spare tire. Instead you get a electric compressor and a can of tire goop. When I looked for spare tire options I found a number of folks who have rolled their own. But all I found involved buying a wheel and tire combination that "might" fit in the wheel well and required using a wheel spacer, special lug nuts and other assorted hacks.

Meanwhile I wanted something closer to an OEM solution. In the end I bought a kit from Modern Spare which is described as fitting in the wheel well and clearing the calipers. This got me a T135/70R18 Maxxis compact spare tire (TP10655500) mounted on a decent looking 18x5 five spoke black alloy wheel, a telescoping lug wrench, a scissor jack and ratchet. It also included a variety of 1/2" sockets, a plastic bag to keep your flat from getting the trunk dirty and even a set of lug nuts in case the factory ones are too big. When I got the kit I test mounted the wheel on both the front and rear:


Mounted on Front	Mounted on Rear

The spare definitely clears the massive Brembo brake calipers but not by more than 1-2 mm. The designated jack points on the CTS-V (see below) are sheet metal so I cut a 2x4 down to 11" to use with the jack and distribute load.


Jack Points	Block and Jack

The main part I ordered from the dealer was the spare support. It's a heavy duty styrofoam piece that holds the lug wrench and ratchet and supports the spare. I reused the jack assembly bolt and retainer. There is a spare tire specific jack assembly bolt which is angled but isn't really important for the spare to be centered on the bolt. To hold the jack securely and avoid rattles I drilled a hole in the center of my 2x4 and used it to sandwich the jack:


Spare Support	With Block and Jack

With the spare tire and jack secured there is even a little room for storage.

Notes

Here are the part numbers:

11571201 #7 Jack Assembly Bolt/Stud (or reuse straight version)

11562183 #8 Spare Tire Retainer (same as compressor version)

25909328 #9 Spare Support
The compressor and can of goop weigh about 5 lbs. The lug wrench, a scissor jack and ratchet also weigh about 5 lbs. The tire and wheel weighs 35 lbs. So the net weight gain is 35 lbs.

11571201	#7 Jack Assembly Bolt/Stud (or reuse straight version)
11562183	#8 Spare Tire Retainer (same as compressor version)
25909328	#9 Spare Support