spare tyre......

[britlude]

following on from Duncans research into the tweaked Mercedes Benz spare wheel solution, I set upon sorting my own spare tyre....

as you can see, after the best part of 20 years of getting hot/cooling down/getting hot..... and so on, the rubber was past it's best....
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx%20stuff/nsx%20spare%20wheel%20tyre/z11052011529800x600.jpg

Of course, as soon as I hit E-of-the-bay there were no MB wheels to be seen, i trawled around, finding a set of 4 porsche 944 wheels, but £100+ was excessive, but I found an audi spare....
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx%20stuff/nsx%20spare%20wheel%20tyre/z22032011011800x600.jpg

unfotunately it turned out to be a A2 optional spare, 155/70x15, so was a good 1 1/2 inches shorter when inflated, and to add insult to injury the A2 is 100mmx5 pcd, so no chance of fettling the bolt holes to suit anyway!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx%20stuff/nsx%20spare%20wheel%20tyre/z20032011008800x600.jpg

oh well, back on ebay for that! at least got some money back!

[britlude]

In the meantime, some lucky soul had bought the four porsche wheels and removed the tyres so he could use the wheels on his Golf and relisted the tyres at £15 each.... Now obviously the tyres are impossible to remove/fit as they are not available for sale except to OEM.. you'd think they were bonded/fitted by magic.... apparently not!

anyhoo, I received the best tyre of the bunch, and had little to lose!
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx%20stuff/nsx%20spare%20wheel%20tyre/z11052011517800x600.jpg

a good as new Vredstein tyre, in glorious 165x15
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx%20stuff/nsx%20spare%20wheel%20tyre/z11052011516800x600.jpg

with the tyre and spare i set off to my trusted tyre firm, been using them for years, and they know what they are doing.... needless to say they've never done a space saver like this, and never seen one off the rim! so with a little encouragement i persuaded them to have a go! After the initial 'no we can't do it' i left it with them to have a play, on my return it was described as 'far easier than expected'..... and for a tenner!

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx%20stuff/nsx%20spare%20wheel%20tyre/z12052011537800x600.jpg

so a shiny new tyre fitted, it was lobbed in the car, the overall diameter is about 10mm bigger when deflated, but fits in just fine!
one less thing to worry about! I really should give the wheel a paint up....
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn41/thisYup/nsx%20stuff/nsx%20spare%20wheel%20tyre/z18052011604800x600.jpg

[TheSebringOne]

Great job, sounds like a great solution to a problem that affects us all with an older NSX.

[Sudesh]

Great work again Jonathan! Super solution to the £1000+ replacement from our friend Honda lol

Can I ask, have you blown the tire up yet and tested to see if stays up ok?

[britlude]

yes, it was inflated at the tyre fitters as they were fascinated how it works, and to make sure it did work!

[sorepaws]

does this imply that if you can find the same type of tyre on any other wheel that it can be removed and refitted on the NSX spare rim ?

Sorry if I seem obtuse

Mike

[jpspringall]

does this imply that if you can find the same type of tyre on any other wheel that it can be removed and refitted on the NSX spare rim ?

Sorry if I seem obtuse

Mike

It would be great if that were the case as i would guess that most of have a decent rim, just not the tyre.

[britlude]

well.... there is no implication, it's what I did!

i bought a tyre off a porsche 944 space saver, the person i bought it off had removed said tyre and then sent it to me. I then got my local friendly tyre-fitters to have a go at taking the tyre off the nsx spare and fitting the 944 tyre.

the only issue was that the tyre fitters hadn't done it before (they now have) and were reluctant to try. I told them to have a go as there was nothing to lose, if it hadn't worked I'd have a nsx spare with no tyre which is pretty much as good as a nsx spare with a tyre I didn't want to use! if it had gone pear shaped I'd have gone with the Duncan MB spare mod!

there doesn't seem to be any obvious reason why the tyres are not available to buy individually, only as wheel/tyre combinations.(apart from an amazing mark-up opportunity)

[Squirejo]

Just to update this thread. I have just done exactly the same as the OP. I bought a brand new Mercedes space saver off ebay. There seem to be lots for sale. Mine was brand new for £35 inc delivery. The tyre is a Vredstein space master 165 15" 89y and although the tyre fitter had not done one before, he started by taking the redundant old hondatyre off the Honda rim, which was easy. It was also easy to remove the new Vredstein from the merc rim but a little harder to refit the new tyre to the Honda rim. Nothing a bit of lube and persuasion could not sort out and it inflated fully and properly on the rim.

I really do hope no one has handed a grand to Honda for the pleasure. This is the easy route to refreshing the space saver for peanuts.

[mutley]

just to resurrect and old thread, this is also something I am looking at doing, just need to find a tyre place near me that fancies having a go.

Cheers,

Jim

[Old guy]

Out of curiosity, what are people using as the donor for the replacement spares? The MB rim / tire space saver combinations that I could find in the 165 -15 89 size were all from MB products in the 1997 - 2004 range. Under the best of circumstances that is only 4 years newer than the space saver on my 2000. Does anybody know of a newer donor vehicle which uses this size spare?

[mutley]

Out of curiosity, what are people using as the donor for the replacement spares? The MB rim / tire space saver combinations that I could find in the 165 -15 89 size were all from MB products in the 1997 - 2004 range. Under the best of circumstances that is only 4 years newer than the space saver on my 2000. Does anybody know of a newer donor vehicle which uses this size spare?

For me, it looks lie the Mercedes C Class use the vredstein in the size we need. Possibly Porsche too

(I'll let you know more if I can get this to work).

Cheers,
Jim

[mutley]

YES, YES IT WORKED, ebay, merc C-class/ SLK folding spare purchased for £45, found a local tyre fitter willing to give it a go and WALLAH, I now have a nice shiny new folding spare tyre on my old orange space saver wheel, they charged £10 to swap it over. JOB DONE!

(he did say it was a bit of a pain and doesn't fancy doing it again any time soon HAHA)

Cheers,
Jim

[britlude]

Under the best of circumstances that is only 4 years newer than the space saver on my 2000.

that is indeed true, but on the merc they live in a dark cool boot, on the NSX they are heat cycled with every drive....




(he did say it was a bit of a pain and doesn't fancy doing it again any time soon HAHA)

much the same as mine... even tho he ended up doing several nsx!!!!

[sorepaws]

that is indeed true, but on the merc they live in a dark cool boot, on the NSX they are heat cycled with every drive....



much the same as mine... even tho he ended up doing several nsx!!!!

I might need contact details of your friendly tyre changer Jonathan

[Old guy]

YES, YES IT WORKED, ebay, merc C-class/ SLK folding spare purchased for £45, found a local tyre fitter willing to give it a go and WALLAH, I now have a nice shiny new folding spare tyre on my old orange space saver wheel, they charged £10 to swap it over. JOB DONE!

(he did say it was a bit of a pain and doesn't fancy doing it again any time soon HAHA)

Cheers,
Jim

What is the vintage of C class that provided the spare? In North America, MB C class (at least the sedans) have had run flats since at least 2015.

[Pride]

YES, YES IT WORKED, ebay, merc C-class/ SLK folding spare purchased for £45, found a local tyre fitter willing to give it a go and WALLAH, I now have a nice shiny new folding spare tyre on my old orange space saver wheel, they charged £10 to swap it over. JOB DONE!

(he did say it was a bit of a pain and doesn't fancy doing it again any time soon HAHA)

Cheers,
Jim

After seeing this post pop up I decided it was about time I replaced my spare tyre as well so thanks for the info guys.

In the 24 years of ownership I've never used the spare for a puncture scinario although a previous owner obviously had.
Just like you Jim I found a brand new unused merc space saver wheel and tyre on eBay for £40 (bargain).
I then took both the wheels to Wheel Works in Crawley who refurbished my spare and fitted the folding tyre for just £60.
I replaced the missing rubber caps on the spare wheel hanger to stop it scratching the beautiful finish of the wheel.

One of the best £100 I think I've spent in a long time. :)

144001440114402144031440414407
14406

[goldtop]

Great result. I'll start looking...

[sorepaws]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=284504087933&_sacat=0

£30 - free postage

[duncan]

My original post in 2011 [ New Boots and Panties; Space Saver Wheel & Tyre (http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?8801-New-Boots-and-Panties-Space-Saver-Wheel-amp-Tyre) ] included a listing of all the Vredestien 'Space Masters' I could find at the time -

165/80-15 89P Mercedes-Benz C-class sportcoupé
165/80-15 89P Mercedes-Benz SLK
195/80-17 106P Porsche Cayenne, VW Touareg
185/75-17 98P Mercedes-Benz GLK
195/75-18 106P Porsche Cayenne, VW Touareg, Audi Q5,Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz R-class
165/70-16 92P Mercedes-Benz C-class sportcoupé, Porsche 911 Carrera 4(S), Porsche 911 Turbo
145/70-17 92P Mercedes-Benz SLK, Mercedes-Benz SLK AMG
185/65-19 104P Mercedes-Benz M-class AMG, Mercedes-Benz R-class AMG
195/65-19 106P Porsche Cayenne
145/60-20 95P Ferrari 599 GTB Fiurano
185/60-17 93P Porsche 911 Turbo, Porsche Cayman S, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes-Benz SL
205/60-17 99P Audi A6 Allroad
175/55-18 95P Mercedes-Benz SL Biturbo, Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG, Mercedes-Benz CLS 55 AMG, Maserati Quattroporte
175/55-19 95P Audi A4 Allroad
175/50-19 97P Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG

As shown by Britlude the tyre from the SLK interchanged with that fitted to the NA1 without the need to re-drill a spare wheel.

Whether the 165/70-16 fitted to Mercedes-Benz C-class sportcoupé, Porsche 911 Carrera 4(S), Porsche 911 Turbo will interchange with the NA2, I do not know but may be worth a punt to find out.
What will NOT fit in the nose of the car is a 'Space Master' collapsible 185/60-17 [and up] wheel and tyre combo', I've tried and the bonnet will not close.