Pro's and Con's of relocating the spare tire?

[28ACoupe]

Greetings all,

I am considering relocating the spare tire from the rear of the '28 Business Coupe to the front fender so I have easy access to the trunk. I have heard that if you do this on the early cars, the tire gets in the way of the door opening properly. Is this the case?

What are the Con's to this kind of modification aside from the fact that the Business Coupes didn't come out that way?

[CarlG]

IMHO - The spare on the fender is more in the way than it is on the rear. If I had anyplace else to put it, I would!

[George Miller]

Side spares on 28-29 model's makes it hard to get in and out. Especialy if you are on the big side.

[Joe K]

I thought the dent on the drivers side door on a 28-29 CC pickup was factory installed.

The 28-29 Station Wagon even has the wood arranged to miss the spare tire.

Joe K

[CarlG]

At least on the '31 AA's, there is a factory "dent" in the door if there is a side mount spare. There isn't one on my '31 A.

[Dave in MN]

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I changed to dual side mounts 10 years ago on my 29 Phaeton and have regretted it for the last few years. As I am getting older, it is getting difficult to enter and exit the car. If I am to keep the car for another 10 years, I may need to change it back! I still like the way it looks but I'd rather drive the car than look at it!
I would not do it again!
Good Day!

[Rowdy]

I wish I had the option to move the spare from the fender to the rear of my Delivery, but so far I have not found a practical way to do it without making the rear door useless. Maybe in the future I will fabricate a swingaway mount with lock pin to make the rear door still usable. Fender spares are less than ideal IMHO, although they look nice. Rod

[Bob-A]

I'm 6 ft tall and weight about 225 lbs. Getting into my '29 roadster with sidemounts can be a real exercise in contortion. Especially if the top is
up........ If your car has sidemounts, leave it that way. If not....don't change to them. Unless you've got the parts to do it with out butchering
a fender.

Bob-A

[newshirt]

Originally Posted by Joe K

I thought the dent on the drivers side door on a 28-29 CC pickup was factory installed.

Joe K

It was on the '31 Service Car.

Sorry for getting off-topic. Just thought this was interesting enough to share.

(Photo, courtesy of The Ford Model "A" As Henry Built It, George DeAngelis)

[whirnot]

I too have dual side mounts. Personally I like the look, and don't find them that difficult when getting in and out. But for cleaning the car and working on the engine, at times they get in the way. Knowing what I know, I would not move a spare to the side.

[Charlie Stephens]

If I had a 4 door and needed to add a luggage rack to carry things I would move the tire. If I had a rumble seat and needed to add a luggage rack to carry things I would move the tire. There is no way I would go to all the work to move the tire just to get easy access to the trunk. Having said that I guess I am lucky I have a pickup and the only place for the spare tire is in the fender (of course there is the right fender or left fender or both decision to be made).

Charlie Stephens

[mccsix]

I'm 6' 2" 200 and entering my 28 ccpu with a left fender mount is living cartoon event. No one with a size 10 shoe, or larger, should be allowed to own one!
I must enter with my 12s, right foot first lift myself up on the seat and drag the other 12 sideways through the door.
I always make sure no one is around for this gangly show.

[700rpm]

Ron, I'd say if you're going to keep the trunk, put the spare on the fender. If you put in a rumble seat, leave it in the back. I personally wish my 54A had the trunk, and have been trying to find original trunk hinges for it since I bought it, so I could convert it back.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Having the spare in the rear is also better weight distribution.

Now, if I could get rid of my spare tire, it would be easier to get in and out of the car.

[ed thibodeau]

On my 31 pickup I decided that the fender mounted spare was not going to work so I looked at the under flat bed mounting on the AA and made a similar one under the box (wide bed) that is hinged and hung a latch off the hinge pin for the tail gate, so from the rear you can just see the tire tread. It works great.

[28ACoupe]

Originally Posted by 700rpm

Ron, I'd say if you're going to keep the trunk, put the spare on the fender. If you put in a rumble seat, leave it in the back. I personally wish my 54A had the trunk, and have been trying to find original trunk hinges for it since I bought it, so I could convert it back.

As I recall from when I did the conversion to a rumble seat, the original trunk hinges were just a pair of steel pins mounted in the sides of the trunk hole.

I could be wrong on this though as that was several years ago.

[Larry Seemann]

I too made an under-bed spare mount for my '31 widebed. Works well and is completely out of the way. Of course it came with a side mount but the fender needed to be changed when I restored it and I don't care for side mounts so I improvised and I'm very pleased with the innovation.

[Paul from Maine]

Originally Posted by 28ACoupe

Greetings all,

I am considering relocating the spare tire from the rear of the '28 Business Coupe to the front fender so I have easy access to the trunk. I have heard that if you do this on the early cars, the tire gets in the way of the door opening properly. Is this the case?

What are the Con's to this kind of modification aside from the fact that the Business Coupes didn't come out that way?

Unless you're trying to get that last mile out of a bald tire, what do you really need a spare tire for? Put a spare tube, tire pump and tire irons under the seat, check your tire pressures and treads before you back out of the garage and leave the spare tire at home! I haven't had a flat on the road since I stopped buying re-capped tires thirty years ago! Sure, I've had a few punctures that slowly let the air bleed out of my tubeless tires over days or weeks on my modern vehicles, but no catastrophic flats since the re-caps! I have never had a flat on either of my T's or my A. I have now jinxed myself! I will probably suffer two flats this summer and rue the advice I have just given. However, I will have a spare handy, 'cause I like the way it looks! The Town Sedan looks naked without it (and I am chicken). I just hope I don't have a flat on my '97 Blazer! The spare donut (which was very rusty and deflated) fell off from under the rear two years ago when I drove over a speed bump at McDonald's two or three years back! I do keep a can of Fix-a-Flat in that vehicle!

[al's28/33]

Keep it as is...unless you plan on installing DUAL side mounted spares, then the car looks off center and wobbly! Coupes look better with rear mounted spares!

[700rpm]

Originally Posted by 28ACoupe

As I recall from when I did the conversion to a rumble seat, the original trunk hinges were just a pair of steel pins mounted in the sides of the trunk hole.

I could be wrong on this though as that was several years ago.

That's it basically, but there are some support plates and countersunk holes involved as well, from what I have heard from others. Bob Huset says he has a set of hinges and the support that he'll sell me, if he can find them. It's been about 8 months since he said that though, so if someone else has some left over from their conversion to a rumble, please send me a PM. I'm still looking.