Removing and installing the jack and spare tire

I'm go to the track maybe twice a month. Maybe more now that the weather is improving. Almost always, I'll take the jack, lug wrench and spare tire out. Taking these out and putting them back in is a pain in the butt. Mostly putting them back in. Standing straight up, bending at the waist, and reaching into the trunk is not easy on my aging lower back.

Here's my summary of putting these things back in.

1. Open trunk.
2. Lift and hold the carpet thing up and out of the way. Your left hand will be holding this carpet for the rest of this procedure. You may hold the carpet with your elbow to have partial use of your left hand.
3. Hook the post onto the center thing.
4. With one hand, place the jack in the center making sure the post goes through the washer looking thing. This is easier to do if you have had practice unhooking a girl's bra with one hand.
5. Reposition the jack and wiggle the post to get it to stand straight up.
6. Place the tire iron in the slots provided in the sound deadener thing.
7. Grab the spare tire by the center and lower it into the spare tire storage area.
8. Cuss out loud from the post scraping against the back of your hand.
9. Repeat step 5.
10. Install the spring onto the post.
11. Install the retainer washer thing onto the post.
12 Install the wingnut onto the post and spin it for the next 15 minutes till it bottoms out.
13. Wiggle the tire to make sure it is tight and won't rattle.
14. Spin the wingnut down for another 5 minutes.
15. Repeat steps 13 and 14 as needed.
16. Lower the trunk carpet.
17. Shut the trunk.

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But when you take the spare tire, jack and lug wrench out every Sunday afternoon and have to put it back in every Sunday night, it becomes a pain in the back.

Has anyone come up with an easier way? Maybe some sort of quick release thing? Or some other method of mounting or fixing the stuff in the trunk? Just leaving them out is an option but I'm hoping someone has thought of another solution.
 
  • Sponsors (?)


To be honest the spare tire is only really good on the front because once i had a flat when my car was stock and it burnt up the clutches in the diff so now i dont even carrie it now just a can of fixa flat
 
I just leave the spare in the trunk. The amount of work taking it out and putting it back in is not worth the extra 0.08 seconds. Besides, weight over the rear tires is never a bad thing.

On my Fox, i have a full size spare because a single OEM bullitt wheel and tire was way cheaper than a cobra 17" spare. I still leave it in the trunk as the extra weight helps on launches.

I would think that unless you drive in a 100% straight line all the time, your clutches in the rear are always turning. Unless your spare is a completely different size than your rear tire, it would be no different than driving in a slight turn. Don't see how that would burn up clutches in the rear unless like i said, your spare tire is a completely different size than the rear wheels
 
I just leave the spare in the trunk. The amount of work taking it out and putting it back in is not worth the extra 0.08 seconds. Besides, weight over the rear tires is never a bad thing.

On my Fox, i have a full size spare because a single OEM bullitt wheel and tire was way cheaper than a cobra 17" spare. I still leave it in the trunk as the extra weight helps on launches.

I would think that unless you drive in a 100% straight line all the time, your clutches in the rear are always turning. Unless your spare is a completely different size than your rear tire, it would be no different than driving in a slight turn. Don't see how that would burn up clutches in the rear unless like i said, your spare tire is a completely different size than the rear wheels

I drove around with the stock spare on my passenger side rear. I drove like this for a week. I even spun the tires once and that little donut howled pretty good. BUT ... that sure did in the diff. After that I needed a complete rebuild.