Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

This is going to be a fun one for you out there. I have a 1947 Custom Super Clipper. Its tire are Coker wide whitewall radials installed in March. The curious thing about the car is that its original spare tire is mounted in trunk, OEM, never used. Goes without saying that I will never use, since I am sure the inner tube has turned to dust by now. I don't want to get rid of this tire, but I am not going to keep it in my basement, so I have to find some kind of alternative that allows me to keep most of the usable space in the trunk.

I have always had a spare tire in my cars and I don't want to go on a tour without one, but a full-size spare in addition to the original spare would take up too much room to carry anything else. That brings me to the idea of using a donut spare which would take up a lot less space. I am not sure about the size of a donut spare for my car, but I would appreciate some feedback from you out there in Packard Land.

If I were on a tour, I would want a full-size spare. Period.

Keep the relic tire at home and only have it in the car in place of the new full-size spare when you are going to local shows.

While it would be neat in a museum car, I am not sure how much it would be appreciated or recognized by the normal car show participant.

The original can be kept as is as a wall art in your shop to worship.

Get another factory rim and put a full size spare...I would never risk a donut spare for the value of an antique car.

My 2.5 cents

Unless it can be ordered from some specialty tire shop I don't believe you will find any modern off the shelf wheel that can carry a donut tire and will have a large enough center hole to fit on the Packard drum.

Craig you are not far from Ross. He can probably sell you a spare 55 Clipper rim.

Thank you all for your sage advice. This was a trial balloon for which I wanted feedback. I don't have room to keep a spare tire in my basement nor do I care very much about it, so this tire will simply go away. I will order a Coker radial as a spare.

Craig

Can you post a couple nice photos of the "NOS" tire before you throw it out? 😁

Good afternoon...You might ask Ross if he would like the tire. He has lots of old Packard stuff I do believe. You might get a trade for another wheel that you can mount a new tire on. Ernie in Arizona

Quote:

Hello

• RE: the original spare tire... If you don't want it, and it is an original Packard item, why not donate it to America's Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Since they are a non-profit museum, you can even get a tax credit for this item rather than merely tossing it in the trash.

• RE: using a "donut spare"... Please. Don't even think of doing such a thing– regardless of whether you can get a thingie like this to fit or not. Pure SUICIDE. Such modern temporary spares are only designed to hold up a modern low-profile, relatively lightweight automobile long enough to reach a service station. This is all such devices were designed to do. They can severely alter the handling even on modern cars designed to work with radial tires. Otherwise you and your Packard end up on the evening news and YouTube... at BEST. We won't mention the "at worst" possibilities. Very reckless idea that could only lead to nothing good.

• RE: mixing radials and bias-ply tires... Another Please– especially on vintage automobiles. Don't do it. A quick way to transform your collector car into a pile for the rubbish collector.