giving up spare tire, should i?

[saitcho]

greets all,

I have been debating where to install my 2 amplifiers in the coupe's trunk. I bought dual sub zenclosure which fits perfect and good build quality, but it doesnt leave a lot of room for the amps. I wanted to keep the spare tire in case of emergency, but i woudl save a LOT of trunk space if i just installed the amps in the spare tire well and left the tire itself out of the car.

I do have roadside assistance but i can say i've been in some places before with a flat where i didnt want to wait around for a while waiting on roadside assistance. on the other hand, its rare when this kind of thing happens.

thoughts? who here has given up their spare and regretted it, and who hasnt?

[skc]

same question..

anyone here kept the spare w/ a decent audio setup?

[saitcho]

my second idea was to make an amp rack out of fiberglass on each side of the trunk. using the spare tire well would be much easiuer though, plus more trunk space.

[InFaMOuS_G]

hey i also would like to know if anyone has problems. i dont want to jinx myself but i gave up my spare and i also have road side assistance. im just praying for the best. on the good note when i drive i try to avoid pot holes, bumps and other crap on the road.
please let me know

[Gdup35sedan]

I have a sedan but i dont have much trunk space left after the box i made for my 2 12's and the floating amp rack. I'll post pics next week when i'm completely done. The amp rack comes a foot shy of the trunk lid so it's pretty big. It would save a ton of space to take out the spare tire but i'd like to keep it there for peace of mind. You can always mount the amp on yur back seat even though this might not be the prettiest way to mount an amp.
-GP-

[amthar]

I managed to fit a JL 500/5 in the stock amp location with slight modification to the black flooring support, and adjusting how the spare tire sat in the tire well. I have a driver's side 4080 box with a JL10w3v2d4 in it. Now that he's come out with the passenger side coupe box, it would not be difficult to have two subs, the 500/5 and the spare tire.

If you aren't willing to wait for a tow, patch, whatever, definately keep the spare- it's not worth it to have more trunk space if you're stuck on the side of the road.

[Gilley]

Originally Posted by amthar

I managed to fit a JL 500/5 in the stock amp location with slight modification to the black flooring support, and adjusting how the spare tire sat in the tire well. I have a driver's side 4080 box with a JL10w3v2d4 in it. Now that he's come out with the passenger side coupe box, it would not be difficult to have two subs, the 500/5 and the spare tire.

If you aren't willing to wait for a tow, patch, whatever, definately keep the spare- it's not worth it to have more trunk space if you're stuck on the side of the road.

I installed my JL 500/5 above the Bose amp as well. I did shift the spare tire a little. I also have the 4080 box.

I will never give up my spare tire for audio equipment unless I trailer the car. On my recent trip to the NC/Tenn mountains for Z Dayz, I went the entire weekend without cell phone service. If I had a flat without a spare, I couldn't have called roadside assistance.

If you have a spare tire and have a blowout where the tire is not repairable, at least you can put the spare on and drive to the tire shop, rather than waiting for roadside assistance to take your wheel and mount a tire, while you wait on the side of the road.

[Espresso]

Depends on the size of the amp but it could be made to fit inside the doughnut spare of a coupe. You may have to raise the trunk floor a bit but it should work. For the second amp, it can fit in the stock amp location or just under the rear deck shelf.

[machavez702]

Dump the spare, get tow service and a can of fix a flat for emergency use only. Simply put, do you want good sound quality or do you want to change your tire?

[amthar]

Originally Posted by machavez702

Dump the spare, get tow service and a can of fix a flat for emergency use only. Simply put, do you want good sound quality or do you want to change your tire?

Well, considering it's a car, it's primary purpose is transportation. If you can't be transported from point A to point B, the car is useless as a car... you mine as well be sitting in your room listening to "good sound quality." So if you don't mind giving up the ability to be transported from point A to point B, for however long it takes for your defunct tire to be fixed sans spare, then I'd say dump it. If you are willing to deal with the hassle (or maybe you don't see it as a hassle, which is cool) of being temporarily stranded with a useless car for "good sound quality", then by all means do it.

I'm not advocating bumping the wire or not. Advocating to dump your spare so you can get "good sound quality" is a bit drastic... because as stated above, you're advocating making a $30k+ car useless in not-too-uncommon scenarios.

I'm simply saying if you are willing to wait for someone to come fix your tire, then do it. If you imagine that you may be in a situation where you can't/won't want to wait, then don't do it. And think of the WORSE case scenario, because everyone knows that's the one that will happen the moment you take that tire out

[saitcho]

some good suggestions here. I still havent decided what to do. I have 2 amps not just one, and i woudl love to build a rack to fit in the same wells as the 4080 box, but i never thought about trying to put one of the amps in the stock amp location. I'll experiment some more this weekend.

thanks for all the tips

[machavez702]

Originally Posted by amthar

Well, considering it's a car, it's primary purpose is transportation. If you can't be transported from point A to point B, the car is useless as a car... you mine as well be sitting in your room listening to "good sound quality." So if you don't mind giving up the ability to be transported from point A to point B, for however long it takes for your defunct tire to be fixed sans spare, then I'd say dump it. If you are willing to deal with the hassle (or maybe you don't see it as a hassle, which is cool) of being temporarily stranded with a useless car for "good sound quality", then by all means do it.

I'm not advocating bumping the wire or not. Advocating to dump your spare so you can get "good sound quality" is a bit drastic... because as stated above, you're advocating making a $30k+ car useless in not-too-uncommon scenarios.

I'm simply saying if you are willing to wait for someone to come fix your tire, then do it. If you imagine that you may be in a situation where you can't/won't want to wait, then don't do it. And think of the WORSE case scenario, because everyone knows that's the one that will happen the moment you take that tire out

It's not like you have to throw the car away or buy a new one if you get a flat tire without a spare. Worse case scenario for me, not having a spare tire, an incident happens, I get a flat, let's just say a shredded tire. I make a call and wait for assistance. It's not the end of the world. It happens. It's a choice I made and I am ok with it. It's just not a big concern for me to have a spare tire with other options available.

[Espresso]

Not that I would want to change my tire while on the interstate or a busy beltway with 70+mph traffic zipping by but it's pretty hard to get a tow truck to come when you need it most. Even if you do have roadside assistance, they won't assist you much if you don't have a spare for them to put it on. Good sound can still be had with the spare in place. You just have a give up a little trunk space. I rather have the spare and call roadside assistance to help me install it at a dangerous shoulder than to wait 2-3 hrs then have the car towed out of your way and wait more for a spare or your tire to be fixed. If it's a daily driver, I say a spare is a must. If it's a weekend car, drop the spare if you don't really need it.

[machavez702]

It's true, excellent sound can be had without loss of or access to your spare tire. In my case, I wanted a trunk that I can show off, something more finished than the "box in the trunk" that I had in other cars. Yes, I drive my car daily, yes I love my sound system, yes I would do it all over again. It's not for everybody and all situations. But the way I see it, do it the way you want it.

[c35]

Originally Posted by Gilley

I installed my JL 500/5 above the Bose amp as well. I did shift the spare tire a little. I also have the 4080 box.

I will never give up my spare tire for audio equipment unless I trailer the car. On my recent trip to the NC/Tenn mountains for Z Dayz, I went the entire weekend without cell phone service. If I had a flat without a spare, I couldn't have called roadside assistance.

If you have a spare tire and have a blowout where the tire is not repairable, at least you can put the spare on and drive to the tire shop, rather than waiting for roadside assistance to take your wheel and mount a tire, while you wait on the side of the road.

Amthar/Gilley (and anybody else):

Might you have any pictures on how your 500/5 was installed?

I am having a 500/5 installed next week, and I want to ensure that they mount it in the spare tire well (without losing the spare tire).

Thanks,

Clint