Spare Tire for fusion hybrid

[hybridbear]

This is one of 5 reasons I put forth to Ford - thru CS and thru Social - for having a spare of some kind in the FFH. Social never published my stuff yet there was no prior article regarding lack of spares in FFH (and FFE?) autos. I was seriously heading for a FFH but the lack of a spare of any kind and having to scrounge up parts from all over to have one just puts me off Ford as a Hybrid choice.

 

I refuse to do long-distance travel with only fix-a-flat and a compressor on-board. Anyone driving I-81, I-77 and I-26 goes thru quite a few construction zones where tires can be damaged. I see no good reason to not have a donut in the trunk. If the lack is due to EPA ratings that would fall, perhaps improvement on the motive power is warranted instead of jeopardizing drivers.

 

I hope Ford CS sees this thread and your note especially. Meanwhile, I shall climb off my soapbox and continue with the little Fiestas I have - at least they have donut spares.

As murphy highlighted more & more cars are now coming without a spare tire of any sort. This is becoming the standard practice in the automotive industry to save weight. I remember as a kid growing up when one thing my dad always considered when buying cars was if the car came with a "full-size" spare. He didn't like donut spares. My dad always wanted a car with a full-size spare on a matching rim, he would then do 5 tire rotations instead of 4 tire rotations.

[garymkrieg]

Or you can look at this link and see how to make it work for an Energi.

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9112-finally-i-have-a-space-saver-spare-tire-for-my-energi/

[Cobra348]

As murphy highlighted more & more cars are now coming without a spare tire of any sort. This is becoming the standard practice in the automotive industry to save weight. I remember as a kid growing up when one thing my dad always considered when buying cars was if the car came with a "full-size" spare. He didn't like donut spares. My dad always wanted a car with a full-size spare on a matching rim, he would then do 5 tire rotations instead of 4 tire rotations.

Understood and how long until the consumers find out that fix-a-flat that hardens around the bead can contribute to damaged rims - thus needing THEM replaced as well as the tire and sensors? Do you wish to possibly have to buy a new rim because your tire was "repaired" by fix-a-flat and the force required to dismount the tire also damaged the rim beyond usage? It has happened and I bet if you ask any mechanic who has dealt with this material, they will tell you there is high chance of rim damage.

 

I am not the most knowledgeable consumer in the world, but I do know that the cost of ownership should NOT include the possibility of rims when a tire gets repaired! Seriously, that's just so not right.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Cobra348

[Waldo]

Understood and how long until the consumers find out that fix-a-flat that hardens around the bead can contribute to damaged rims - thus needing THEM replaced as well as the tire and sensors? Do you wish to possibly have to buy a new rim because your tire was "repaired" by fix-a-flat and the force required to dismount the tire also damaged the rim beyond usage? It has happened and I bet if you ask any mechanic who has dealt with this material, they will tell you there is high chance of rim damage.

 

I am not the most knowledgeable consumer in the world, but I do know that the cost of ownership should NOT include the possibility of rims when a tire gets repaired! Seriously, that's just so not right.

 

That just doesn't make sense, how can a foam become harder than a metal rim? I can't see how it could possibly ever cause rim damage that wasn't directly a result of mis-handling by the mechanic.

[murphy]

Or you can look at this link and see how to make it work for an Energi.

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9112-finally-i-have-a-space-saver-spare-tire-for-my-energi/

There is no way that I will grind metal off of a brake caliper.

[md13ffhguy]

 

That just doesn't make sense, how can a foam become harder than a metal rim? I can't see how it could possibly ever cause rim damage that wasn't directly a result of mis-handling by the mechanic.

Besides, this type of repair is supposed to be temporary. It can get you home and/or a repair facility, where the tire should be dismounted and replaced or otherwise repaired.

[Trigger1937]

First I want to thank all of the people that have contributed to this thread and all the information about Ford fusion Hybrid and the spare tire issue. My FFH is 2014 and when I bought it I was totally unaware that it did not have a spare. I discovered the sad news when my wife drove into a brick curb at an angle and punchured the sidewall of the left front tire. She made it back to our driveway and I was really shocked when I opened the trunk and found not spare "+ NO JACK OR WRENCH". I called local tire store to get the exact tire and was told that would take about a week and the cost would be about $270 M&B, I found another store 37 miles away that said if I ordered right now they would have it by 9 AM tomorrow,..so I ordered it.

 

I got out my hydraulic jack and discovered that with the tire flat the car was too low to get the jack under the body. So I said,..what the heck, I been a member of AAA road service for 15 years,..might at well use That. So I called them and ask them to come to my house and remove the tire. They said,.."Does your car have a spare?" ,...if not we will not come to your house. We will come and tow the car to your local dealer. For more money we will tow the car to the nearest Ford dealer. But since I had already ordered an "Exact match new tire",..that was not a solution. You can imagine how ^$@% I was. Their excuse was they could not leave my car jacked up in the driveway on their equipment for a whole day or more because of the liability.

 

I got the jack out of my Dodge Caravan and found a place to get it under the car and jacked it up. I also have an old tire wrench that has all 4 nut sizes so I got the tire off and next morning took the tire to the new shop (Walmart) to mount and balance the new EXACT tire. The total cost of the Michilin X was $212 M&B.

 

After reading every post on this forum (which took a couple of days) I decided I didn't want to pay Ford a lot of money just for a Donut Spare plus I wanted to get the correct size of tire. As many of you already know that is not as easy as it sounds. The 2013, 2014 FF has changed the lug nut spacing to 5 lugs at 4.25" and nothing else will fit so all of the older fusions are no help at all. After a couple of weeks of searching the web and reading this forum,..and walking through all the local Wrecking yards I could not find the right tire. I also searched every bit of eBay and no one had the right tire. Many people had created a list of cars that use the 16" rim and the 5 lug-4.25" spacing and that helped a lot. The problem is 98% of those cars don't have a spare of the correct size. I almost gave up and decided to just by any tire with the correct rim and order a new tire from the tire rack, but by the time I added up all that cost and the new M&B cost it would be very close to just getting one at the Ford dealer.

 

I had almost given up but did one more search for Wrecking Yards and I found one in Spokane, Washington that was so large it was impossible that they would have the correct tire. It turns out that the Ford Taurus 2000-2007 spare tire has the 16" rim and 5x4.25" spacing. I searched the inventory of the dealer in Spokane and they had in stock 26 cars that match my need and all had the spare tire. The bad news is that only the 2003 Taurus had the tire size of 145/80/16 which matches exactly the 2013-14 FF Spare tire. Their price was $58.75 including shipping via FedEx. This tire will be 25.13" dia and therefore is 0.76" smaller than the 225/50/17 tires on my FFH. That I can live with. It should all be here before Friday.

 

I have been in a panic to get a spare every since the blowout. I just can't imagine drive 600 miles across mountains and through the desert with no spare. If you hit something on the road and you have a blow out the best that any FFH owner can do it call road service and wait on the side of the road and then be towed to some gas station where they DON'T have the correct tire, then get a motel room and then what. You may have to be towed to the nearest town that has a Ford dealer and then take a Cab to some hotel and wait at least a day to get your car back. All because you don't have a spare. Some people are very lucky and own a new car for 10 years and never have a flat. We had our new FFH for just over one year and had the sidewall punchure.

 

So my suggestion is to contact the Spalding Wrecking Yard in Spokane, Wa. Be aware that 90% of the cars that have the correct rim size of 16" and 5x4.25 will not have the correct size tire you need so you have to make sure before you buy it. Good Luck.

[GrySql]

Welcome to the Forum!

Quite an unfortunate story and exactly why some of us have spare tires in our cars. Glad to hear that our Forum could help you get the info you needed.

I doubt many new buyers of these vehicles realize there is no spare tire/jack/lug wrench, it is becoming a very common situation with many other car brands and models as well.

 

Stick around, we have lots of other info to share. :)

[Trigger1937]

Gry Sql,..Thanks for your support. The sad news is that I have also talked to a lot of other FFH owners and they didn't know about their own car,..yet they were not that concerned. They look back at the years they have had new cars and most of them never had a problem,..so they feel safe. One of them is my own Daughter and I could not convince her husband to even consider a Spare. Only so much a Dad can do.

 

Awhile back I got a Survey question from Ford and at the end it provided space for me to add some comments. I told them how displeased I was that at the time I purchased the car there was no one mention that the car did not have a spare,..let alone any jack. I felt it should have been a mandatory requirement that I sign some acknowledgement that I was informed and accepted the condition. The truth is that they can't even sell you a spare tire at the time of purchase since the manual for the FFH has not one word of instructions or space to re-arrange the car to accommodate the spare. They put themselves in a corner once they decided to eliminate the item from the car and their entire parts structure.

 

Yes they know that the FF spare tire will work,..but most of the dealers are totally confused as to what functions of the tire pressure sensor or the Traction control system will do,..and they have no instruction or "Talking points" from HQ on what to say about it. I spent an hour with the sales manager and another 1/2 hour at the Parts desk and the only "Straight answer" I got from both of them was,.."Yes there is no spare for the FFH and no you can't order won since there is no part number for one." I'm also supprised that they also haven't issued some legal warning about how the car's warranty will be void if you do use a spare tire.

 

It is clear this is not about Ford saving $250 per car on a car that cost $32000. It is all about meeting the mileage goals and Federal mileage standards the government has set for each MFg.

 

I still love my car but I would still really like to know what idiot thought this whole idea up and who approved it. I also look forward to the day they figure out how to correct it.

[hybridbear]

It is clear this is not about Ford saving $250 per car on a car that cost $32000. It is all about meeting the mileage goals and Federal mileage standards the government has set for each MFg.

 

I still love my car but I would still really like to know what idiot thought this whole idea up and who approved it. I also look forward to the day they figure out how to correct it.

It's also about space.

[murphy]

There are lots of cars that don't have spare tires today.

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsroom.aaa.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F08%2FVehicles-without-a-spare-tire_Aug_20131.pdf&ei=mAz2VJ-9I8P-yQTz0IHgDw&usg=AFQjCNF8iK8YKqgrrfTwBBVkBMbvRk0ICw&sig2=rWqD8-mTNJ84Im8hWmqwtg&bvm=bv.87519884,d.aWw&cad=rja

[Fastronaut]

I have seen the future and it is FLAT ;)

[GrySql]

It is clear this is not about Ford saving $250 per car on a car that cost $32000. It is all about meeting the mileage goals and Federal mileage standards the government has set for each MFg.

We have lots of members who have driven back and forth across the USA without a spare, it's a point of view.

 

I went through similar thinking like you are two years ago and was dismayed that the Dealer had no clue what to do, at first. But, my Dealer went to the trouble to figure it all out for me, ordered the wheel and tire, test fit it on the car and in the trunk, then drove me around with the spare installed on the front right side to make sure it worked correctly. That Dealer was ahead of it's time as far as customer satisfaction is concerned.

I thought that was all there was to the entire situation, saving weight and money but new information has recently emerged.

Guess what, the FFH apparently will not pass all the Crash Safety Tests with a spare tire in place in the trunk. A rear end collision of enough severity could force the horizontal spare tire into the HVB thereby causing a potential safety hazard. Something to think about.

[Texasota]

I thought that was all there was to the entire situation, saving weight and money but new information has recently emerged.

Guess what, the FFH apparently will not pass all the Crash Safety Tests with a spare tire in place in the trunk. A rear end collision of enough severity could force the horizontal spare tire into the HVB thereby causing a potential safety hazard. Something to think about.

I am assuming you are referring to the posts from our helpful and knowledgable insider. He also stated that he was not concerned enough about it to prevent him from having a spare tire in his FFH.

 

But, it would seem to me that anything stored in the trunk be it standard luggage, groceries, materials from Home Depot etc. could all have a similar or equal effect on the HVB in a rear end collision. When we are traveling on the road the trunk of our FFH is packed tight and all of that would be jammed forward in the event of a rear end collision.

 

I am certainly no crash expert but maybe we should not be any more concerned about a spare tire in the trunk as compared to any other kind of items that we haul around in the trunk. Maybe even less since the spare tire is isolated and contained in the recessed wheel well of the trunk.

[GrySql]

Yes, Waldo said that and as you say he has a spare in his trunk.

Just wanted to make sure all the info was presented.

[Waldo]

Luggage compresses a lot more than a steel spare wheel.

 

Did you ever hear about the Dallas police force that had some beef against the Crown Vic, so they would "strategically" place their pick-axes in the trunk and then rant that Ford's weren't safe because the fuel tanks would explode in rear end impacts.

 

Bottom line is Ford and all other OEMs have defined criteria of how much trunk load the rear seats must withstand and all that is considered in the design of the seats and the HVB in the Fusion Hybrid. So Ford says standard trunk loads are ok, apparently a minispare is not.

 

My guess on the mechanics of it is that the spare wheel will crush less that the tire tub itself. So in a rear crash the wheel would push the front of the tub forward and essentially pull the floor out from underneath the HVB, thereby compromising it's attachment. Then the HVB would be loose enough that it might break free on it's own or could break free if luggage or something else pushed into it. Or it could also be that the spare tire would ride up the front of the tub and straight into the bottom of the HVB, acting like a lever to rip it loose. So I don't think the mechanics of the spare are in any way similar to the mechanics of the luggage you would put in the trunk.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Waldo

[Waldo]

 

 

I still love my car but I would still really like to know what idiot thought this whole idea up and who approved it. I also look forward to the day they figure out how to correct it.

 

The idiot probably figured that keeping your kids alive in a rear-end crash was more imporatant than having a mini-spare. But he probably also decided that a fold-down seat was more important than a mini-spare. That would be one solution, having a fixed rear seat. Would you accept that compromise?

[murphy]

My 2010 FFH came with a mini-spare tire in the compartment under the floor.

It also had fold down rear seat backs although most owners had no idea that they folded down or how to do it.

HINT: It's described in the emergency responders guide for the car.

It was hard to figure out the first time but all that is needed is a long screwdriver to release the latches.

[jeffo65]

Continental kit.

Edited March 4, 2015 by jeffo65

[Waldo]

My 2010 FFH came with a mini-spare tire in the compartment under the floor.

 

 

Luckily for Ford, they are not required to update previously sold vehicles to meet current regulations.

[hybridbear]

Luggage compresses a lot more than a steel spare wheel.

This was my thought exactly. Thanks Waldo for presenting us with a great perspective that we lack being outside the automotive industry.

[MTGilby]

I too want to add my thanks to hybridbear,grysq, accdil and all the others that keep us all informed and are willing to do the research. I finally got a donut spare and parts thru my local autoparts salvage yard. I live in Montana and there is a whole lot of nothing or cell service in a lot of our state. I have been following this topic all along and saying I will get around to it. Well I had to go to a funeral a few weeks ago and drove through some of that nowhere and decided I better get it done. So, I now have the peace of mind knowing I can get back to civilization without spraying my tire full of gunk.

Thanks everyone for all your help.

Ken

Edited March 10, 2015 by MTGilby

[jeff_h]

I looked back on this thread and had 2 tire issues within a month of each other, but that was over 2 years ago (time flies). So I guess maybe it was due time again.

 

Just as we were opening presents this morning I got a text from MyFordMobile that her Fusion Energi had a low tire pressure warning, I walked out to the garage and it was not tough to tell which one was low. So I pulled the tire to take a look, and yep there was the culprit.

 

Good thing I got the text this morning and had plenty of time to put the full size spare on there (once again glad I have that it in the garage, as noted far earlier in this thread) since she has a 60 mile trip tomorrow and I wouldn't want to get a call from I-95 that the tire is flat.

 

[Fastronaut]

I guess someone, somewhere had a screw loose. Happy New Year, Jeff.

[jayjay]

i have a 2012 fusion hybrid with a donut as the spare...had to use it one time so far. i will be buying a new car in the next 12 months and was seriously thinking about the fusion hybrid again. but if i can't even get a donut, that's a deal breaker for me. i guess ford lost a sale.