Should this tire/wheel combo allow the fiberboard spare tire well cover to lie perfectly flat in a 1970 car? What it does is make it sit maybe 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch higher than the surrounding deck floor. it's not totally inflated, but also not super deflated. What's "normal" in this situation? Is this even the right tire for the spare in a Jan 1970 car?

The cover for the spare should fit sngly on the body lip surrounding the tire well. Nissan provided hook and loop fasteners to secure it in place. My OE spare tire is long gone, replaced with a 185/70 tire that fits in the well and still allows the cover to fit flush. Is it possible you are placing the spare in upside down? I presume you are using the OE steel wheel as am I.

Edited July 11Jul 11 by jfa.series1

24 minutes ago, jfa.series1 said:

The cover for the spare should fit sngly on the body lip surrounding the tire well. Nissan provided hook and loop fasteners to secure it in place. My OE spare tire is long gone, replaced with a 185/70 tire that fits in the well and still allows the cover to fit flush. Is it possible you are placing the spare in upside down? I presume you are using the OE steel wheel as am I.

I haven't put the new velcro in yet, but on the right side, it's not going to connect I think. The top and left side are firm against the deck floor. The right side, no matter which way I lay the tire, is not quite flush with the deck. If I put my finger on it I can push it down to be flush (and it's only maybe 1/8" having just done it right now). I tried to photograph that, but...

I can't trust ANYTHING in this car to be OEM, in the sense that it came from THIS car. The wheel has 11/70 stamped on it, and the tire is 03/70. So some PO acquired it presumably.

7 minutes ago, Warty said:

03/70.

Could be a sidewall bubble. That's an ancient tire. The internet says that size tire has a width of 6.9 inches. A tape measure would tell if the tire is out of spec.

And a picture of what's underneath the tire might show something.

Beside all of that, would you ever actually use that tire as a spare? If it's just for show you might as well let all of the air out. And I don't think I would try to inflate it to full pressure. It might blow.

https://tiresize.com/tiresizes/175R14.htm

Warty,

Did you lay the board on the ground to confirm it is perfectly flat?

Also, are there any dents in the spare tire well which my have be created by someone using the well as a jack point?

Keith

Edited July 11Jul 11 by zed2

26 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

Could be a sidewall bubble. That's an ancient tire. The internet says that size tire has a width of 6.9 inches. A tape measure would tell if the tire is out of spec.

And a picture of what's underneath the tire might show something.

Beside all of that, would you ever actually use that tire as a spare? If it's just for show you might as well let all of the air out. And I don't think I would try to inflate it to full pressure. It might blow.

https://tiresize.com/tiresizes/175R14.htm

I wouldn't be caught dead driving on that tire. Or rather, I probably would be if I tried.

I eyeballed the measurement with a tape measure, and it looks like width of tire is variable depending on where I measure it. a bit less than 6.5 inches to a right around 6.75-6.9. Didn't get to 7 at any angle. But again, no calipers to make exact measurement. So yeah, probably just bulging in places.

I tried different rotations when putting it into the well, and I can definitely shift which part of the tire cover sticks up. It's not bad when it's the part most towards the taillights. No velcro there either.

7 minutes ago, zed2 said:

Warty,

Did you lay the board on the ground to confirm it is perfectly flat?

Also, are there any dents in the spare tire well which my have be created by someone using the well as a jack point?

Keith

I just did that. It's slightly concave: the middle sags a bit. but it's evenly distributed as far as I can tell.

As for the wheel well, I don't see or feel anything obvious. Other than whatever made that 5-point indentation on the LEFT side, but even that is just barely sticking up.

It's feeling like this tire/wheel combo SHOULD fit, but maybe doesn't fit perfectly because of age of tire, not because it's wrong type of tire. If that's so, I'm not going to worry about it. When I get this running again, I'm not going to drag that tire around anyway. Wouldn't mind having a foam filler that supported the fiberboard and didn't weigh anything.