Spare & Jack Kit in trunk ...

[stangs-R-me 120]

I've always had a full size spare in my trunk that matched my GT road wheels and tire was the best from a previous set.   Well as most of you know, I recently replaced my OE wheels & 30 year old tires with Legendary's 15x7 GT9 Alloy wheels (1969 Shelby replica) & 225/60-15 BFG Radial T/A's.   Since the tires on the car were 30 years old, the spare was even older (35 years maybe) and I no longer had a matching spare in the trunk.   I had the GT Wheel spare in there my own way with the jack underneath and a piece of 4x4 lumber holding it down under the spare and the wrench up on top holding the wheel down with some rubber padding under to not mar up the wheel ...

     

 

[stangs-R-me 120]

My hold down bolt was actually a short one that I added an extension to so it was long enough for my custom set up.

I ended up buying some new hardware to play with that I figured could work with the GT9 wheel.

Scott Drake C9ZZ-1448-B, 10.75" Long Hold Down Bolt (68-73)

Scott Drake C9AZ-1462-B, Wing Nut

Scott Drake C5ZZ-1424-C, SS Wheel Chrome Hold Down (64-67)

Classic Repro Black hold down plate for std. wheel (65-68) that I thought maybe would work with std. GT wheel and I could put the jack handle underneath.

Prior to '68 must have used a 3/8 or 7/16" hold down bolt as I had to drill out both hold down plates for the '68-73 1/2" size bolt.   Interestingly, the std. black hold down plate's tabs are too wide for the GT wheel hub center so that was not going to work if I wanted to stay with that wheel & hide the jack handle underneath.

So onto the GT9 in the trunk ... 1" wider section width & tread than the 14" spare but 0.78" shorter (dia.) so it fits just fine.

The chrome hold-down plate was a little rough on the bottom from stamping the ears so I filed it a bit then added a circle of 1/16" rubber by 2.5" dia. to the bottom of it for a cushion against the wheel.   I ended up cutting a slot in the top of my 4x4 hold down block of wood for the jack handle, added some adhesive backed foam in the bottom then a screw with vacuum hose and a sink washer at the top to located the wrench in the block of wood.   Also found a piece of 1/4"x12x12" heavy felt that I trimmed off a corner of then stapled to the side of the wood block.   Then added two more vacuum hose covered screws to be retaining pins into the jack.

Also note that I added a small O.D. thrust washer between the wing nut & plate ... things always tighten better with a washer and with the small O.D., you really don't see it unless you are looking for it.

I think it turned out real nice !! 

 

[stangs-R-me 120]

Since the hold down bolt was long enough, I also tried it with the jack handle above the wheel.   Used the Black wheel hold down plate and another piece of rubber to retain the pivoting wrench socket (keep It from dropping down & hitting wheel face).   Looks good, but I like it the other way better.

 

[stangs-R-me 120]

The next realization I had was the OE Lug Wrench would not work with these Shelby style wheels.   It is the right hex size, but the hex shape of the wrench interferes with the spokes !!   So all my effort to integrate it into the block of wood was a waste of time ... for me anyway.   A 1/2" breaker bar and thin-wall 13/16" 6pt deep socket is what I need.   Thankfully I had a short 14" bar that should fit inside the 15" wheel.   I'll have to make a new hold down wood block ... with a slot that matches the breaker bar and I'll bore a hole in it for the socket to drop into.   Bottom of wheel pressing on the felt then will hold the bar & socket down in the block as it was doing for the OE wrench.

Did 1969-70 Shelby's come with a special lug wrench ??   I know 1967 Shelby's with the K-H Magstars came with 3/4" hex lugnuts and a special wrench & jack with 3/4" dive hex, but I'm 99% sure '69-70 had 13/16" hex nuts. 

[stangs-R-me 120]

Next issue is the factory JACK.   The one I have is not the original as my OE jack was tweaked (bent) from being used by a PO.   I found the one I have at a swap meet back in the 80's ... it is straight but seller had black spray-bombed over the rusty hulk that it was / still is.   It appears to be an actual classic Mustang jack, looking at the Anghel Restorations Jack ID Guide ...

http://anghelrestorations.com/uploads/3/1/7/6/3176630/mustang_jack_identification_guide_v1.3.pdf

... but may not be correct for 1969.   It does work good, so I could have it blasted then re-paint it ... but I really want something newer and maybe safer than OE.   $100 Reproduction OE jacks are for DISPLAY ONLY, which tells me the old design does not meet current safety specs ... so I started looking at new aftermarket scissor style jacks that DO meet current safety specs and cost less than $50.   Problem is, they are bigger (most are 17" long or so) so I will likely NOT find one that will fit under a 14 or 15" wheel.   An OE Ford jack for a late model Mustang is a possibility, but they are actually smaller & lighter duty looking that the OE classic Mustang jack.  

Anyway, the beauty of having the felt under the wheel is does offer an "OE apearance" and I can hide whatever it is I put under there.

In the 37 years I've owned this car, I've never had a flat.   I did in my 1998 Mustang and had no issues using it's scissor jack.   Key is being smart about it ... level & hard surface, e-brake on, and go slow and just high enough to change it out.   No hard level surface close by then call for a flatbed !!

Doug    

[SunnDogg 18]

Take a look at Mansfield Mustangs catalog with pictures. He has re-conditioned OE parts for sale including a 13/16" lug wrench for Shelby 10-spokes. 

http://mansfieldmustang.com/Accessories.html

[stangs-R-me 120]

Thanks for that link ... for someone with a real Shelby, those are decent prices for uncommon original parts.   

But for me ... especially because I will be "hiding" my jack and tools under the felt ... I may as well use new, safer, more functional, and less expensive components.

Also much rather use a Breaker Bar to change a wheel than a cheesy OE lug wrench !!

Doug

 

[Rsanter 152]

Hit a wrecking yard lots of modern jacks there to choose from and ods are some will work great

[stangs-R-me 120]

Finally got my spare GT9 wheel and tire mounted and completed the installation in the trunk.  

I think this list of parts should work for any Mustang Styled Steel Wheel including Magnum 500.

Notice how the corners of the felt fold over the ends of the breaker bar within the wheel.

For 14" wheels, you may need to cut the breaker bar to around 12".  

For 16" or larger wheels, the breaker bar should be OK uncut (approx. 14" long).

Doug

 

[moodster 55]

Nice work and thank you for documenting what you done.  

david

 

[Bob & Sue 110]

Nice work.

I've been trying to figure out a way to mount my breaker bar with a 6" ext to reach the lug nuts on my 15x10 Cragars & hide the mini spare.

[lanky 44]

I understand if you are chasing originality, but otherwise don't bother with the factory scissor jacks from a function perspective. I nearly died from one failing and will never use one again. It was the OE one too. I never bothered looking for another because I have AAA

[stangs-R-me 120]

55 minutes ago, lanky said:

I understand if you are chasing originality, but otherwise don't bother with the factory scissor jacks from a function perspective. I nearly died from one failing and will never use one again. It was the OE one too. I never bothered looking for another because I have AAA

I plan on finding something to replace the existing O.E. "black paint over rust" swap meet jack that I currently have with something new that meets current scissor jack specs.   Many modern / generic scissor jacks that I have looked at are too big to store under the spare ... and to me that is a requirement.   In the 37 years I've owned this car, I've never had to change a flat but just want to have all the equipment there.   A scissor jack works fine, but you must:

Use only on a hard level surface

Put Parking Brake On & chock at least one other wheel if flat is on back

Break all the lug nuts loose to snug-tight BEFORE jacking the car up

Jack up just high enough to swap the tire

Snug-Tight Lug Nuts only before lowering down,  then torque tight once back on the ground

If you can't do it on a hard level surface, call for a flat bed

Most recent flat I changed was on my 1998 Mustang (about 18 years ago) using the O.E. Scissor Jack and Temp Spare ... had zero problems nor any safety concern as I did it per above.

Doug   

[Bob & Sue 110]

21 hours ago, stangs-R-me said:

I plan on finding something to replace the existing O.E. "black paint over rust" swap meet jack that I currently have with something new that meets current scissor jack specs.   Many modern / generic scissor jacks that I have looked at are too big to store under the spare ... and to me that is a requirement.   In the 37 years I've owned this car, I've never had to change a flat but just want to have all the equipment there.   A scissor jack works fine, but you must:

Use only on a hard level surface

Put Parking Brake On & chock at least one other wheel if flat is on back

Break all the lug nuts loose to snug-tight BEFORE jacking the car up

Jack up just high enough to swap the tire

Snug-Tight Lug Nuts only before lowering down,  then torque tight once back on the ground

If you can't do it on a hard level surface, call for a flat bed

Most recent flat I changed was on my 1998 Mustang (about 18 years ago) using the O.E. Scissor Jack and Temp Spare ... had zero problems nor any safety concern as I did it per above.

Doug   

I can't remember the last time I changed a flat tire. I carry a 12 volt air compressor if that won't do it time for a flatbed. I want to carry a mini spare & jack just in case.

Our Cad ATS V doesn't come with a spare not even an option to buy one, if it has run flats nothing in trunk if it has standard tires 12 volt dual compressor air/fix a flat junk gunk.

[stangs-R-me 120]

My 2011 Mustang could not be had with a temp spare (came with the compressor air/fix-a-flat thing too), so I found a never on the ground temp spare and jack kit from a 2008 Mustang GT on e-bay and put that in there.   This was the 1st year Ford did this on the Mustang and soon they were swamped with requests so eventually they put a kit together.   Mine was an early build and the only way I could have gotten a "new kit" was to piece it together ... spare tire & rim were even separate parts ... as you can imagine, it was much cheaper searching e-bay.   For the 2012 model year the spare was back to being an option if not std.   2015-current Mustang it is an option and I checked that box when I ordered my 2016.    

Doug

[lanky 44]

My OE, rust-free scissor jack in those exact circumstances folded on me. I even had lubricated the threads prior to using it. I thought I was imagining the car moving down while I was working on tire, but stepped back a second and "oh s#@+!" It was bending right in front of my eyes. Left lug nuts loose, called a friend to bring a pump jack.

Was on perfectly level surface, and prior to that incident the jack was nearly unused. My car was garaged over a decade before it was in my family, and the jack looked pristine. It's been turned into a lamp or something by recyclers now. I warn everyone not to trust theirs!

[stangs-R-me 120]

4 hours ago, lanky said:

My OE, rust-free scissor jack in those exact circumstances folded on me. I even had lubricated the threads prior to using it. I thought I was imagining the car moving down while I was working on tire, but stepped back a second and "oh s#@+!" It was bending right in front of my eyes. Left lug nuts loose, called a friend to bring a pump jack.

Was on perfectly level surface, and prior to that incident the jack was nearly unused. My car was garaged over a decade before it was in my family, and the jack looked pristine. It's been turned into a lamp or something by recyclers now. I warn everyone not to trust theirs!

Thanks for that sobering fact ... I will definitely now work on finding a new scissor jack that meets current safety specs; hopefully one that will fit under my spare.

Doug