Spare tire

[bramfrank]

I've wondered why the design dweebs at FCA didn't invert the stamping for the spare wheel so that it could have been stored underfloor inside the vehicle the way it is in my daughter's Pontiac G5?  (While they were at it, I suppose they could have put the battery in the back as well, the way her car and many others have them).

If they'd done that then the cost of the winch could have been avoided and the wheel assembly would have been nice and clean and dry in the event of a flat.

AND, the tire itself would have been more accessible for inflation checks and less prone to decay because of exposure and simpler and a LOT cleaner to access in order to change.

It isn't as if the wheel you replaced can be winched up under the body, which begets a suggestion I am offering that has worked for me in the past:

Roll by your local tire store and ask them for a plastic bag of the sort they use for customer tires and store it near the jack under the cargo floor.  If (when?) you have a flat or other issue that requires you to install the spare, put the dirty and possibly wet wheel you removed in the bag and don't mess up the interior of your DJ (this applies to ANY car, of course).

Edited June 8, 2017 by bramfrank

[redtomatoman]

The bag is a good idea.  Not sure I've ever seen a tire in a plastic bag at any tire shop.  Is there a specific name for these bags?  Or do you have any more specific info about these bags when querying the minimum wage cashier that I'm sure I will encounter initially?  I have no idea what a bag of this sort would look like or what a tire shop would need to put a tire in a bag for.  

 

Peace.

[larryl]

Perhaps you dont switch from winter to summer tires but I can vouch for bamfrank that tire bags do exist and are used regularly by tire shops to accommodate the tires that are going into storage when the switch is made 

[2late4u]

lawn trash bags at lowes would work for you all

[bfurth]

I keep a tarp in the rear storage bin.  You never know when you need to hide a body... I mean, change a flat and haul a dirty wet wheel around!

[bfurth]

Also, bramfrank, to answer your question directly: there is no in-vehicle storage option for the spare wheel because of the three-row version of the Journey.  You can't stamp the undercarriage two different ways for the same chassis, and the third row takes up the space that would have been used for a storage bin inside the cabin.  So, three-row vehicle in a sedan footprint = under body storage of the spare wheel, whether or not you have the third row.

[bramfrank]

They could still have stamped the chassis for in-vehicle storage by setting it up so the tire could be slid out toward the rear below that 3rd row seat - the tire well would be BELOW where the 3rd row seats are located, since the tire is already in that space, albeit hanging from the winch instead of sitting in the spare tire wheel well.

[bfurth]

It would be too steep of an angle to get the spare out, unless you put a hinge on the third row to lift the whole thing up (or, you're talking about a hinge on the rear bumper cover).  If the former: that gets into a potential safety question - do you make third row passengers get out of the vehicle (on the side of a highway) while changing the wheel?  For safety purposes, you have to assume that the vehicle is fully occupied with it's intended passengers (ie, a family with small children sitting in the third row).  They're safer in the vehicle than out of it when changing a wheel after an unexpected flat.  All other questions with regards to where to keep the spare wheel follow from that assumption.

 

If you go with the latter solution (sliding it out through a hinged door in the bumper cover), you have to re-design the rear bumper.  That may or may not work, but you still need a retention mechanism for the tire such that it won't slide out of the storage compartment.  You also need to seal said compartment from water and pest intrusion (a minor issue).  At that point, the winch is probably less expensive.

 

If protecting the tire is your chief concern, you could always wrap it in plastic and then plasti-dip the sealed package.  Inflate to 60 PSI at [hottest typical average temperature in your region] and carry a portable inflator with you (plenty of places to store it in the Journey).