So, I was at the local store and saw a couple of guys in distress. They must have hit something because their new looking tire had the tread peeling away and bubbles.
They had packed their trunk with golf clubs and didn’t have a spare. I’m talking BFE here, there is no way they could get someone to come out with a new tire this late.
I offered to trade my donut for their wheel until they got home and could come back to trade back. They both agreed that their wheel was a good trade for my donut. Plus, we agreed that they could trade it back on the weekend.
Both of us with older Chevy, and 5 lug rims.
It didn’t fit. They tried over and over but couldn’t make it work. I tried as well, I’m good at emergancy repairs. It didn’t fit.
Those poor guys are stuck waiting for a wife to drive 90 miles to bring them the spare. While I could make fun of them for driving through BFE without a spare, I’m more sorry that my donut didn’t fit on their car.
Why the heck didn’t it fit? Its not like I was offering to share a Ford donut, their car was only a couple of years newer than mine.
Not going to go to the pit with this, but I’ll bet the stranded travelers would love to say many bad words.
Thinks that my donut sould work for any Chevy product, just as I think that Ford donuts should work for any Ford.
Anyhow, the stranded guys (twins) said that they had gone to a golf course, had a very good time and thought that me offering to help made them happy. They are still sitting on the side of the road, but at least they are thinking that us hicks are friendly.
wheels are not interchangeable between different makes and models of cars, different manufacturers, or even the same model of car if they have a different engine, suspension, wheel size, etc. Sometimes they are, but there is no guarantee (as you found out).
Without checking beforehand, you will have no idea if a wheel will fit or not. This is something most people don’t pay attention to because they don’t have to. Others find out at very inopportune times. But once you think about it, it should make sense. If your wheel had a basic 5 bolt pattern, and the lugs looked similar, you are only half way there. The axle may be designed for a 16 inch wheel, but the donut was for a car with a 15 inch wheel.
simply put, the offset of the two wheels bolt patterns don’t match. And there isn’t much you can do about it. No matter what you do, they won’t line up. and they never will.
You should be able to call a garage or a tire shop and get the properly sized wheel and rim. All they do is look it up on the computer. But in your case, there isn’t much you can do but what you did.
Actually, after reading your post, I do understand why my donut didn’t fit on their car. It just sucks. You are right that nobody has to pay attention to how their spare fits on someone elses car.
Live and learn. I will be sure that my spare is properly maintained and in my trunk always. While I do depend on the kindness of strangers, I can now see that even the best intentioned stranger can’t help.
My wife’s old car had plastic hubcaps that were designed to look like wheels with no hubcaps, and had fake plastic lug nuts molded onto them, and they made the fake plastic lug nuts fit the lug wrench.
This is one of those things that is so blindingly stupid that no snide comment seems adequate.