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How to Install a GM Spec'd Spare Tire in the ECO MT Trunk

81K views 109 replies 35 participants last post by  regularguy56 
#1 ·
OK - I finally did it. I purchased all the parts and installed a spare tire my ECO MT's trunk. The hardest part is actually figuring out the parts needed, so I'll start there.

Required Parts
Compact Spare Tire
T115/70R16; Sold by Maxxis International. GM does not sell this item and the GM Parts listing refers you to Maxxis.
Wheel
GM Part #13259230
Jack
GM Part #13505394
Wheel Support
GM Part #13273001
Jack Holder
GM Part #13373497
Lug Nut/Jack Wrench
GM Part #13348506
Hand Nut
GM Part #90126756
Bolt
GM Part #13263725
Trunk Floor
GM Part #95975191

There are two different trunk floors. I chose the floor with the sound insulation. The non-sound insulating floor is about $20 less. I don’t have the part number for the non-sound insulating floor.
Optional Parts
Car Block
GM Part #15116183; These are sold singly, so you need to order 2.
Wrench & Car Block Bag
GM Part #20986100
Jack Handle
GM Part #13255680
Floor Insulator
GM Part #22783829

Tools Needed
½ Inch Socket Wrench
Regular Pliers

Steps
Mount and balance the Compact Spare Tire onto the Wheel (13259230). Inflate to 55 PSI.
Vehicle Car Trunk


Remove old trunk floor.
Technology Auto part Subcompact car Vehicle Family car


Remove the air pump and its Styrofoam holder.
Using the ½ inch socket, remove the hex bolt holding the air pump strap to the trunk floor.
Rim Auto part Automotive tire Wheel Tire


Screw the Bolt (13263725) into the floor where the hex bolt came out. Use your pliers to tighten.
Ceiling


Lay the Floor Insulator (22783829) in the bottom of the trunk; black side up and flat edge to the back of the car.
Place the Wheel Support (13273001) in place.
Auto part Automotive tire Circle Wheel Metal


Push the Jack Holder down on the bolt, lining it up with the Wheel Support
Adjust the Jack (13505394) to fit the Jack Holder. When you get the Jack it will be flat, so be careful to thread the jack screw into the hole in the side of the jack.
Place Jack into Jack Holder. It will only go one way.
Lay the Jack Handle (13255680) across the Jack.
Auto part Automotive tire Tire


Put the mounted wheel & tire onto the entire stack.
Tire Auto part Automotive tire Wheel Automotive wheel system


Put the Lug Nut/Jack Wrench (13348506) and Car Blocks (15116183) into the Wrench & Car Block Bag (20986100).
The Wrench & Car Block Bag has a strap with a grommeted hole at the end. Put this hole over the center supporting bolt.
Screw the Hand Nut (90126756) on the top of the bolt. Hand tighten.
Bumper

Auto part Vehicle Tire Rim Automotive tire


Lay the new Trunk Floor (95975191) in the trunk.
Vehicle Car Trunk Family car


Put your Air Pump back into the trunk.

I had you inflate the spare tire to 55 PSI instead of 60 PSI. This will keep the tire mounted on the wheel while allowing for temperature based pressure changes while stored. If you need to use your spare, you’ll need the air pump to inflate it to 60 PSI before driving on.

I had my dealership mount & balance the spare as well as inflate with Nitrogen. Assuming the dealership’s Nitrogen pump is working properly, this eliminates the single biggest source of interior wheel corrosion, water vapor.

I'm not sure what the jack handle is used for except to position the jack underneath the car. The jack lift points on the Cruze are about 6 inches in front of the rear tires and 6 inches behind the front tires on the underbody frame. There is a notch in the jack head that fits into a notch on the car.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
I'll have to check on the cost but I spent around $550 total. The tire itself is $129 shipped. GMPartsDirect.com will be cheaper, but I went through my dealership (I get a 10% parts discount on any thing I purchase there) because I like the service I get. Based on the parts diagram, I actually ordered a part that isn't needed and they took it back no questions asked. I ordered everything last Wednesday and had the tire on Monday and the rest of the parts on Tuesday. It's about a 15 minute install, even for the hopelessly mechanically inept like myself.
 
#108 ·
GMParts Direct may be cheaper but it looks like they charge double for the shipping. Just for the floor cover and one other part (cigarette lighter cover) I needed equaled $100.13 - They estmated the shipping was $172.44. I stopped right there. I might as well get it from the dealer. I will check with them Monday.
 
#6 ·
For those of you who wonder about fuel economy impact - NONE if primarily a highway driver. I filled up yesterday and the pump to pump MPG was 42.4, which is slightly higher than my lifetime MPG of 42.3 (fuelly) and exactly the same as my lifetime 42.4 (Excel) computations to this point. I seriously doubt there will be an impact in city driving either as I was watching the DIC in heavy rush hour traffic yesterday and didn't notice any differences there either.
 
#11 · (Edited)
For those of you who wonder about fuel economy impact - NONE if primarily a highway driver.
I noticed the same thing with my 1LT RS, if I removed the spare on long trips there was no difference in my MPG. however there was a slight perceivable difference in easy footed acceleration in town, & suspect that's where you will notice a very slight change. Either way its not even a 1MPG difference, definitely not measurable without other variables coming to play.

I did remove the one folding wheel block(car came with two) & put my old leatherman wave & a ferrocerium fire starter in its place.
 
#7 ·
OK - I finally did it. I purchased all the parts and installed a spare tire my ECO MT's trunk. The hardest part is actually figuring out the parts needed, so I'll start there.

Required Parts
Compact Spare TireT115/70R16; Sold by Maxxis International. GM does not sell this item and the GM Parts listing refers you to Maxxis.
WheelGM Part #13259230
JackGM Part #13505394
Wheel SupportGM Part #13273001
Jack HolderGM Part #13373497
Lug Nut/Jack WrenchGM Part #13348506
Hand NutGM Part #90126756
BoltGM Part #13263725
Trunk FloorGM Part #95975191

There are two different trunk floors. I chose the floor with the sound insulation. The non-sound insulating floor is about $20 less. I don’t have the part number for the non-sound insulating floor.
Optional Parts
Car BlockGM Part #15116183; These are sold singly, so you need to order 2.
Wrench & Car Block BagGM Part #20986100
Jack HandleGM Part #13255680
Floor InsulatorGM Part #22783829

Tools Needed
½ Inch Socket Wrench
Regular Pliers

Steps
Mount and balance the Compact Spare Tire onto the Wheel (13259230). Inflate to 55 PSI.
View attachment 8257

Remove old trunk floor.
View attachment 8258

Remove the air pump and its Styrofoam holder.
Using the ½ inch socket, remove the hex bolt holding the air pump strap to the trunk floor.
View attachment 8259

Screw the Bolt (13263725) into the floor where the hex bolt came out. Use your pliers to tighten.
View attachment 8260

Lay the Floor Insulator (22783829) in the bottom of the trunk; black side up and flat edge to the back of the car.
Place the Wheel Support (13273001) in place.
View attachment 8261

Push the Jack Holder down on the bolt, lining it up with the Wheel Support
Adjust the Jack (13505394) to fit the Jack Holder. When you get the Jack it will be flat, so be careful to thread the jack screw into the hole in the side of the jack.
Place Jack into Jack Holder. It will only go one way.
Lay the Jack Handle (13255680) across the Jack.
View attachment 8262

Put the mounted wheel & tire onto the entire stack.
View attachment 8263

Put the Lug Nut/Jack Wrench (13348506) and Car Blocks (15116183) into the Wrench & Car Block Bag (20986100).
The Wrench & Car Block Bag has a strap with a grommeted hole at the end. Put this hole over the center supporting bolt.
Screw the Hand Nut (90126756) on the top of the bolt. Hand tighten.
View attachment 8264
View attachment 8265

Lay the new Trunk Floor (95975191) in the trunk.
View attachment 8266

Put your Air Pump back into the trunk.

I had you inflate the spare tire to 55 PSI instead of 60 PSI. This will keep the tire mounted on the wheel while allowing for temperature based pressure changes while stored. If you need to use your spare, you’ll need the air pump to inflate it to 60 PSI before driving on.

I had my dealership mount & balance the spare as well as inflate with Nitrogen. Assuming the dealership’s Nitrogen pump is working properly, this eliminates the single biggest source of interior wheel corrosion, water vapor.

I'm not sure what the jack handle is used for except to position the jack underneath the car. The jack lift points on the Cruze are about 6 inches in front of the rear tires and 6 inches behind the front tires on the underbody frame. There is a notch in the jack head that fits into a notch on the car.
Seems like a lot of trouble and expense, in Australia the spare is a no cost option to the inflation kit. My wheels are 17" X 7" alloys and the spare is 16" X6.5" steel rim with tyre diameter to match the alloys.
 
#8 · (Edited)
The spare tire is available as a factory standard or option for all North American gas Cruzen except the ECO MT. In my opinion, the ECO MT also happens to be the best trim for road trips, but I don't want to have to wait for someone to come to me with a replacement tire after a blowout. The ECO MT comes with an air pump and goo bottle, but that won't help if you have a blowout. Also, I'm a backpacker and am frequently up small dirt roads several miles from the nearest pavement. After having been a Scoutmaster for several years I know that a lot of people don't even know these roads exist, so waiting for someone to bring me a tire would probably be futile.

Edit: The Spare Tire is NOT an option on the CDT. In fact, the area for the spare has been taken by the DEF fluid tank.
 
#9 ·
Nice writeup!

When I ordered my '12 Eco MT the salesman told me I could have the spare as an option if I wanted it. Everything I've read on this forum suggests that's not true. Since I didn't want it anyway he never attempted to add it to the car... I wonder now if he would have been able to add it should I have decided to have it? He likely just didn't know what he was talking about.
 
#10 ·
You can add it if you get an ECO AT. It should be available on all trims - period.
 
#13 ·
I look at it as a one-time insurance premium to avoid being stranded by a tire problem. Amortized over my expected 10+ year life of my car it's less than $55 per year.
 
#16 ·
Awesome write up and details with pics!!!

I need to do something with my ECO MT trunk floor. Right now I have the spare tire, jack, foam, and wrench bag sitting in the trunk hole. I completely agree that the additional cost is well worth the "insurance" of being able to take care of yourself if you have a blow out. My thoughts are that if I have a blow out at night, the car would get towed to a dealer/shop and then need a ride home. Then need a ride to pick up the car when it is fixed, probably after a couple of days since the dealer would need to order a replacement ECO tire.
 
#17 ·
Now you know the part numbers for the rest of the pieces.
 
#20 ·
I didn't check the weight, but from the feel of everything it is around 25-30 lbs. The jack and tire/wheel are the heavy items.
 
#21 ·
One way to save a little money is to scour the junkyards for at least some of the parts you need. I did that for the wheel, tire, jack, and other under-the-floor pieces. Couldn't find the floor so I ended up ordering that new. The whole package came to about $250 with shipping. And I'm much happier and feel safer for it. :)

Anybody want my old floor? :wink:
 
#22 ·
I was in purchasing touch up paint for Penguin LS (shopping cart while parked) and the parts guy told me he's sold three additional spare tire stacks since I ordered mine. He kept the parts list we created as a reference.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Let me ask a dumb question.You called out a donut tire that is about 22.4" in diamter (T115/70D16), but the tires on my 2012 Eco are about 26.3" in diameter (P225/55R17). Is the 4" difference in tire diameter the correct difference in size between a donut and a full sized tire? I know donuts are smaller, but I can't find anywhere online where it's defined what that differnce should/can be.
 
#25 ·
Sorry for the delayed response - I didn't see your question until just now. The spare tire size I listed is the size specified by GM for the Cruze. It's normal for a donut spare to be quite a bit smaller than the normal tire size. I also double-checked the spare size by taking apart the trunk of a LTZ and looking.
 
#26 ·
Outstanding. I went to a couple of junk yards and was not able to find the wheel or tire. I did find the spare off a 2011 Cruze AT on eBay for about $150 and just bought it. Once I have that, a tire tool and jack is really all I need for an emergency. I can get the rest of the stuff to do a full factory reconvert like you laid out later. Thanks so much for doing this.
 
#27 ·
I have a 1LT with the compact spare and all the parts mentioned above. I wanted to post anyone local(with 150miles of Madison, WI) I would be willing to sell/trade their eco trunk floor and inflation kit for my compact spare, kit and trunk floor. The 150mile range is about the limit of how far I am willing to drive.
 
#29 ·
Does anyone else think GM is real proud of those car blocks (15116183)? Cheapest I've found those is $32 EACH. Seems like I could find something aftermarket for no more than $10 each and they'd do the same job. Everything else seems reasonable form a place like GMPartsDirect.com. Floor is $70, but what ya gonna do?
 
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