The GTO Spare Tire for C4s with C5s Brake Kits

[PLRX]

I removed the spare tire on my 96 Vette long time ago. The 3.91 gears on the 96 helped to reduce the drone at freeway speeds
but, last week I drove 250 miles around the east San Diego mountains and by the time I got home my head
was tingling. The Magnaflow drone was there for over three hours and Im about to purchase a Corsa Exhaust System.

I was wondering how come the Magnaflow muffler drone on the 95 is almost non-existence. The 95 still has the spare
tire on place and it has the Weather Tech rubber cargo liner and I was thinking this may be isolating the drone.

The 96s spare tire never worked, it has an air leak since I bought it and due to fact it has the C5 brake kit the OEM
spare will never work. I decided to give the Magnaflows on the 96 one last chance and I bought a GTO spare tire.
I hope once I get it installed some of the awful drone goes away and I dont have to spend $1,200.

The C4 spare tire on the left and the GTO spare tire on the right



It still in great shape with plenty of tire tread left.





The C4 spare tire would go in all the way in but, it rubs on the C5 caliper.



A look from the inside.



Points of contact



The GTO spare tire.



Plenty of clearance





I was lucky I kept the carrier. I cleaned it up and gave it a coat of undercoating. I saved all the hardware but, could not
find the carrier bolt.



I may have to order a carrier bolt, once I get I receive it I will post the results of this "experiment".

For you guys with C5 brake kits, the GTO spare tire is an alternative you could consider.

The GTO tire 145/70-17 and the C4 tire 155/70-17 are expensive but, is not impossible to find.

[C4fan]

Very interesting. My car didn't have a spare or jack when I bought it. My SLP exhaust has a pretty bad drone so I will be watching this one.

[Taurus]

Thou shalt not use the Mighty Taurus' image in vain.....................

[popo8]

I have a carrier bolt... (as well as all the other stuff from my spare tire set up) if you want it... you can HAVE it.

[PLRX]

Originally Posted by Taurus

Thou shalt not use the Mighty Taurus' image in vain.....................

[mike100]

Where did you find that? I wasn't even aware the C5 calipers might be an issue with the orig. spare. i guess it would still get you home in a pinch, but would custom machine the fins a little lower on the caliper maybe?

Some people have chosen to travel with those for C6's without runflats.

[PLRX]

Originally Posted by mike100

Where did you find that? I wasn't even aware the C5 calipers might be an issue with the orig. spare. i guess it would still get you home in a pinch, but would custom machine the fins a little lower on the caliper maybe?

Some people have chosen to travel with those for C6's without runflats.

I thought that or a spacer. Hey I travel few thousands miles without a spare and Betty Boops 12K mile trip with the C4 spare.

To be honest, Im trying to kill this damn drone, Im done with it.

I dont like the rectangular shape muffler tips otherwise I would buy the dynomax system few months ago.

[mike100]

You could just try switching to a fairly quiet turbo muffler. The drone won't go away, but it will be a lot less.

I want to make my own pipe set as the Corsa is still too loud. Not too loud inside, but really loud behind the car since they are pretty much a straight thru system

[PLRX]

The Dynomax Turbo Mufflers I had in Betty Boop from 2004-2006 were too quiet, quieter than stock and that was the reason I got rid of them. I wish they make them with round tips.

[socalman]

What about using Dynamat under the cargo carpet areas? (if the spare doesn't help). I would think you could cut off the square tips and have the dual rounds welded on? Could also be you were traveling with luggage in the 95 on your cross country trips, helped hold the noise down?

[RedLS1GTO]

I can't believe I didn't snatch the spare out of my GTO before I got rid of it.

[Vette Jockey]

Originally Posted by PLRX

I removed the spare tire on my 96 Vette long time ago. The 3.91 gears on the 96 helped to reduce the drone at freeway speeds
but, last week I drove 250 miles around the east San Diego mountains and by the time I got home my head
was tingling. The Magnaflow drone was there for over three hours and Im about to purchase a Corsa Exhaust System.


It still in great shape with plenty of tire tread left.

I got the whole spare that looked brand new from that Shawn, the vendor in Oceanside for I believe under a $100. I think he still has some for anyone that needs one.

[mike100]

Got my car on jacks to fix a minor oil leak. Tried the spare- not even close to working on the C5 caliper- I guess another $90 will be sent on the GTO piece.

And to think I was rolling around all this time thinking I had a good wheel... ha! The ZR-1 did look good trekking across the Mojave desert the last time I went to AZ though.

[Vette Jockey]

Originally Posted by mike100

The ZR-1 did look good trekking across the Mojave desert the last time I went to AZ though.

[PLRX]

I received the carrier bolt and got busy with this project.

Got the carrier back up there, shame it looked so nice there without that crap. I was going to make
a plaque with the skull screwed to the monospring bolts.



I was a bit concern about the GTO spare, its offet if bigger than the OEM tire and I thought it would hit
the fuel tank.

ALL CLEAR







I also had some heat wrap left but, not enough to do what I had in mind.



This is how it looks now with the GTO spare tire. No Dana 44 visual though.



Next--

Few months ago I ordered projector lenses and today I took the HID/diamond headlights off. I re-used the
HID bulbs.

They do look cool dont they? Yes, they look cool during the day BUT, they SUCK at night. I had three
times the brightness with the other headlight lenses. I will reinstall the old ones back.







These are the worst headlights I have ever had in my driver life. DO NOT BUY.

Old Ones:




The Spare, heat wrap and the rubber mat took a bit of the drone off, I drove up the
hill and it was not like before but, it still there making his rumble.

[Ch@0s]

I cant believe i missed this. Great job, you are always full of great info and ideas.

[mike100]

Mine's ready. Thanks for this post making me realize the standard spare is no good for C5 brakes...Been across the desert twice...ignorance is bliss I guess.

got one from ebay, but I also found one in town for $80..I have an extra one now.

[Vette Daddy]

I'm gonna buy one of those soon. Glad this was posted. I hadn't thought about the C5 brake issue either.

[PLRX]

Originally Posted by mike100

Cool picture Mike, reminds me of Back to the Future III



I must add that the Wilwood 6-piston caliper also clears the GTO spare.

[mike100]

^^^ How much?..the Wilwood has a lot more room to spare over the c5 conversion.

Not all C5 abutment brackets are made to the same exact location spec, so the exact caliper position will vary- this is not necessarily a bolt on deal. The type of bracket Exotic muscle sells (I'm not sure who makes it) locates the caliper outboard more than the VB&P ones. I had to trim .050 off of the caliper ribs in one spot. If i had the other brand of bracket, I wouldn't have needed to, but the VB&P brackets had a bad batch of mismachined garbage so....moral of the story is that rarely is anything bolt on.

I would prefer those wilwoods anyhow.