My wife arrived home safely from Florida last night. This morning, her left rear tire was dead flat with a nail lodged squarely in the center of the tread, so it was easily patched and balanced and is repaired and back on the car now. Good thing it occurred after the drive back home instead of after the drive down to Florida to see her parents. But here's what I discovered in the process....

Our car has what I presume is its original Continental mini-spare tire stored in the trunk. When I went to mount it this morning so I could move the car from blocking my truck in the driveway, I discovered that not only are my new 21mm hex Mitsubishi lug nuts not long enough in the threaded shaft to grab and hold the mini-spare onto the wheel, but neither are my lousy 19mm hex factory Jaguar two-piece lug nuts. Both sets of lug nuts come up nearly a half-inch short of being able to hold that mini-spare down tight against the wheel hub. Unbelieveable, especially with the factory nuts. And very dangerous for women who drive solo across multiple states in these cars not knowing any better.

These mini-spares need regular conical lug nuts, NOT the shanked and washered lug nuts that our Jaguar wheels take. And they require lug nuts that have a threaded shaft at least a half-inch longer than ours, maybe as much as an inch longer. So now I'm on the hunt for five long, inexpensive conical lug nuts that will be kept in a plastic bag and taped inside the mini-spare and labeled "Caution: Always use these lug nuts when mounting the mini-spare".

I'm posting this information mainly for those of you whose wives are the primary drivers of these cars. But ALL of you need to know this information. If you have a mini-spare, go outside and try to mount it on one of your hubs. You'll see exactly what I mean....

 

Boy Jon89 I am very glad you pointed this out!! I am checking mine and wanted to post another tip. Please check the air pressure in the spare. Mine is new and has never been used but it's suppose to have 60 psi and it only had about 10 psi from sitting in the trunk all those years.
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WTF! My spare has a Pirelli tire on it, and orange. I am going to try this when I get around to it. I wonder if my spare is the same as yours?

 

Don't know the make of my spare but it went on just fine a few months ago when I had a flat.

 

JagV8,

Is yours a mini-spare? If it is, and your lug nuts cranked down and held it, then one or more of these statements is true for your particular car:

1. You have a different mini-spare wheel design.

2. You have lug nuts with longer threaded shanks.

3. You have shorter lug studs.

There's no way our mini-spare would work in our car's current set-up. New Mitsubishi lug nuts, old factory lug nuts, it didn't matter. The steel mini-spare wheel sits down way too flat against the hub and there's no way any of these shanked lug nuts I have can reach it before they run out of thread....

 

Glad it happened in the driveway Jon.
I'll need to check mine now, there's no chance of my wife changing a wheel, but avoiding a tow would save a few $$s I'd think.

 

My wife won't change a tire either, but hopefully a Good Samaritan (or AAA) will stop and help, especially if she's stuck on I-95 two states away from me.

And when they stop to help, you've got to make it clear to them that "these lug nuts right here must be used on this mini-spare right here". Putting the long conical lug nuts in a plastic bag, taping it to the mini-spare, and including a note in or on the bag is the best way to go, I think. I'll also point all this out to my wife when I find the new lug nuts and do it, but she'll remember that for exactly 3 days and then it will be up to my set of instructions in the trunk. You've got to make it clear, because you just don't know who will be coming to the rescue....

 

Yes, it's a mini-spare. I have a 2004 STR if that makes any difference. No idea on the lug nuts, they came with the car and sound like the ones everyone has had hassle with.

 

I reported this issue to Jaguar Corporate Customer Service this afternoon. I now have an open case number for it. They say they will be back in touch with me early next week. I pointed out three different times that this is a serious safety issue, especially for women who drive these cars hundreds of miles from home all by themselves. The customer service rep fully agreed (she was female).

I asked for a full-size Kronos spare wheel and tire as compensation, but I don't expect to get one.

I also asked for five new lug nuts with threads that are long enough to reach and hold this mini-spare tight on the wheel hub. I DO expect to be granted that request, paid for and shipped to me by Jaguar Corporate.

We'll see what happens next week....

 

If all (or many) are like that it should be a safety recall. I bet you have them worried (I sure hope so).

 

Wow that's nuts - the factory lugs wont hold the spare on? IT has a full 1/2 inch of play?? 1/2 inch?? And this ISN'T a recall??

I'm sure someone just bolted it up and off they went....

As far as lugs - Jon, and anyone else? Want to split these? Conical seat, open end (so depth isnt an issue), and $20 for all 20 delivered.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

George

 

OK, I have the same year as Jon.... I just got done mounting my spare and it is fine. So, Jon, while I understand your temptation to blame Jaguar, they are not at fault as far as I can see. The included equipment work just fine. I was able to hand tighten my spare to the point of "snug". So, somewhere along the line the equipment included with your car may have gotten switched to the wrong parts. To that end I have taken pictures of all the stuff that came with mine. I do see that the mating surface of the spare does take a conical nut. I also see that the end surface of my lugs are conical and fit the seat surface of the spare. Also, there are actually two washers on the lugnut. One is metal and the other is composite. Not sure what that is all about, but it is what is on the car. They do "seem" like the "crappy two piece" lugnuts you talk about. It is very possible that the lug length and seat surface on the new ones are the issue. It is also possible that your "factory" lugs actually aren't factory at all but an inexpensive aftermarket solution that was put on the car before you got it. So, look at the pictures and I hope it helps.

 

PART 2

So, I can only upload 5 pictures at a time. Here are a couple of other pictures.

So, my thought on it would be this. Buy another Kronos wheel. You said you'll be getting tires shortly. Buy 5 and go to a 5 tire rotation. I would do this anyway since your wife is making multiple long distance trips by herself. I've always hated temp spares anyway. This way, you keep the lugnuts you like and you don't have to worry about her driving anywhere on a donut.....

Now for a personal question.... What the heck is the little plastic block thingie in the tool kit? There is no mention of it in the owners manual that I can find. It is in the picture named Huh. Oh, and I agree, the factory lug wrench SUCKS. That will be replaced in my tool kit....

 

The plastic block is to chock the wheels - rotate it about its center pin and you'll see.

Er... guys.... when you get a new (to you) car you REALLY should check out the spare: presence/absence, condition, how to fit it (such as where the vehicle jack fits) AND practise doing so in the light on a dry day (or in a warm garage). It is MUCH easier to do it in the wet on a dark night if you've done it before!!

 

Jeff,

Thanks for making the effort you did. That's a lot of work....

All of your parts look the same as mine, including the mini-spare and the crappy two-piece lug nuts. But I'm telling you guys, my lug nuts will not reach the metal mini-spare rim before they run out of thread with at least a quarter-inch to go. Last night my wife and I discussed whether her mini-spare may have been swapped out by our local dealership before we purchased the car (she doesn't trust this dealership to flush a toilet much less work on her car anymore). I asked her, "Why would they bother to do that?" She said, "Maybe the original mini-spare was missing and they put the wrong mini-spare in the trunk to sell the car without checking to see if it worked." Can't argue with that, she may be right....

Like several of us have discussed before, Jaguar touts its "thorough 140-point inspection on every pre-owned car we sell". Well, they missed our battery being almost bone-dry, a missing trim piece on the back of the front passenger seat rail, and a couple of other things as well. They apparently also missed our mini-spare not being capable of being held onto the hub with the factory lug nuts....

I'll wait to see how Jaguar Corporate responds next week. I'll be happy with five conical-style extra-long lug nuts if they'll send them to me. I'm not buying a fifth Kronos wheel out of my own pocket. All I ever expect a mini-spare to do is to allow you to move the wounded car off the main road and up onto a flatbed tow truck. Or move it out of my driveway so I can get my truck out to go have the flat tire repaired....

As far as that black plastic block in the trunk's tool kit? I've always assumed it was the world's poorest excuse for a wheel chock. I've never used it and would do so only if I couldn't find anything else. I keep foot-long pieces of 4-by-4 treated lumber especially for this purpose. Never had one move on me yet in more than 35 years of dealing with my own wheels and tires....

 

If the wheel's correct and the lugs look as jag shipped then maybe the studs (captive bolts) are wrong? It would likely mean a hub/bearing was replaced, and not with the proper part.

 

Yup...your right...All I did was confirm that the stuff was in there and in working condition when I bought it. I did check that the jack worked. Points for that??

So, Jon, if your not going to buy a full size, do you at least have a roadside assistance plan for the wife?? I know, a bit off topic. Jen has been told to NOT even attempt to change a tire on the van. It drops from under the car. I do not want her crawling under the van. She has the roadside card in the van and makes sure her cell is charged. She knows to call the police if she is far from home, then the roadside assistance number. I know, I recklessly wash my engine yet am way conservative with that stuff.... Just don't trust the morons out there...

 

I checked my 2005 STR and it has an 18" bright orange alloy spare with a Pirelli tire. The factory lug nuts work and fit fine?? No conical seat. Just a flat seat like the factory wheels. I wonder why yours is wrong. Somebody did a switch before you got the car maybe??
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After studying Jeff's pictures again and deciding that his gear is exactly the same as our gear, I tried it again on a different wheel location. Picked the right rear wheel, cleaned up the studs on it this time after removing the factory wheel and lo and behold, I was able to position the mini-spare to the point where the crappy factory lug nuts AND my nice new Mitsubishi lug nuts could go finger-tight against the mini-spare steel mounting surfaces - but just barely. I could tell that I was running out of thread on both sets of lug nuts. I would only put a lug wrench on them and crank them down in the event of an emergency. I doubt that they would go more than a quarter-turn tighter with a lug wrench. So I'm still planning to get five long conical-based lug nuts to store with the mini-spare along with a note saying "Please use these lug nuts with this mini-spare". That should solve the safety issue. I'll call Jaguar Customer Service on Monday and thank them for their help. Although this lug nut/mini-spare situation isn't ideal, it is not a design flaw or an untested system as I initially thought it might be. It just isn't a very good one....

Yes Jeff, we have the AAA Motor Club Plus plan. They'll tow our disabled vehicle up to 100 miles at no cost to us. Haven't had to use it in at least a decade, but you never know. I'm never concerned about myself, but with all the NC-to-Florida-and-back solo driving that Jan does, it's crucial to have a plan in place. Thus far she's been very fortunate....

 

Checked mine too, exactly the same as yours.

Jon, as Jagv8 said maybe it was a repair on the Hub/bearing or whatever and the studs are incorrect. Did you try to put the spare on another wheel? That would rule that theory out. This is such a strange issue, can't believe you have to deal with this BS.

EDIT: Sorry should have read your post first before responding.