Spare tire - full size or compact for 98 Windstar?

[copious]

I just picked up my 98 Windstar cargo van yesterday (pics to come soon). It's from Florida and is totally rust free. I noticed that the spare tire is missing. The bracket underneath the van that holds the spare tire in place is there, but not the tire.

I was wondering what the van came with originally? I'm guessing a temporary use compact spare. If so, I'll pick one up from a Taurus in the scrap yard (it will have been protected from the elements in the trunk). Otherwise I will use one of the 15" factory steel wheels as a full size spare, if it will fit. Anyone else done this?

For winter I have 16" winter tires on steel rims that my father gave me (from his Taurus he just sold). For summer I have 16" Taurus 5 spoke aluminum wheels, so I won't be using the factory 15" wheels for anything.

[balogne_t]

Yes they come with a temporary compact tire. Thats what mine has and purchased from new in 98.

[BroncoJoe19]

I just looked at mine, and it looks like it is the compact design. There also appears to be plenty of room for a full size tire to be there.

[copious]

That would be great if I could put a full size spare there, since I will have a spare 15" wheel and tire now. There may be enough spare, but just as long as the bracket will hold a full size rim and tire.

[balogne_t]

Here's a great calculator for deciding which other tire and wheel size you want besides the stock, to minimize odometer problems.

Tire size calculator

[GraybeardAv]

The full size spare fits fine. Only the Freestar with fold down rear seat won't hold a full size spare.

GB

[copious]

Originally Posted by balogne_t

Here's a great calculator for deciding which other tire and wheel size you want besides the stock, to minimize odometer problems.

Tire size calculator

Thanks, I've used that tire calculator as well as one on 1010tires.com and the tire size I'm putting on is very close to the stock tire size. The original tire size seems to be 215/70R15 and I've got 215/60R16. I think it's within 3% of the same diameter, etc, so my speedometer should still be fairly accurate. And there shouldn't be any clearance problems either. And the rims are all Taurus rims, so hopefully the offset is similar or the same as the Windstar has.

Originally Posted by GraybeardAv

The full size spare fits fine. Only the Freestar with fold down rear seat won't hold a full size spare.

GB

Excellent! That's great to hear. I won't even bother getting a compact spare then - I'll just put one of my left-over 15" wheels in there to use as a spare.

[zpn_by]

Yes, as you've found out the full-size wheel and tire will fit easily. That's likely the reason why your cargo van didn't have one - some years of cargo vans were equipped from the factory with a full-size spare, while us passenger-van buyers got a donut. I don't blame you for putting a full-size spare in - think I might just do the same in the spring...

[copious]

I'm not sure if my van ever had a spare tire. Maybe it did and someone took it out to use it and never put it back. Or it's possible that since it was a stripped down bare bones base model cargo van, maybe the spare tire was eliminated to save money? It was a fleet vehicle and didn't come equipped with any extras like hubcaps or a radio, let alone anything extravagant like power windows, locks, cruise control or air conditioning. It does have tilt steering and variable intermittent wipers though...

I kind of like having a bare bones stripped down base model in this day and age of electronic everything and fully loaded. It's actually a refreshing change to step into something not too old but that's still rather basic. And it's a 3.0 V6 which I like.

Having said that, I want to have a spare tire, cruise control, a stereo and maybe a remote starter.

[mark v]

I had this same discussion on this forum about this subject and I found out a stock tire will fit there. Unfortunately I found this out after buying a new used doughnut from the junkyard.