Just a little Van question

Don't know where it is but top of the line Honda Odyssey and some Siennas come with run flat tires which many people are unhappy with. (No spare.)

The run flats are ugly too. In the UK last spring an international tire manufacturer (I'll not mention their name to save them from scorn) ran a test of run flats. The test car drove 1,000 miles in several days to prove run flats are just fine. In the small print they said the max. speed would be 50mph and the tires (tyres there) would be changed every 50 miles. Why the hell they had to run the 50 mile advertising test 20 times I don't know.

Consumer Reports recently ran a report on high end sports cars. Most solved the problem of huge low profile tires taking all the trunk space by not including a spare. Obviously just urban toy cars, not for serious highway use.

No the Chrysler van doesn't use run flats, it has a "well stored" compact spare. Does no one knows where it is? I'll bet many owners don't know when they need it.

Couldn't tell ya on the newer ones... I know the wifes spare is UNDER the rear-end of her '93 Grand Caravan...

Yes that is the location all Chrysler vans had it for years, until it falls off, as many have. Surprisingly even the upscale Pacifica has it's spare just cheaply lashed underneath the rear. They should at least provide a ground sheet for access EH!

The seat stowing Caravan has it underneath, but not in the rear because that space is used to stow the rear seats. They found a place for it and I'll bet many owners don't know it's location. As for checking it's air pressure I wonder, perhaps it's filled with foam or is a hard rubber run-flat.

OK time to tell all where that van's spare is. It's mounted in the center of the van with it's center between the front edge of the front seats. You crank it down and I assume you lasso it or crawl under the van to retrieve it. Of course putting the flat back there would not be a desirable task, so if you have a full load you have to abandon the flat. Replacing the spare is likely a job best done on a hoist. Chrysler should at least provide a ground sheet for access to these ugly mounted underneath spares.

Yup... I failed to mention that little tidbit... The spare is SUPPOSED to be under the rear-end of the van... It's actually behind the rear seats now, as the cheap metal cable that held it up rusted off...