How about a video about dumping the donut and installing a full size spare?
That was one of the first things I did when first receiving both my old Santa Fe and current Sorento. In some of the places I drive, the donut would have been cratered pretty much immediately.

 

How about FLIPPING the wheel. When and if I take mine out its put back the other way around.
So the air Valve is now facing down!! Down makes sense and checking it or filling it is far easier. I have not owned a vehicle where this couldn't be done and all had a Class III hitch installed. No problem to do and great spring job to clean the rim or crude off etc before putting it back.

 

the video did mention having the valve stem facing downward might end up scraping something and get damaged, that’s probably why they install the stem side up?

Anyway, I thought we have a full size spare? Our spare tire needs to be pumped to 60psi? That’s nearly twice as much as the regular tires! I recall lowering my spare 4 years ago during the install of adding a 7pin harness down there but I have never ever checked the tire pressure though… probably should do that this spring. No way it has maintained 60psi all these years…

that’s why ecanderson called the spare a donut? I probably should install a new tire then… probably can’t tow with that spare…

 

that’s why ecanderson called the spare a donut? I probably should install a new tire then… probably can’t tow with that spare…

No, you definitely do NOT want to tow with the donut spare.
There have been some reported issues with the fit of a full size spare when a hitch was installed. I have a Class 3 installed and did not run into problems, though it was a tight fit.
I would suggest that you take your vehicle to a shop willing to dismount one of your regular tires and attempt to fit into the space. If that's not an issue, you can find yourself a cheap steel rim and a real tire to match your other 4.

 

I don’t think a full size spare would fit (width wise) with my Curt hitch since it overlaps a bit with the donut spare but deflated, it might.

I went reading about mounting the spare facing up or down on a different vehicle and saw anecdotes ranging from “it doesn’t align as well going up so you gotta hold it” to “I’ve mounted it stem down since 1976!”

Personally I’ll probably leave it be and drop it every once in a while to exercise the mechanism too.

 

When I had the Curt hitch put on my 2019. I asked the guy to flip the wheel before cranking it back up. No issues on that build. The seem to all fit and it still way up and no way is it going to be damaged.

 

I put a full size spare on my 2016, yes it sticks out lower on the bumper by 1-2inches. I kept the mounting like the original with stem valve up. Its better that way clamp wont get hit by by anything and the tire rim is pressed to bottom of the car. If you flip stem valve down, then you might hit something that will damage the metal clamp holding the tire up and when the air deflates out of the tire, it will wiggle since its the rubber thats pressing up on the bottom of the car and jot metal on metal. IMO.

 

I had a full size spare on my 2012, but I had to move it from underneath to in the trunk when I added my hitch. I got my hitch on my 2016 right away and did measuring back then and a full size spare will not fit with the hitch. I have not gotten a full size spare to carry with me when I go off the beaten path like I would when I had my 2012, and I've been thinking about doing so but it's low on my priority list.

 

Man, I’m glad I never had a flat tire while camping… all this time I thought I have a full size spare!

it sure looked full size compared to other tiny little spare tires I’ve seen before…

Fortunately Sorento will now just be my ‘spare’ tow vehicle. Going to let my new Jeep do most of the towing for now so this spare tire thing won’t be an urgent issue. Still, thanks for bringing this to my attention!

 

the spare has the same diameter as the full-size tires, but not the same width. This allows it to go in the space above the tow bar. Without the tow bar, a full size spare fits in the space of the bumper. it's just tougher to get it in since you have to guide it in place.

And since our AWD system is still front-centric, it's always best to put our spare on the rear axle, which would be HORRIBLE while towing. Since I've changed my tire size, I think I'll get a full size spare to put in the trunk for when I head out fishing. i would hate to have a flat and have to deal with the smaller spare. especially with how bad some of the roads are. would be mighty tough to navigate some of these roads with the spare.

 

You could look at a local wrecker for one with the same sized rubber and put on a steel rim which fits. A lot cheaper than new as its spare. Thread needs to be good. Majoriy will be but I'd still put it under not matter what, as above they always fit. I have never run into a problem nor flipping when I started which was on an AstroVan AWD.

 

Are the spare tire hanger and its cable designed to support the additional weight of a full size tire & rim?

 

Just looking at it, yes, more than adequate to the task, yes. My full size spares haven't fallen off either my Hyundai or Kia vehicles yet.

 

Had an extra tire lying around so went ahead and picked up a new steel rim to mount it onto. Then changed out my donut spare with this new full-size tire/rim.
Positioned the rim with valve facing down this time for easier air pressure check. When flipped upside down like this, I noticed the hanging cable wasn't quite long enough so had to prop up the tire on one side on the ground to slip the cable hook through the center hole on the rim. Looks like it'll hold up fine as others mentioned. It's barely noticeable from the back once installed.

 

I love it and i did it myself years ago on my 2012 sorento. But with a tow bar, a full size spare does not fit. there's just not enough space between the top of the tow bar and the bottom of the trunk space for the full size spare to fit.

 

Depends upon whose hitch is used. I have a hitch (can't remember name - pretty generic) and a full size spare. Tight, but it fits. The first one that the shop tried to install had the center of the hitch offset too much to the rear to make it work.