I finally had to replace the battery in my 2009 Panel. Original, so I got my moneys worth out of it. The rear area had never been cracked open and I saw the vent tube wasn't connected, kinda tucked off to the side. After checking with all the options in town, I finally got into Sams and bought a 47 series AGM gel battery. Did some research on this forum before purchase. It was $125. Now After having it for 10+ years, I know where the spare is. Just never needed to dig into it, but I finally have 50K miles on it.

 

Nice long lasting battery!

 

Wow. If that's the 1st time you've seen the spare tire, then I'll assume you've never checked the air in it. Bet it's low or flat after 10 years and would be of no use in an emergency.
Should be 60 psi in the spare. And don't just push on it and think it's full of air. Those spares have a really thick sidewall and don't "give" when you push on the sidewall.
Stick an air gauge on it.

 

I have always felt having the battery in back is a good contributing factor for long life (Away from engine heat.)

zbear- I totally agree with FMG about checking that spare tire for 60 psi of air.. & fyi the jack & lug wrench should be under the spare tire as well. Don't be a stranger back there...

 

FYI - I have read that even AGMs can outgas, so be sure to hook up the vent tube.

And, for the record - spare tires, especially donut-types, are highly overrated. I haven't used a spare in about 25 years.
I find that roadside service, with a flatbed tow, is much better. With my arthritis, I have no business trying to R&R a wheel on the side of the road anyway.
And with the SS, it would be a REAL chore since the donut CANNOT go on the front wheel and you have to do a stupid shuffle of wheels from front to rear to take care of things.
I can't imagine even THAT is possible with the Brembos on the panel.

 

To clarify, the donut spare must be mounted in the rear axle only, in the SS , it doesn’t fit over the stick 11.6 inch SS front rotors or the 12.6 inch Brembo front rotors.
I had the 11.6 inch SS non Brembo front rotors installed on Oldblue and so , it’s either move tires around or call the Auto club .
My only flat tire was in April of 2014 , the left rear was taken out by tire debris on the 95 near Hiltonhead.

 

Sorry, of course you are right. I will edit my comment. Thanks!

 

It's a bad idea to run a donut spare on the drive axle of any car, FWD or RWD

 

What about a car with auto ?
I would think the SS rotor would be the same for non Brembo. Yes ?
Where does the interference come into play with the spare tire/wheel ?

 

If you have problems on the side of the road, put the spare on and don't go over 50 MPH until you can fix or replace the tire that had the problem.
It's not that bad of an idea.
What are you suppose to do? Sit there and hope someone will stop with a tire/wheel you can use ?
Also if the spare has the same OD (outside diameter) as the factory tire you won't cause problems if you have LSD (Limited Slip Differential).