Darth Menace
Enthusiast
Is there any real benefit to taking out the spare? I assume being 15 years old the tire is crapped anyway. Weight savings in the rear?
I believe the spare is part of the crumple zone structure for rear end collisions, I was going to take mine out as well until Tator warned me not to.
Lame...ok. I guess I have to pay for weight loss/performance gains thanks for the info guys
I do not believe Dodge could design the crumple zones with a removable piece like a spare as such a crucial safety feature REQUIRED to meet a minimum safety level. I am sure it helps in someway but doesn't add up as a mandated requirement. Driving is a risk and if a person was that scared to drive without a spare for fear of a rear end collision, you would be looking at another car other than Viper. Pull it, leave it, whatever works for you.
I just cant see dodge getting away with using the spare as a crumple zone, its held on by one bolt that would probably break if a hit was hard enough to get to the spare
The best argument yet for keeping the spare in a GTS!!!!It is very important. After you are rear ended you need the spare and other assorted jack pieces to throw at the idiot who wasn't payin attention and ran into you