Table of Contents
- The Missing Spare Wheel
- Terminology - Spare Rim and Tire Size
- Getting the Corolla Cross Hybrid Spare Wheel and Jack Set
- Corolla Cross Hybrid Spare Wheel Storage
- Corolla Cross Hybrid Accessories Storage
- Actually Changing the Tire
- Conclusion
The Missing Spare
The Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid (CCH) does not include a spare wheel and jack assembly. This hybrid model comes with a Tire Puncture Repair Kit consisting of a tire sealant part # 42606B and air compressor # 44890D in lieu of the spare wheel and jack.
The lack of spare wheel in the Corolla Cross Hybrid is often not disclosed at purchase time. Most drivers assume that a spare is included — only to discover the missing spare later.
Despite the lack of spare wheel shipped with the car, it IS possible to fit a spare wheel and jack under the cargo area of the hybrid model with smart positioning and spacers.
⭐ Skip to my spare wheel storage solution for the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid
🛒 Get the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Spare Tire Mount
See spare tire mount assembly notes and video.
The manufacturer’s decision to not skip the spare wheel seems to be both a design and cost savings constraint.
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The hybrid system’s orange power cable is run through and exits the car body in the spare wheel well. This cable placement takes up vertical space in the wheel well and prevents most spare tires from fitting in there without crushing and rubbing the cable.
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A tire puncture repair kit is significantly lighter and cheaper for the manufacturer to include in the car than a larger spare wheel, scissor jack, jack handle, and tire wrench.
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Other Toyota hybrids include a spare wheel so the omission of spare in the Corolla Cross Hybrid is unlikely to be safety related.
For most drivers the tire puncture repair kit is sufficient if they stay near the road and a tow truck can be called. You don’t even need to use the tire patch it. Just have the car towed to the tire shop and get a new/used tire mounted. Using the tire patching liquid may mess with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) sensor so you may need to have the TPMS sensor replaced if you use the tire patch kit. Additionally tire patch kit can only seal smaller punctures in the thread and not the sidewall so the patch kit is not a complete spare tire replacement.
For the rest of us, a spare wheel may be useful due to lack of infrastructure, bad roads, or other reasons.
If you do end up getting a spare tire for your hybrid, you keep the bonus of having the tire puncture repair kit’s portable 12V air compressor w/ built in pressure indicator! The tire inflator that comes with the Corolla Cross Hybrid is an air compressor can be used to inflate tires without requiring use of the sealant fluid. The included compressor is useful for topping off your tires or airing up after going off road!
I have put all the info on the Corolla Cross Hybrid spare wheel in this post and continuously update the post as needed.
Tow Hook Eyelet
There is no way to attach the standard tow hook eyelet part # 5196016030 to the Corolla Cross Hybrid.
Toyota skipped including a tow eyelet in the Corolla Cross Hybrid. Buying the Toyota tow eyelet for the hybrid model is no use, however. The hybrid should share a similar body to its gas sibling with small exterior differences such as the hybrid exclusive bumper cover design.
Confusingly, the hybrid vehicle manual mentions using the tow hook and there exist front and rear popout panels in a hybrid trim specific bumper but no threaded holes or solid metal for tow eyelet attachment behind the popouts.
Spare Rim and Tire Size
Buying a wheel has 2 parts, the rim and tire. The rim is the inner metal circle that the outer rubber tire is mounted around. I refer to the wheel and tire interchangeably in the rest of this post since “spare wheel” is synonymous to “spare tire” for most readers.
A compatible spare needs to meet the requirements below:
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The rim bolt pattern must match the vehicle bolt pattern.
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The rim bolt thread size should match the existing thread size.
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The rim center bore/hub bore must be wider than or equal to the vehicle hub bore.
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The rim offset (ET) should be within the vehicle’s compatible offset range.
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The diameter of the rim must clear the vehicle brake calipers. A rim diameter that is too small will cause the inner surface of the rim to impact the brake calipers.
A 17”/18” rim diameter fits best for the Corolla Cross. I tried fitting a donut spare with a 16” rim on my Corolla Cross Hybrid and there was about 1 cm of clearance to the brake calipers and the wheel spun freely so 16” rims with the right offset may work with a large enough tire sidewall height. Toyota’s official spare tire rim for the Corolla Cross is 17”.
- The outer diameter of wheel should match the outer diameter of the other wheels on the car as closely as possible. This outer diameter is the diameter of the rubber tire and not the diameter of the rim. A larger rim diameter does not necessarily equate to a larger wheel diameter since the tire may have a lower sidewall height. Too large of a diameter will cause the wheel to rub against the wheel well when the wheel turns. A mismatched diameter will cause extra wear on a differential connecting the wheels as one wheel will continuously rotate at a different speed. Wheels do not always turn at the same speed in normal driving when the car is turning and the outer wheel rotates faster so some variation in diameter is tolerable for short driving distances. Mismatched wheel diameters will have similar wear on the conponents as the car constantly turning in a tight circle.
Matching wheel diameters is most important for the driven wheels. If the mismatched wheel is on an axle that does not have power (e.g. the rear wheels on a FWD vehicle), matching diameters is less important for the non-driven axel.
- The tire’s inner diameter must be designed to fit the rim diameter.
These requirements are ordered in my recommended steps for finding a compatible spare.
Stock Corolla Cross Wheel Sizes
| Specification | Corolla Cross (Gas/Hybrid) (USA/Canada) |
|---|---|
| Bolt Pattern | 5x144.3mm |
| Bolt Thread Size | M12 x 1.5 |
| Center Bore | 60.1 mm |
| Offset (ET) | 43-(45)-47 (17” rim) / 48-(50)-52 (18” rim) |
| Tire rim diameter | 17” / 18” |
| OEM tire | 215/60R17 / 225/50R18 |
Tire Diameters and Suggested Spare Tire Sizes
Tire sidewall code format is WIDTH(mm) / SIDEWALL-HEIGHT-as-percentage-of-WIDTH TYPE RIM(in)
| Tire Code | Toyota OEM Spec | Type | Outer Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 215/65R17 | ✓ | full | 28.00” (711.3 mm) |
| 225/55R18 | ✓ | full | 27.74” (704.7 mm) |
| 165/80D17 | ✓ | compact | 27.39” (695.8 mm) |
| 155/80D17 | ✓ | compact | 26.76” (679.8 mm) |
| 155/90R17 | compact | 27.98” (710.8 mm) | |
| 145/90R17 | compact | 27.28” (692.8 mm) |
If the mix of metric and imperial units in the tire code is confusing, you are not alone.
You can use a tire code calculator such as Tacoma World to help calculate the wheel diameter.
Getting the Corolla Cross Hybrid Spare Wheel and Jack Set
A spare wheel and jack set can be obtained from several sources that are somewhere in the range below:
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Pay less - Put in the work and time to find a spare wheel and jack set.
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Pay more - Buy a premade solution where someone has presumably done the homework and has an inventory of wheels and jacks to ship to you.
I got two compatible spare wheels: 145/90R17 and 155/90D17 from a 1st gen (2003) Ford Escape and 3rd gen (2009) CRV respectively at the scrapyard and a Toyota Corolla Cross jack assembly from an auto recycler.
These two spare wheels are the closest diameter spare tire sizes to the stock Corolla Cross tire size that I have found. You can see that they are close to the OEM spare diameters in the tire code comparison chart above.
Compact versus Full Size Spare
- Source: Mini Mania
Compact (aka donut) spares are relatively skinny with narrower tire widths and taller sidewall heights to compensate for a smaller diameter and width. These tires are usually lower cost and the rim is made of steel. Due to these compromises, compact spares are not designed to be driven on for long distances or high speeds. They are only made to get you back on the road and to the tire shop. Most tire shops do not mount tires on compact spare rims so it’s convenient to find a compact spare wheel mounted with the right tire size.
Full size spares are the same size as the original rim and tire. A full size spare is basically the same rim and tire as the other wheels on the vehicle.
Getting a full size spare can be as simple as ordering the whole wheel from the manufacturer or dealer since it is the same wheel as the other wheels on the vehicle.
See Tire Diameters and Suggested Spare Tire Sizes above for suggested wheel sizes.
Compatible Vehicles
There are many other vehicles with a similar wheel size to the Corolla Cross. You can get a list of such vehicles with compatible wheels by searching all vehicles that have the same wheel size as the Corolla Cross on websites such as Wheel-Size.com.
I generated a partial list of CCH compatible vehicles that I printed out and brought to the scrapyard with me. Wheel-Size.com only allows me to search within a small offset range at a time so the full list of compatible vehicles is much greater. The partial list including 16” and 17” rims can be viewed here and may be a starting point.
A 3D printed 5x114.3mm bolt pattern and 60.1mm template was useful to quickly check found tires’ bolt pattern and bore diameters at the scrapyard.
Compact Jack Assembly
Don’t forget to bring along a jack and lug nut wrench to actually lift the vehicle and swap in the spare wheel.
Toyota’s included scissor jack in the gas Corolla Cross is designed to fit beneath the rear cargo floor. This jack and the jack storage compartment are especially small compared to common scissor jacks. All the jack set parts are under the REAR BODY & FLOOR. JACK & COMPONENTS kit.
The gas only Corolla Cross FWD and AWD models come with different jacks. Toyota has separate part numbers for these jacks.
FWD jack part # 0911116060
AWD jack part # 091110A030
The FWD jack comes stored in an oval foam block that sits inside the spare wheel rim. It appears to have a weight capacity of 1100kg.
The AWD jack comes stored in the front/right slot in the plastic cargo floor deck. It appears to have a weight capacity of 1000kg.
The FWD jack can be identified by a lifting plate that is lower than the AWD lifting plate. The FWD jack has a oval stamp on the side while the AWD jack has a triangular stamp in the same position. AWD jack MSRP is about $5 higher.
I got the FWD jack and it was able to lift my Corolla Cross Hybrid to a sufficient height needed to lift the wheels off the ground.
The wheel lug wrench and jack handle parts are the same between the FWD and AWD models. These parts are held in the center foam block inside the spare tire on both models.
The compact Corolla Cross jack assembly can be located at auto recyclers using Car-Part.com with the below search options.
You can use a larger scissor jack to lift the car as well but it will not fit into the rear storage slot in the plastic cargo deck so you will need to store it in the spare wheel well or other part of the cargo area.
Sourcing Options
These are listed below in acquiring a spare and jack set in the order of most work -> highest cost.
I recommend sourcing in the following order
- Scrapyard
- Secondhand OEM
- Official Dealer
- Aftermarket
Scrapyard/Pick and Pull
The Toyota Corolla Cross is a relatively new vehicle and consequently, there are not many salvage Corolla Crosses to pull used parts from.
Scrapyards usually have an online searchable listing of avaiable vehicles in their yards. These other vehicles may ride on similar tires to the Corolla Cross and a wheel compatibility can be determined as described in Compatible Vehicles.
Spare wheels stored inside in trunk are easier to retrieve while spares mounted underneath the vehicle can be inaccessible if the scrapyard stacks the vehicle on welded rims.
Furthermore, scrapyards usually prohibit using jacks on premises for safety reasons and remove the scissor jacks from the cars in the yard. Still, they might forget to remove the jack so I’ve been able to find brand new scissor jacks several times.
I recommend searching online and visiting your local scrapyard at least once to see if you have any luck. You may be able to to get a new/barely used spare wheel for under $30 when it would otherwise cost 5-10x from an online seller!
Secondhand OEM
If someone is selling a Corolla Cross or compatible vehicle, you may be able to buy just the full size or compact wheel.
I did not have much luck finding a Corolla Cross OEM spare early 2024 since most sellers do not want to part out a new/driveable vehicle.
There are sellers online that pick out spare tires from salvage cars and sell the tires and jack assembly both individually and together. Search the spare tire size you are looking for on the marketplace site and confirm that the spare rim has the correct bolt patterns size/spacing and center bore diameter.
There is no foolproof metbhod to verify if the spare rim offset will fit the Corolla Cross Hybrid. Comparing the original vehicle for the spare wheel and the Corolla Cross Hybrid’s OEM wheel offsets should be sufficient. I have not seen a 17” spare rim with matching bolt specs and center bore not fit the Corolla Cross Hybrid yet.
*I use a 145/90R17 spare tire from a 01-04 Ford Escape as the spare in my Corolla Cross Hybrid.
Aftermarket
There are several turnkey third party spare wheel solutions but these vendors do not sell a perfect matching wheel size for the Corolla Cross. They usually have an selection of tire sizes for multiple cars and will usually ship you a compatible 17” or 18” rim with a tire that they consider “close enough” to the Corolla Cross wheel diameter.
⚠️ Some aftermarket vendors’ special alloy rims sit very high on the CCH spare tire upgrade kit due to rim designs with high offsets. This may raise the cargo floor significantly and require an extra-thick spacer or other workarounds!
I recommend getting a compatible steel compact donut spare rim style (usually painted black) described above through the scrapyard or Ebay method.
Aftermarket vendors that claim to have Corolla Cross spares in no particular order (no endorsement):
These vendors also sell scissor jacks and wheel covers. These scissor jacks may be white labeled versions of mass produced jacks from China sold on Amazon and other sites if you shop around. Most third party jacks will NOT fit in the plastic storage slot built into the car.
A wheel cover is not needed if you store the tire in the spare wheel well underneath the cargo deck floor as described further down.
Official Dealer
This is the most expensive solution but also a manufacturer guaranteed compatible solution that is covered by warranty.
The Toyota Corolla Cross Temporary Spare Wheel is part #4261B-0R010. 17x4 should be the correct rim size. This part only includes the rim and not the stock 165/80D17 or 155/80D17 spare tire that goes around the rim. This rim fits the hybrid model as well.
- Source: treehouse34
A driver tried fitting the original Corolla Cross spare into the hybrid model but the OEM spare does not fit flush in the spare wheel well due to the power cable disconnect lever.
Corolla Cross Hybrid Spare Wheel Storage
Now that you found a spare wheel for your Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid, there are a couple of choices for storing the spare and jack.
Trunk/Cargo Platform
Leave the spare wheel and jack on top of the cargo platform like any other luggage.
Tossing the parts in the back is a quick and easy storage solution but has some drawbacks. The spare wheel and jack will take up volume in the cargo area that could be used for other items. If not tied down, the spare wheel and jack will slide around the cargo area during driving and could go flying in a collision.
Rear Spare Wheel Well
Spare wheels stored inside the car are often placed in the rear spare wheel well which is the circular depression underneath the rear cargo/truck floor.
This spare wheel well can be found in the Toyota Corolla Cross. If you lift up the plastic cargo platform, there is a large black foam block with cutouts holding the included tire patch and inflator kit. This foam piece sits in between two hard plastic cargo decks pieces on both sides of the body. In the gas only model of the Corolla Cross, this foam block rests inside the spare wheel. You can remove this foam piece to reveal the spare wheel well.
The Corolla Cross Hybrid has an orange power cable routed through this area. The power cable emerges from underneath the rear middle passenger seat, runs to an orange and white high voltage power disconnect switch bolted to the center of the floor, and exits through a rubber lined hole in floor on the right.
Without special positioning, this power cable arrangement in the rear area prevents easy storage of a spare due to the need to avoid repeated stress and moving of the power cable.
The ideal spare tire solution should:
- Hold the spare tire in place without resting on or rubbing the power cable.
- The top surface of the spare tire should be close to the top surface of the cargo deck pieces so the cargo platform can be laid flat with the weight evenly distributed between the sides and center.
- The power disconnect switch should remain usable for easy access if needed.
- Prevent the spare tire from moving about during normal driving.
⭐ Rear Spare Wheel Well Tire Holder
I designed a spare wheel mount that fits over power disconnect switch and is secured using existing brackets. The mount raises the spare wheel above the power cables and raises the trunk floor height to be level with the folded rear passenger seats.
This Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid spare wheel mount is available on my Store.
🛒 Get the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Spare Tire Mount
No Drilling
The mount bolts to existing unused holes on the metal bracket underneath the high voltage cable disconnect lever. The setup can be fastened with a normal hex bolt driver.
High Voltage Power Cable Clearance
The holder raises the spare wheel above the power cable runs so that the spare does not rub the cable.
The spare rests on the holder on a level plane with the left and right plastic cargo deck pieces. The cargo deck/trunk floor actually slopes rearward and is not at 0° relative to the cabin floor.
This tire holder allows the power disconnect switch to be accessed without needing to remove the holder.
- Spare Tire Hold Down Bolt - Download and 3D print it
The spare tire can be held in place by any compatible tire hold down with a long enough bolt. I designed a 3D printable tire hold down that uses the standard M8 bolt diameter present on most vehicles.
Cargo Deck Height Adjustment
Depending on the width of your spare tire and the offset of the rim, the top surface of the tire may sit above the top of the left and right plastic cargo decks. The foldable cargo platform needs a flat surface to sit on. This height difference be remedied by raising the cargo decks from above or below to be the same height as the spare tire.
The wider the spare tire width (this is the first number in the tire code), the higher your spare tire will rest. It is a balancing act to find a narrow enough spare tire with a high sidewall ratio to match the full size Corolla Cross wheel diameter. Good tire size matches and donor vehicles are listed in the section above.
- Toyota Cargo Deck Bottom Riser - Download and 3D print
My initial attempt was designing risers to fit underneath the left and right cargo decks’ feet. While the risers fit fine underneath the cargo decks, the cargo deck was quite wobbly.
A Corolla Cross Hybrid owner wrote that he was able to use cut 3” wood spacers to elevate a CRV spare wheel above the orange power cables.
Cargo Deck Riser (Spacer method)
I had better luck creating a spacer riser between the cargo decks and the cargo floor platform. My 145/90R17 compact spare mounted on my tire holder was ~1.5” higher than the cargo decks.
Extruded foam is preferred to expanded foam. It is much denser, stronger, and easier to cut with less mess.
I cut a 1.5” thick board of extruded foam from the hardware store to fit on top of the left and right cargo decks and around the spare tire. Extruded foam can be cut with a retractable utility knife or hot knife. I used a utility knife for this attempt with acceptable results.
I cut a small circle in the top of the foam where the cargo platform’s bottom circular protrusion sticks out so that the platform does not slide around.
I trimmed a piece of the foam to sit above the inside of the spare rim similar to the foam blocks that come in the gas model. These two pieces of foam support the foldeable cargo platform along the side and center.
After cutting, I sealed the foam with wood PVA glue and spray painted it black.
Extruded foam is still soft foam in the end - I saw some wear and tear on the foam as I moved the tire and cargo components around during my design and refinement. The pink extruded foam board I got was also pre-perforated at 1 ft increments which made it less strong than a solid board.
If I needed to make the riser again, I would opt to use a more durable material combination such as a MDF/plywood + extruded foam sandwich. Shaping the harder material would be easier with a router or saw.
After placing the foam pieces on the cargo deck and in the spare wheel, the folding cargo platform can be laid on top to finish setting up the cargo area.
The Corolla Cross Hybrid cargo floor is originally much lower than the backs of the folded rear passenger seats. The 1-1.5” rise in the the cargo platform height after the spacer makes the cargo floor level with the folded rear passenger seats which is nice for camping and transporting larger flat objects in the back.
Cargo Deck Spacer Dimensions
Spare Tire Hitch Mount
The spare wheel could be mounted behind the car with a spare tire hitch mount that fits in the rear hitch receiver.
- Source: Reddit
This gives a semi “Jeep Wrangler” looking setup except the spare tire hangs a few inches away from the liftgate rather than mounted directly to the car body like an actual Wrangler. This way, a full size spare wheel can be stored behind the vehicle without sacrificing any internal space.
The spare wheel well in the Corolla Cross is usually filled with foam and unused space so it can be made useful to store a compact spare wheel in the Rear Spare Wheel Well method.
The major limitation with the hitch tire holder is that the hitch must be removed if access to the liftgate and trunk are needed unless a more expensive hitch tire holder with swing away function is used.
Other limitations of a hitch mounted tire holder:
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The vehicle license plate must be relocated to a visible location if the plate is blocked by the spare tire.
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The entire hitch tire holder or spare tire can be stolen if not locked with a locking hitch and locking lug nuts.
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Longer vehicle length, decreased departure angle, and center of gravity moved aft.
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Hitch tire holder may wobble when driving and turning.
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Increased tire degradation from UV damage unless the tire is protected with a cover.
The above limitations are also advantages of storing the spare tire inside the vehicle. 😎
Vehicle Rooftop
Not recommended on most vehicles for reasons that can be found elsewhere. If you store the spare tire on the vehicle roof, I hope you secure it properly to prevent it from sliding off and hitting pedestrians and other vehicles.
Garage
If storing the spare in the car doesn’t work, you could keep the spare in your garage or home. It’s helpful if a tire loses air overnight from a small puncture but you lose convenient access to the spare when away from home.
Corolla Cross Hybrid Accessories Storage
The scissor jack that comes with the other gas/FWD Corolla Cross models fits in the upper left plastic storage slot in the cargo deck. The rubber loop can be hooked across the slot to secure the jack. See Compact Jack Assembly for more jack details.
- Toyota Tire Puncture Kit Holder and Mount in TPU- 3D print
If you made the right choice and put the spare wheel in the wheel well underneath the cargo floor, the original large foam block that previously held the Tire Puncture Repair Kit is removed and you can stash the jack handle, tire wrench, tire sealant, and inflator next to the spare in the wheel well or spare rim with soft TPU holders that I designed to prevent rattling.
- Toyota Tire Puncture Kit Holder and Mount in TPU- 3D print
The original large foam block with cutouts can be stored at home or in the garage for future use. I haven’t figured out what the storage slots in the right side of the cargo deck were made to fit.
Actually Changing the Tire
The most important part of swapping the spare tire is staying safe.
⛽ Check the pressure of your spare tire and inflate it to the listed pressure on the tire before storage and usage.
- Toyota Corolla Cross Jack Pinch Weld Pad in TPU - 3D print
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Loosen the tire lug nuts with the socket wrench BEFORE lifting the car with the jack. If you loosen the lug nuts when the car is lifted in the air, the force used to loosen the nuts will transfer to the car and may cause the car to slip and fall off the lifting jack.
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Lift the car by the jacking points. If you use a scissor jack, position the jack perpendicular to the side of the car frame and lift the jack so that the lifting plate is centered on the reinforced pinch weld (where the pinch weld is folded over itself). If you use a floor jack, you can lift both sides of the car at once by lifting the centers points of the car frame marked by a raised divot to help with centering the floor jack lifting point. These points are described in the Corolla Cross Hybrid manual, but they are hard to find the first time until you realize that they are identified by round quarter sized divots.
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Remove the lug nuts
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Remove the original tire
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Put the spare tire on the bolts
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Finger tighten the lug nuts
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Lower the jack
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Tighten the lug nuts with the socket wrench AFTER lowering the car to the ground.
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Put the original tire in the trunk
Conclusion
I tried to touch on all parts of the spare tire acquisition and mounting process in this post. Decrease the chance of being stranded on the side of the road or trail by pairing your Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid with a spare tire and mount.
Supporting More Designs
3D printed objects that I design including those seen in this post are viewable on my Portfolio. I make designs to fill functional gaps in real life and I personally use all of my designs.
Most of my designs available for free on MakerWorld and Printables. You can download and print them on your own 3D printer.
Physical versions of my designs are available for purchase on my Store. Get the good stuff straight from the source 📍!
Another design that may interest you
Toyota Corolla Cross Integrated Windshield Mount
This modular mount fits all new 2022+ Toyota vehicles [including the Corolla Cross] equipped with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0. Any accessory or dashcam with a GoPro style mount can be cleanly attached to your front windshield using this mount!
Download and 3D print / Get it from my Store.
Toyota Corolla Cross Integrated Windshield Right Side Mount
A modular mounting point that clips into the right side of the front windshield bracket cover. I created this primarily hold a FasTrak toll road pass but any accessory or dashcam can be attached to the right side of the windshield with this mount.
Still in development and testing. Releasing soon.
