Xeme

I am trying to see whether or not I can turn a 2-car garage into a 3-car garage with a 4-post lift; obviously I am worried about clearance. Despite the hassle and the expense, it is worth it to me to make this work if possible. The idea is (so far) is to put AP1 wheels onto my AP2 and find low profile tires to use.
Attempting not to write my entire life-story; I pretty much learned last night everything I could about wheels -- I figured I could find cheap steelies to make this work. I found 15" Accord steelies that (I think) would work in the rear, but, finding something that would work in the front (16" diameter here) with the 70.1mm center bore has been difficult. As for the tire portion, I really do not know a lot -- I can say I found these Yokohama S.drive; these are for a 7.5" width rim however -- but, going based on the overall diameters (which I am not even certain what tires will fit on a particular rim other than stock sizes), I should be able to save 2.8" from the AP2 wheel.
If you have 0.02 to offer, I would appreciate it.

Manga_Spawn

While I am not sure about those wheels why not get 4 of the S2000 spare wheel and tire and use those? I would think they would be lower profile and they fit both front and rear hubs. You'd have to swap them out before driving it but I assume that is your plan for the 15's as well.

Xeme

Yeah, that is the plan (swaping them before driving). I had not considered that they would be lower profile, I will go measure it tonight. Thanks!

Chuck S

What's going on top and in the other stall? Just curious why all this hassle is contemplated. Having to put wheels on the car to drive would result in it never being driven for me.

How much clearance to you need? A good concrete guy could trench your garage floor under the lift or the lift itself placed on stands as simple as several layers of 1/2" steel plates.

Google says the S2000 "space saver" spare wheel is still 16" in diameter. Without one to look at I'm guessing it's got a 70 or 80-series tire on it to get the diameter up to the same as the road wheels. Saves space 'cuz it's narrow (145mm?).

-- Chuck

Manga_Spawn

The diameter isn't the same as the normal wheel and tire I don't think. Thats why you have to put it on a front wheel when you use it. Putting it on one side of the rear will kill the diff very quickly so you are supposed to move one of the front wheels to the rear and always use the spare in the front.

It looks like the spare uses a 125/70/16 tire and has a height of 22.9 compared to the oem 215/45/17 height of 24.6. If you really wanted to drop it down more you could always put less air in the tires. I do agree that having to go through all the work to swap the wheels anytime I would drive it would make me drive the car a lot less.

s2000Junky

Less air in the tires will drop the car the most, but then your filling up tires I guess when you want to take the S out. Its been a while since ive checked, but Toyo and maybe a few others have lower profile tires in a 16". If I recall a 245/35/16 for the rear which is a big difference in sidewall height. Forget what's available for the front.

Xeme

I measured the spare; it was ~21.5" in overall diameter... granted, I didn't check the pressure and it was a quick measurement. I think this was an obvious good idea that I feel dumb for not arriving to it myself =)

Ok, well... not sure where to start on the "hassle" part; this actually more love than the car has gotten in 10 years...
I got this car from my mother, and I was a spoiled unhappy child, honestly. I fell in love with someone that made me quite happy, and I was more/less cut-off... we started from barely anything -- and, selfishly or not, somehow I managed to keep this car all this time -- but nothing more. We did sort of start our life in this car -- of course, I had a 1998 M3 Sedan for the children until some uninsured driver totaled it. My father gave us his 2001 Civic at that time... and I frantically kept that thing alive until I just could not do it anymore, it just was not taken care of. I used some of our retirement money to put a down payment on a 2018 Civic Si, with some left over for the garage/lift. I know what you are thinking, probably many bad decisions here -- I contemplated selling the S2000 many times... both of us thought it would be better to keep it, honestly.

The situation is my wife's car and S2000 are in the garage, the Civic is outside. I could leave it at that, but, with the hail storms, Texas heat, etc. -- I just do not want to be stressed about it anymore. I could rent storage, but, it would make me neglect the S2000 more while throwing away money... I do not have money to rent a shop and it would keep me from home. I suppose getting this lift to work, would start me where I left off... save us time and money on maintenance... and I want our children to be a part of it too.
I guess if this does not work out... maybe it is time -- though, I am not sure I want to talk about that... but, at this point, I am going to fight to enjoy my life the way I want to because we work hard and our children are happy. Sorry, I did try to keep all of that from spilling-out... I am not particularly good with forum etiquette.

Anyway, I thought about the house modifications -- I have HOA and I am in the city. I am not certain about the cost of those and I guess I need a solution that does not interrupt our lives too much -- work on what we can later. Another thing we tend to be questioned on... maybe I am trying not let my children grow-up like me, but, I have them in swimming, hockey, violin, etc... both of us drive a lot. We do not get a lot of sleep sometimes, but, we do everything for them and we love it... and I believe that they do too. I need things to be not so inconvenient right now, till they grow up a little more... and I guess having an extra vehicle at home (whether on tires I have to change out or not) to help with the unexpected is probably better than being down the street.

As for this project... the garage rails have been moved up, it was a pain since my ceiling slopes. Changed to a Liftmaster 8500; daughter's bedroom is right over the garage... so it is much nicer for her now. I have been procrastinating on the lift... and I will probably just deflate the spare tires if need be (thanks for the suggestion). The problem with the lift, is, I believe it needs to be raised 3" before the locks can be unlatched to descend... which is part of the hell for this. If somehow I can get out to the track next year... and introduce this world to the kiddos, maybe I unlock a door for everyone and myself... that is how I see it. Sorry for taking your ear and shoving this whole macroscopic vision from the subject of the tires on my 12 year old car =D

I will search for the Toyos... yah, anyway, I know it will be a PITA... but, it will feel good too.

Chuck S

It appears you both plan to only drive your wife's car as the S2000 will be without roadwheels wheels and the Civic will essentially be in storage on the lift over the S2000 which will have to be moved to get it down. This falls into my definition of "hassle." A shame the S2000 can't go on top of the Civic, then two usable cars would be available.

-- Chuck

Manga_Spawn

What lift are you looking at? There is a bunch of different options and I am wondering if there isn't some solution out there. I have looked at this myself but my garage ceiling is really tall so my main hurdle would be having the garage door go up high enough which isn't that big of a job (garage door needs to be replaced anyways). My main blocker is I want to have the garage walls finished (just bare beams currently) then replace the door then put the lift in.

Xeme

I thought I responded this morning, maybe I forgot to hit "post". Sorry I forgot to mention, the S2000 will be on top actually... it should work. I will have to buy the lift with inboard jacks to be able to get the wheels off... I am not excited about the price, however. At least, once we have it... we have it. I suppose if anyone is searching in the future, taking the hardtop off (and assuming the soft top) saves 2". Maybe I will post some pictures in the future... and you can laugh at the ridiculousness.