Flat tire kit instead of spare

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Btdt also, ended up costing me a $ grand for 2 replacement rims and tire as the spare donut is useless, has to be swapped/ installed on the rear, limits you to 45 mph .......

I was driving 70mph on mine. I noticed it got pretty warm.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Even though I prefer a full-size spare instead of the donut, it's still preferable to have one instead of no spare at all. On a sidenote, sometimes it seems like even a motorcycle tyre is better than the tyres fitted to those donut spare wheels.

[redpoint5]

I drove normally on a donut tire for months. Sure, it’s lower performing than a normal tire, but then again what percent of capability does the average driver extract under normal driving? There’s huge safety margins built into everything.

[wdb]

Two of my cars came without a spare tire from the factory. A whole bunch of vehicles have no spare tire of any kind these days.

I carry plug kits and an electric pump. The goo will destroy the rim over time.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I drove normally on a donut tire for months. Sure, it’s lower performing than a normal tire, but then again what percent of capability does the average driver extract under normal driving? There’s huge safety margins built into everything.

At least until the '90s, some people who still drove old cars from late-20s to early-40s on a regular basis in my country resorted to motorcycle tyres on them.

[me and my metro]

I carry a spare on everything I own, however none of the trucks at work carry a spare tire. We have mechanics on call and a 24 hour tire service if needed. My commuter has a compact spare and it has never been on the ground. I commute 60 miles a day and I am expected to be there for my shift. If one of my trucks at work has an issue the drivers get paid to wait for help. I maintain over 100 trucks at my service center and that is a lot of money saved by not having 100+ tires never being used. Fleets with good mechanic support rarely carry spare tires.

[SkauneJohan]

full size spare is the best, also make sure you have a thread on all tires without rotation direction wich makes it possible to use it with regular tire rotation (if you have same tire size all round)

[oil pan 4]

Oh it definitely rode worse on the spare.
I was looking for a gravel pit to go set off some stuff and ended up on a sandy road and I could feel the spare cutting into the sand.
On regular roads when I would go around turns I could really feel additional body roll.

Definitely carry a little compressor.
The ultimate 12v air compressor is the ARB compressor, comes in single and double stack, but they run around $150 last time I checked for the single.
I got a nice one from Walmart for about $40 early this year. Its cord is long enough to inflate rear SUV tires and not take forever. Definitely better to air up your tire if it goes flat due to a single nail instead of putting the doughnut on.
Oh plus chances are your spare doughnut is probably flat. A doughnut with 20 to 30 psi isn't going to last very long. Most need 40 to 60psi to keep the rim safely up off road.

If you use tire slime they can't be patched.

My leaf didn't come with a spare or jack.
It had a 7 year old can of slime which I used for target practice and an air compressor that probably sux. Luckily it had the spot for a jack so I put one in and threw a spare in the back hatch area.

[Joggernot]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

...
It had a 7 year old can of slime which I used for target practice and an air compressor that probably sux. Luckily it had the spot for a jack so I put one in and threw a spare in the back hatch area.

We lived in NM for 12 years. The first year we went through three windshields and four blowouts. Seems the tires that were good for VA weren't good for the long hot drives to El Paso. We got our spare fixed and aired up after the first blowout when we were half way to El Paso. We're now in Texas and I've learned to read the heat and speed markings on the tires before I buy new.

[oil pan 4]

Yeah I only buy A or AA temperature rated tires.
The roads get freaking hot here.