And even if they were available, now you have to either have AAA come out and change it for you or carry the necessary tools to change it yourself. Not to mention storing the spare in the car, and finding room for the flat tire as you motor to the repair station. Have a look at Nealey Tire Repair Kit as an alternative.
Do you need a jack to do a repair job with one of these kits?
But a jack certainly helps. I think I'm going to order a set of tires from tirerack.com, and keep them in my garage. If I need to be towed I'll call roadside assistance and I'll just get towed home instead of the dealer and I can change the tire in my own d**n driveway. 99% of the time I'll be within 30 miles of home (which is 200 miles from the dealership) with this car anyway. Things like tires and oil changes, air and cabin filters don't need a dealer to do anyway.
When I visited D Force in Fayetteville. He showed me his spare kit and I quickly got mine.
Ordered a steel wheel at the dealer 81 bucks, then went to a Salvage yard and sourced the T125 /70D15 spare compact tire...(found it in an Oldsmobile) $15. went to a tire shop down the road from the salvage yard had them swap out the compact tire and install it along with a new stem on the new rim, and even balance it. Another 15.
Went online and ordered a Mercedes E320 jack, with shipping $43. then went to Northen tool and bought an extendable curved 1/2" drive jack handle, located where they have the trailer rims, etc.. $8. a 1/2" drive 15mm socket. $3.00
Socket on the handle, velcro strapped to the jack, wrapped in a T-Shirt, inside the rim/tire, in a canvas bag i made until i get a nice one made like the ones the Bag lady USED to make.$165 and I'm safe!!!
Ozzie
Ordered a steel wheel at the dealer 81 bucks, then went to a Salvage yard and sourced the T125 /70D15 spare compact tire...(found it in an Oldsmobile) $15. . . and I'm safe!!!
Ozzie
I wouldn't feel very safe with an umpteen-year old tire of unknown background on any of my wheels . . . even as a short term spare. Tires do deteriorate over time, even spares that just sit in the trunk. Recent news shows that four to five years is enough to create an unsafe tire.
Use with caution.
Plug kits are nice, but so far, EVERY flat I have had, 3 total, are SIDE WALL. No plug can be used.
Wow! Now that I think about it - the last two flats I had were side wall as well. Usually, I'm around town - would have to call AAA and have it towed? My choice would be 3 miles away to a tire business and wait for a replacement - or a 33 mile trip to the local dealer. Yikes. . . . what to do?
I bought a pure's steel front wheel and standard tire as a spare. At first I put it behind the driver's seat. But I found it was just too crowded for my legs. So I put it behind the passenger's seat instead. My wife is shorter and fits okay in the passenger seat with the tire behind it. If she drives we move the tire to be behind her seat. I wonder if a space saver tire would give more room for the driver?
I found a used jack at a wrecking yard and bought a breaker bar and socket that I keep in the tailgate. One time I tried replacing one of the front wheels with this spare just to be sure I had everything I needed and knew how to do it. Wow, the steel wheel is much heavier than the alloy wheel!
I'm using a stock Passion spoked front wheel/tire & TPMS sensor as a spare. I also keep a jack (from an Audi A4) breaker bar and 15mm socket in the tailgate plus a blanket and a chunk of 2 X 4 in case I need to jack in sand. Got a TireRack bag to keep the trunk area clean, too. The front wheel can be used at any position on a short term basis. I also have a Nealy repair kit in case I can locate the leak and fix it.
Sometimes eBay will have a single front wheel & tire up on auction. I also got the jack there. It's a pretty standard jack for an Audi and VW made by Bilstein. The breaker bar & socket can be had at Walmart, Auto Zone or other large auto parts store.
I'm picking up a Smart pure in a couple of weeks and would like to have a spare ready to go when I get it. I plan on going with a space saver spare on a new front steel rim as some of the posts on this forum have mentioned. It seems like hauling around a full size front tire would take up too much space. I was discussing my plans with the sales manager at the smart dealership, and he had concerns about the different diameters of the compact spare and the stock tires raising havoc with the electronic stabiltly control, etc. on the vehicle. Has anyone out there had to use their compact spare yet, and if you have, did you experience any handling issues? In my case, I would just be using the spare to limp to a tire repair shop, it would not be used for any extended amount of time. Any experiences, or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Now, on to your questions...the temporary "donut" is exactly that...temporary. It is used as a get to a service location or home. Feelings about the effect on the ESC and the like are not founded...there is a reason they are stamped with not to exceed 50 MPH. Because they are temp units for "get home"scenarios. As you mentioned.
No worries, you'll be fine. My other car has a temp "donut" and I have yet to use it after 6 years of driving. Maybe I'm just lucky...
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