I was browsing eBay and noticed many donut spares and cradles for sale. It seems as if Justa owners are taking them off for some reason (weight savings?).

Has anyone done this or know why it's a good idea? If so, what's the alternative? Carrying one of those "mobility kits" with a compressor and a can of slime?

-Justa curious.

 

I wish I could find one. I'm just carring a plug kit and comp but I have mini roadside for allmost 3 yrs too.

 

If you mean for your Clubman I think you can keep a donut spare inside your trunk with the proper foam insert. There's room for that.

I was referring to the R56 hardtop.

 

I know, I pulled my new potenza RFT's off my new car to keep for my wifes MCS's.

 

I have a R56 S with no spare.I keep a plug kit and compressor in the car. I don't recommend the Fix-A-Flat b/c of the TPM sensors. I ditched the runflats last Oct.
I recently removed the back seat with a seat delete kit and bought a full size R98 17 inch rim on eBay to keep a fullsize spare in the car. It will be mounted to the seat delete cover to prevent it from sliding around inside the car. It can only have 4 TPMs so I just put a regular valve stem on the rim. This is one more option.

 

I've read bad things about using that tire mobility stuff (latex or fix a flat or slime) as far as it potentially damaging sensors or at least requiring extensive cleaning of the wheel, tire and TPMS by a shop. That's one of the main things that worries me if I go "spare-less." Any advantage in weight savings would be offset by the added cost and hassle of using that goop.

 

I think that some people keep anything that's not bolted down and sell it on line. My wife has bought two used cars recently (one Porsche and one Toyota Sienna) and had to replace keys, owners manuals, and a spare tire on the Sienna. Buyer beware, but I think it's a pretty low-budget move on the part of sellers. Probably happening with MINI's and the donuts.

 

Or they come from wrecked MINIs from salvage yard ect...

 

Most of the ones I've noticed were from private sellers. It's disturbing to think that a former Mini owner would be selling off stuff a trade-in dealer may not think to look for when taking possession of a vehicle.

 

I wonder if a regular size 15inch wheel with spare would fit in the bay under the car on a Justa hardtop. That would be the only reason I'd ditch the donut...i've always hated those.

 

Do you mean a normal width 15" tire? The cradle is only big enough to fit a donut spare. That doesnt mean you couldnt probably fabricate some kind of spacer around it to accommodate a full sized wheel, but it would stick out under the bottom a few inches closer to the ground.

 

Once I have time, I might want to give it a try. If it sticks out maybe 1 or 2 inches, I'd be OK with that. If it's more, then maybe not.