dbfruth

I used to be a compact spare hater. My last two vehicles however have come with one and frankly I don't really care anymore. I can count on one hand the number of times I have needed my spare in the last decade! and even then I usually got the tire fixed or replaced the same day. My Jeep is a different story. If I was out camping or off roading there is no way a compact spare would get me back to pavement. So I guess it depends on the vehicle - for a car I am ok with a compact spare, Truck or Jeep No way!

project paperclip

I just plugged one of my tires with a screw in it today, and I noticed the spare makes the car visibly offset and imbalanced. This can f*** up the car suspension, right? I saw a vehicle at a repair shop for this very reason, in that an incorrect tire size on one of the tires fu**ed up something real bad because it was driven on for awhile. Obviously, only drive on the spare until you need to, but I'm never going to be comfortable with this. With the battery located next to the spare, I don't think a correct size tire will fit without some type of customizing. I think I am going to invest in a portable air compressor . This one looks nice:http://www.vat19.com/dvds/power-dome...-generator.cfm

843de

Unless you were to drive thousands of miles on a "donut" spare, the chances of hurting something are really non-existent. Yeah it looks funny and you'll find yourself listing to one side, but the OD of the spare is within the tolerances of the ABS and TCS systems so you'll get down the road safely.

People who experience damage from donut spares are those who either through economics or laziness drive huge distances on a temporary spare. Drive thousands of miles and you'll hurt the transmission eventually, tear up some bearings, or even snag the suspension on something.

Thanks to storm damage earlier this year, and a roofer who put more nails in the parking lot than in the new roof, I've had to use the donuts on all three HHR's and the Challenger....no ill effects except to my tire repair budget....and a new nickname at the tire shop where I'm know as Mr. Roofing Nail.

whopper

right on Mr. Roofing Nail - they are a "get ya home" kinda thing and used with common sense there should be no problem at all. I prefer to use the donut on the rear axle with a front-driver, which would mean moving the good rear to the front, if the front goes bad. It just takes an extra few minutes, but makes me feel better. :)