I know this discussion has come up before so I thought I would offer a suggestion to those who may be interested in saving 48lbs from their car's trunk. I've read many times that the spare tire contributes to the crash worthiness in rear impacts. So proceed at your own risk. I was not worried about throwing off the 50/50 balance of the car (what's another 50lbs? (4 hp?)


If you're still interested, this is what I've done before.


At first I was going to use that Fix a Flat which is basically a sealant with propellant in a can. You connect the nozzle to the tire and the gunk seals the tire leak and inflates your tire so that you can make it to a gas station. The problem is that the tire is thrown of balance and I'm not sure if it can ever be properly balanced after using this stuff as it sticks to the inside of the tire.


So I came up with this simple solution. This will only work for such things as nails and small glass punctures.

Approximate cost: $30
Approximate weight of kit: <b><2lbs</b>

Shopping list:

1. Small 12volt air compressor - Buy one on eBay for < $20.
2. Tire repair kit/patch kit (car part store) - The kit will have two tools and repair material (tar/rubber plugs). One tool is for cleaning the hole after you pull the intruder out (Leatherman tool is good to have) and the other tool will be used to push the soft rubbery plug in. Once the plug is in just cut off the excess and you're set.

I tried to do this procedure with the wheel on the car but it is super hard to get the plug into a steel belted tire without using body weight. So you'll need to keep your tire jack and lug nut wrench handy. If you clean the hole well and plug the hole correctly, it will never leak and tire balance will not be affected. Then plug in your compressor into the cigarette lighter and inflate your tire (small compressor will take about 5 min to get to 36psi).

This kit will not save you're butt if the tire is slashed or if it breaks up into little pieces. It worked for me a total of two times and I've been over 120mph with the repaired tires.