All:

I'm sorry I haven't been around much, but changing jobs and getting a house ready to sell will do that to you!

Anyway, I'm prepping my 2002 XKR-100 coupe for my drive west...going from southeast VA to southern CA...to start my new job. I have it in with the mechanic right now getting a few issues fixed (new brakes, new rear tires, fixing airbag lights, etc...) and while doing the walkaround to make sure everything was covered, I asked him if I was supposed to have a spare tire.

Well, he looked at me like I had asked him if I was supposed to have an engine in the car...but I told him that since I had the car, it's never had a spare tire...or anything even relating to a spare tire (tool kit, etc.) Well, I'm SUPPOSED to have one, and now that I know that, I'm uncomfortable driving it cross country without one!

What I'm wondering is what the right price is for one of these...I've found a grand total of one and it's roughly $350 with shipping and all. Is that a decent price? Or can I find one cheaper? It seems a bit steep to me, but with all of my Jags so far, I've never had to buy a spare...

Also, I found out that I'm missing the adapter kit for the air fittings on the BBS rims. I can't find a part number or even proper name for the kit, but supposedly it's supposed to be in the glove box...and it's not. Any help there?

Thanks in advance!

Dave

 

For a spare just see about buying a steel rim from Tire Rack or Discount Tire or buy a cheap rim from Pep Boys or Sears that might fit your car and throw a "spare" on it. Remember its just a spare. Point A to point B until you get the regular tire repaired. I'm thinking $150 ought to do it. Just match the outer tire diameter as close as possible to what is on the car. If you are woried about how you look with a spare on the car that doesn't match, well consider

the look on the side of the road without any spare
Vs
The look with a spare that functions

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

All XK's (and I think XKR's) had a spare of some sort, either a full size tire/wheel or a 'donut'.

Before you spend money, look at the removable floorboard in your trunk/boot. If it is flat across the entire width you had a full sized spare. If it recesses into a bit of a tray in the center you had a donut. You can match a donut to a floorboard designed for a full sized tire but a full sized tire will probably interfere with the recessed tray in a floorboard meant for a (smaller) donut.

I'm betting that you had a full sized spare with a matching wheel at some point and your prior owner sold all 5 to pay for your sexy BBS wheels...

I read here that XK's share a GM/Corvette bolt pattern (however, 'Vettes don't have a spare at all...) but with a little fittment research you might be able to find an inexpensive donut.

Good luck on your trip and the new job!

 

I don't know about older cars, but in the 2003 there are two levels for the board in the trunk. I can set it in the lower level to give me more trunk room, or I can set it to the higher level to give me more room under the board. Lately I've been storing the convertible cover on top of the spare and setting the board to its higher position. I have the donut, by the way.

And $350 seems really steep for an ugly steel rim with a dinky little tire on it.

 

I just found this one on eBay. Spare Tire Wheel for 2001 - 2006 Jaguar XK #MXD6109AC | eBay

With shipping however, it's more than the one you found locally. It's a "best offer" , however, and it's been up on eBay since March 30th, possibly earlier. Perhaps you can make a lowball offer and get it cheap. The $97 shipping price seems really steep. I know it's heavy and bulky, but places like tirerack.com ship full size tires all the time and the shipping cost is nowhere near $100. I think it's closer to $25 per tire. The thing doesn't even have to be boxed up. You just slap a shipping label on it and it ships just like that.

 

One other thing in regards to shipping the tire. UPS will ship it much more cheaply if they are shipping it to a business address. Borrow someone's donut spare, take it to the local UPS store, and ask them how much it would cost to ship to a business in Newport Beach, CA. Then you'll know the real cost of shipping and you can use that in your negotiation.

 

Hey, who ya callin' ugly? As far as spares go, this would go well with the black paint job.... okay....maybe not...

I've got the area in the back for the donut, unfortunately, so that limits me to my options for a spare. My XKR came from the factory with BBS rims as part of the XKR-100 kit when it was sold. My car was repo'ed once in it's life, ages ago, and my guess is that anything loose (including the spare tire and tire kit) got "borrowed" either by the owner or by the folks repo'ing the car.

Maybe...just someday...I'll get all the kinks worked out of my car...just in time to sell it and buy a 2007 XKR...

Dave

 

Forgot to include a pic of the beautiful spare...

 

Yep, I saw that one too, but the $97 shipping fee was a little steep...I've shipped 4 tires and rims for a BMW X5 as well as four tires for a Model A Ford for less money!

 

That looks like the spare in my 2002 XKR.

Just be careful about getting a spare from a non XKR, make sure it will be big enough to clear the brakes!

 

Hmmm....well, slight monkey wrench...I don't know the size of this particular spare in the photo, but I believe it's the standard 18" XK/XKR rim. That's a bummer because I have 20" wheels...so I'm guessing that I need a different part, but I can't find the part number for the life of me.

Anyone with any thoughts?

Thanks!

Dave

 

Yes... Buy a set of run-flat tires. Ditch the spare altogether. Line the area for the spare tire with carpet. Enjoy your extra trunk space. I love my Continental DWS's, but that extra space would be nice. I'd stash some tools, flares, and other emergency items down there.

 

I LIKE that idea! But from what I've seen so far, they're pretty tough to find. Tire Rack doesn't have any of the correct tires in runflat (rather odd?) I'm sure they exist though...maybe???

 

Run flats are terrible! Yes they will get you where you need to go, but they lack the grip of a summer tire and they don't wear as well as other tires.

And just to add to what Sam said earlier, the early cars with donut spares got a two level floor as well. I keep mine in the top spot so the floor is level all the way across.

Oh, and just because you have 20" wheels, doesn't mean you need a 20" donut. It just needs to be able to clear the brakes, which I'm guessing the 18" standard donut does just fine. You wont want to go to fast on a donut anyway (most say to stay under 55 mph)

 

I have an 03 XKR with 20" wheels. I took two pictures of the wheel bar code which is 08989C2 and the spare kit. Unfortunately, my Website is down, and I cannot post them at this time. The information on the tire is: Pirelli Spare Tyre 135/80R18 104M.

If anyone is interested in the pics, at a later time I will post them and place the images in this thread.

ajn

 

Dave
I went and looked at my spare,it is an 18" and the original spare that came with my Silverstone and your 100. I've the twenty inch Detroits which came with the car. I would imagine that $350.00 probably isn't too high considering the prices of Jaguar parts, although it seems high to me, but it does have the Perelli on it and they do have ridiculous prices. also the tool kit including your jack ,wheel chock, towing eyelet is also missing I have seen these on E-Bay for $50.00 to $100.00 without the tow hook.

 

Dr No & Doug -

Thank you for checking your spares! Sounds like the 18" one would work for me. Dr No - it looks like you've got the BBS Montreals on your XKR, like mine. That's some GREAT info - thank you both!

My mechanic told me to check with Coventry West on the possibility of getting a spare from a junker. Unfortunately, they were out of spares, but he did say that they typically run "around $200" for the OEM Pirelli spare...a bit better than $350 for sure...but I'd rather not be stranded between Las Vegas and Los Angeles in three weeks without a spare at all...hmmm...

Dave

 

Dave, are you going to be in a rush on this trip? If not, you absolutely, positively have to take a little detour and drive the back roads of Colorado and Utah. There's this one road in Utah that will scare the pants off of you. There is a cliff on each side of the road, no guard rail, and no shoulder. To top it off, the road is twisty. I wanted to admire the view, but I was too scared.

 

Man, I'd love to, but I'm doing the drive in 3 days...should be about 14 hours of driving per day, straight through. I'll get in, roll straight to the airport, and fly back home! Cheaper than shipping my car though...

Dave

 

Too bad. You should at least try to do the part from Flagstaff to Kingman, AZ during the day. There's some pretty decent scenery west of Flagstaff. It would only be a 2 hour detour to take a little side trip up to the Grand Canyon...