Thinking of carrying a full tire (as opposed to the small doughnut tire) for the spare on my '89. Good or bad idea? Thoughts/feedback appreciated! Jeff

one issue you will have is that tire will show from back of car. I had a regular spare and took it off my 85 because it looked bad. If I need a tire fixed will call AAA.

Yeah...that was one of my two main concerns Martone...

Having just had mine out a few weeks ago to check it out (hadn't even looked at it since buying the car last year), I'd have to agree with everything said so far.  A full size spare will drag alot, maybe even on speed bumps if you have to deal with them.

A full sized tire/rim in the carrier will definitely dragon speed bumps, on dips in the road, and even on angled driveways. You have to be cognizant of it being back there....best to use the space saver when needed, and repair/replace the full size asap...

When's the last time you had a flat? Puncture resistance is much better these days, flats are rare. My OEM mount is gone anyway but even in my daily, unless I'm doing a road trip, a spare is just weight to drag around. I went 300K on my old daily and in all that time picked up one nail that resulted in a slow leak. Besides you all have cell phones for the boss to bring you the tire and jack if it happens!

Can of Fix-a-Flat and a AAA card with extended towing

I'm going to remove my spare and its carrier altogether and carry 2 cans of fix a flat.

The space saver spare is an integral part of the rear crush protection design of the car.   Eliminating the space saver spare will compromise the safety of the car!   I'm sure you have noticed how close the front bumper of that big SUV/truck is to the back of your seat when they finally come to a stop behind you!!