[Stingray82]

In Canada, all Mini Coopers come with runflat tires and so no lifting jack is included. I am planning to order a jack from this company...

http://mini.sewellparts.com/oem-catalog/710788-EquipmentParts-F56-2014.html

My car included what appears to be the storage tray but is is made of black styrofoam. Can anybody who received a jack with thier car please tell me what the tray is made of? I am not sure if I will just get another styrofoam tray if I order this or does the jack come with something made of sturdier plastic?

 

[jeremybingham]

Hi there I can confirm I have a Jack and it has a cut out bit in the Styrofoam (quite a tough sort not the real bubbly stuff)in which it fits AMAZINGLY snuggly in. To do the same you will need to cut it with hotwire. Nichrome wire rigged to a 12v supply will do it (I used to make my own foam wings for modelaeroplanes(which you then cover in balsa wood)). Good luck and be careful but let's hope we never need it!

 

[Stingray82]

I should have clarified that the styrofoam tray included with my car has the recesses for a jack, wheel chock, wrench and a screw driver but the only tool included was the screw driver. The other recesses are empty.

I just assumed that the styrofoam tray was just a mock up to hold the screw driver. I kind of assumed that for a replacement cost of US$33.77 the tray would be made out of hard plastic.

I guess I'll just order the jack and wrench and use the existing styrofoam tray.

 

[jeremybingham]

Definitely. It is just foam and seems to do the job.

 

[Stingray82]

It is pretty annoying that they don't include a jack, especially when you consider that you can't safely lift it with just any old jack. How am I supposed to change to winter wheels for snow tires?

Just kidding - I live in Canada so I have a giant 4x4, dual locker, half ton Dodge Hemi truck to drive in snow just like everybody else who lives here. But the folks at Mini didn't know that when they made it did they?

 

[jeremybingham]

No I totally agree. Very remiss of mini. Cost saver?I did see it on the options list and know I didn't tick it even though it is free but it seems as if it comes automatically in the uk. My r56 had run flats but still had the Jack and pump . And mousse.

 

[jeremybingham]

Ps have yo asked your dealer. Perhaps they just missed it by mistake(or that is what you could suggest).?

 

[jeremybingham]

SINCERE APLOGIES STINGRAY I HAVE MIS INFORMED YOU. I popped out to take some pics for you assuming as on my r56 that the whole tray had foam in it and the Jack Tec to find NO JACK. I can confirm I have a can of mousse tool towing eye and electric pump. No Jack and no space for one. If you shred a tyre it will be a recovery call out in the uk too. So SORRY once again.j

 

[jeremybingham]

Apologies Stingray

Hi Stingray, so sorry I misled you; see attached picky of my foam bay-I just upped the edge and thought it ran across the whole boot but it is just about a foot wide! SORRY

 

[Stingray82]

No biggie - I haven't ordered the jack yet as I wanted to search around for a lower price. I really appreciate the photo as it clearly shows the tray being of the same foamy type material as mine. The Sewell diagram for the mobility kit is similarly misleading.

Hey at least they gave you something to fill the tire. If I get a flat in someplace remote in BC I will have to drive a couple of hundred Km to fine a place to fix the tire. By that time the flat tire will be damaged and I'll be paying $600 to replace it. A fill kit will avoid that problem.

Still owning a car I can't lift seems like a bad plan. I've got to fill that foamy tray with a jack.

My Mini dealer says I'm nothing like any of their other customers.

 

[jeremybingham]

I agree it's v odd. And yes tyre destruction looms. It's good to be different!

 

[Stingray82]

FYI to anyone reading this thread- Mini Yaletown confirmed that Canadian Minis do not come with the Jack, wheel wrench or wheel chock so you have to buy them if you want to fill the empty holes in the boot (or safely lift your car)

 

[mikeswagon]

Hi guys,

I ordered the space saver/jack combo for my cooper, mainly because I've always had a spare etc. Having said that, I've been driving for 25 years, and only once had to change a wheel, on my first car, an MG Metro - I've gone full circle almost.

If you've got run-flats I didn't think you needed foam, you can safely drive with a puncture until you get to a garage, no?

Your comment about safely lifting the car, I used my normal trolley jack at home when I fitted the mudflaps, did I do something wrong? I located the end of the jack on the jacking point, making sure it was secure before I lifted it clear of the ground. I am planning an attachment to fit snugly into the jacking points, but that's to protect them as much as anything.

And finally I've to go back to the dealers today, there's a recall on the spare wheel retaining bracket or something, so at least you've missed out on that pleasure.

 

[jeremybingham]

That's funny Mike's wagon my only experience was with a mg metro on Dunlop sp run flats. Blew out on the motorway! . Your are far better lifting the car with a trolley Jack . I don't have run flats. Hate em hence the mousse I suppose. Not at all bothered 're no Jack as tyre changing by the road is lethal anyway. That's why I have breakdown cover. Mini provide it foc .

 

[mikeswagon]

The recall, is for a nut! They could have posted it to me, and saved the bother of going up there, I'm actually quite familiar with the workings of a socket set

While I waited for them to do it, I had a good look around the F55s, sat in the back etc, and parked next to one outside. It's not for me, but at least it makes mine look a bit shorter.

 

[jeremybingham]

Yes as you say not for me either but it opens up the joy of owning a mini to another audience and that has to be good in my book.

 

[Stingray82]

The problem with run flats is that they can only be repaired if you drive a very short distance on a flat. In Canada, nothing is a short distance away. Even within my province, I could drive several hundred km just to get to the nearest town. By then, the runflat is trash and I'm paying $600 for a new tire, assuming I can even get one. I once spent 24 hours in Hinton Alberta waiting for a fan belt for a GM vehicle with a small block 350. If I was stuck there with a Mini, I might never get out.

 

[mikeswagon]

I see what you mean about the distances in Canada. The north of Scotland's a bit like that, without the bears or maple syrup

 

[jeremybingham]

And I hate run flats. Horrid hard things!

 

[Angib]

I once spent 24 hours in Hinton Alberta waiting for a fan belt ...

Shouldn't that be "I once spent 24 hours in Hinton Alberta one afternoon"?

Whilst staying in a rural Nova Scotian town, my boss once asked the aged gas station attendant filling his car "where the action was in this town" and the attendant replied "you're looking at it"....

Returning to the original subject, runflats seem to have become the answer to a psychological problem (not safe to stop car anywhere except home) rather than a technical one.