Oversized spare tires....

So a girl I work with has done up her Jeep Wrangler and she says that when you do larger tires on any truck / SUV you need to have the same size tire for a spare. now obviously if your doing 35 - 37 inch tires and your spare is less than 32 inches, that may make driving weird for a short period of time to a tireshop. She said you'd screw your tranny and differential up. I dont have experience in this area but I thought of the dorky donut spare that comes with most cars, but they dont seem to have issues. Is trucks and suv's different in this are or is she smokin crack?

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/4838-cheap-free-mods-6.html#post47335

came across the above mod for carrying the spare tire in the factory location on the second gen.

I didnt have any luck searching about this so let me ask everyone, for those that have less than 33 inch tires on their truck, did you do get a 5th tire and wheel for your spare to be mounted underneath the bed? I am looking at 285/65/18 tires on a 18x9 set of monsters.

 

I have always believed that this is true, the closer the spare is to the size of the main tires, the better...

When I had my Subaru, I destroyed a tire on a Saturday afternoon, on a Holiday weekend.. I drove over 500 miles on the donut before I could get a new full size... afterwards, everything seemed fine, but it sounded BAD (and felt funny when shifting (manual trans.)) after the first 100 miles on the spare... Thankfully, that went away when I got a replacement tire... and even more thankfully, I have a Taco now...

 

So did you do an upgraded spare then? what tire size are you running?

 

Not sure if its bad, But I got a matching spare for my truck, Well got 2 for when I go out to the desert.

 

Thats basically what I am trying to decide when I get my wheels and tires. do I go for a set of 4 or a set of 5 with the 5th being the spare. but you have 6 rims and tires that match?

 

I have a 33" mounted in my bed. That girl isnt completely wrong.

 

Get a matching spare.

 

Nope I went with cheap steel wheels for my spares, I don't need the spare to be fancy, just something that works.

 

running diff. size tires can screw up your gears..if you ever have to do it make sure the diff. size tire goes on the front only and do not engage the 4 wheel drive while it is on and get it fixed asap......

 

I've heard that for a little difference you should be fine and that the problem lies within the diff and it's a ton more wear on the diff if it's spinning two different sized tires. One solution could be to run the spare on the front and run it in 2 wheel drive.

 

I did't change rim size- but I did upgrade tire size. And I bought a cheap tire from a used tire place near here to replace the spare.
Why not have a matching set?? Do you really wanna try to drive out of a trail or camp site off camber?? I don't.

 

I have a matching spare that i use in rotations, but i dont have anywhere to mount it.

 

x2

also, many cars with the donut spare specify in the manual to install the spare on a non drive wheel. (if fwd and blow a front tire put one of the backs on the front and put the donut in the rear)

your spider gears will thank you...

if you have lsd it will fry your clutch pack...

 

I went to 285/70R17 for my main tires and that size wouldn't fit in the spare location.

The spare tire mount area has changed a bit since the spare tire resize mod was originally posted and now that mod doesn't seem to work the same way on the newer 2nd gens. I admit I didn't research this too heavily.

So rather than run a tailgate or bed mounted spare, I fitted a 265/75R16 spare onto the stock spare rim. Yes that's 1" smaller than my regular tires. On highway, I can mount the spare on the front, or just use it "space saver" style at lower speed for short distance on the back.

Off road, I'll be glad to have a tough durable spare of the same type as my regular tires, even if it is a 1" smaller diameter, and the low speeds of off-road driving I'm expecting it won't work the diff too hard before I get back to civilization.

 

I'm only running 31" tires. Plus, this is a first gen so no modding needed to mount it. I did get a 5th alloy rim for the spare, and the spare is an exact match with the rest of the tires. I use it in a 5 tire rotation.

 

I heard running a spare that is smaller than what you are currently running can destroy your spider gear in your diff. You may never know how far you gotta drive on that spare so its always good to get a size matching spare.

 

you are correct sir.....

 

You can run 2 different size tires on the same axle only if the diff is open. If there is a locker or limited slip diff, you'll need to make sure to run equal height tires since if one was smaller than the other it would be turning at a different rate making the diff think traction was being lost. This could prematurely wear out the internals or damage it.

 

is there anyway to fit a 33" tire under a 1st gen in the stock area?

can you cut the tabs just like a 2nd gen?

 

yes.