Dumb tire question but would love input

I'm upgrading my tires to KO2s here shortly but only ordered 4. Anyone know if not having one on the spare would be detrimental should I ever need to use it?

 

If you went with a bigger size then yes. If not it’s not really a huge deal if you’re using it only in an emergency.

 

Full size spare on matching wheel and do 5 tire rotations.

 

A smaller spare can be used in an emergency to get you where you can repair or replace the flat/damaged bigger tire. I would just put it on the front and get the good one back on ASAP.
My son has a Jeep with 35” inch tires and had a blowout. We put his smaller spare on the front and drove 15 miles to a tire shop. No problems. Just looks funny. But doable.

 

not a dumb question.....I was in a similar situation a few weeks back and a few of us sorted it out in this thread. I made it 400+ miles on my undersized OEM spare but I'm not going to do that again. I'll make sure I've got a matching-size spare

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mismatched-spare-issues.598742/

long story short, you should do everything you can to have a same-size spare.....doesn't have to be the same flavor (meaning you don't have to throw down for a brand new KO2) but it should be the same outside diameter if you can help it. You can get away with a mismatched spare for a while.....your diff will hold up no problem (just make sure you have traction control all the way off) but the tires will wear faster, especially whichever one is the undersized tire

 

In short,


...if you have a smaller/bigger tire than the other 3 of equal size, while 4wd is on...you will likely fry your gears

 

Only if you are on pavement. In snow or mud you wont hurt anything. In fact I'd be surprised if you could get the truck to engage 4 WD on pavement with a drastically larger size tire. The speed sensors would be going wonky.

On dry pavement in 2 WD, you won't hurt anything.

 

I have a 5th TRD Pro Sema wheel but don’t know how to keep spare without scratching the wheel?

 

What I have done in the past, when staying with the same size tire upon replacement, is to use the best of the tires that I am taking off, and have them switch that with my spare. The brand new spare can then be sold.

 

Just find a cheap used tire that holds air same size as the the new one's . I wouldn't run one oddball .

 

I once bought 5 and rotated all 5. Waste of time and money. The odds of ever needing your spare is sooooooooooooooo low.

 

^This. All you need is the same diameter of tire. this is in case of emergency with a lot of highway driving. If you do a lot of off-roading, and in the middle of nowhere.. you may want something with a little more tread to get back home. So, think about where you drive and the worst situation you would need to use your spare tire. "Be prepared!!"

 

This may pertain to you OP. 265/70/17 spare should fit mounted under the truck in the spare location correct? I went one size bigger with my tires and was debating on buying an extra KO2 to be safe as well.

 

It’ll fit

My 255/85/16 spare fits