Spare tire recommendations

So I ran into a bit of predicament the other day. The wife and I were about 2.5 hours from home on a day trip, and one of my brand new tires with less than 3k miles on it picked up a shard of metal. I limped it to a local shop and they couldn’t patch/plug the hole successfully. It left me with a decision to make: throw the spare on knowing it’s quite a bit smaller than my 285/65/18 all terrains and roll down the road 200 miles home OR wait it out and stay the night out of town for a new tire to arrive in the morning. We chose the latter option.

All of that makes me wonder what everyone up here does. I’ve heard running a smaller tire is OK if you move it up front (my flat was in the rear) but I’ve also heard it’s a bad idea in general if you’re going a long distance. So in the future if this happens, what’s the best option out there?

 

Just buy a 5th tire to match your set. Swap it around occasionally to keep even wear

 

buy a fairly good used tire the same size as what you run and use it as the spare.

 

I prefer to roll the dice, and keep the stock spare........

 

I have all five wheels and tires matching and put the spare in the back under the shell. Much easier to get out.

 

I purchased five new wheels, five new TPMSs and five new 255's when I did my lift. The 255 (33") fits in the factory spare spot just fine. I do a five tire rotation every 5k miles.

No sense being cheap with the spare.

 

This is the answer...

...though this is what I'm doing. I'm only running 265s however.

 

Full size spare in the bed.

 

The BEST method?
5 matching wheels & tires.

See below.

Me as well.
I had my Gen 2 for 15 years. The only time the original spare got lowered was when the frame was replaced after 9 years. Truck was reassembled and sold 6 years later with that same spare.
The advantage of sticking with OEM tires is that when the typically rare event occurs, it's easier to simply replace the tire.

 

So what is the answer to the question OP asked of whether or not it is OK to drive a couple hundred miles on a smaller tire?

 

If you just want your 4 high dollar tires on the ground, the spare doesn't need to be the same exact size.

But it would be good to choose one close to the same diameter, which is easy to do with the tire calculator.

Then find a great shape used tire that fills the bill, assuming your current spare doesn't already.

 

No.

 

So you can deal with it every time you use the bed? Or do you use the bed?

 

If it were me and I was between a rock and a hard place, I'd put the smaller tire on the front and stay out of 4WD.
Is it really bad for the front axle? I don't have an answer.

 

UNeven sizes WILL wear & heat the differential

depends on speed ........distance.........load

a cheap tyre same size on spare is a viable solution

be certain to measure tyre size

numbers on sidewalls dont compare accurateley

 

The owners manual says the max speed on the spare is 50mph and stresses repeatedly that it's for temporary use. YRMV.

 

I have standard full-size spare...which is actually a 16" wheel as opposed to 17" (265/65R17) on my Sport. I didn't see the actual size of the 16" spare but I would say it measures the same as the 17".

As far as running a smaller tire (I'm guessing standard full-size that came with the truck) with those 285/65/18s...is no bueno. I would imagine it will affect the alignment + drive train (depending on how many miles is driven on spare) the next time you have a wheel alignment.

I would make the same decision and stay the night and wait for the matching tire.

In MY future, when it's time to change the tires, I would upgrade to newer wheels & tires (5 matching) and add high clearance dual swing out for spare and jerry cans.

That's a BIG chunk of change but at least I can save NOW for a couple of years...if not sooner.

Ed

****

 

Yes and yes

 

The stock tire isn't a "temporary" tire though if used with same size stock tires. The warning says if it "is a temporary" tire to not exceed 50mph. It's a full size spare.

Thats also a CYA due to uncertain bolt torque, no TPMS, etc.

I would not hesitate to drive on the spare tire at any speed for any amount of time. But I'm an absolute wild man like that.

This is, of course, if all tires are the same size. So we're a little off topic here.

 

Akshully the manual says the steel wheel is marked temporary, IDK what makes it so but there is a sticker on the wheel itself. Agreed that it's probably a CYA. I've got a matching 33" tire on my stock steel spare wheel. I wonder if the temporary designation is because the lug nuts aren't the correct type for steel wheels?