Spare tires, steelie or full sized

I bought five 17” methods 703’s, planning on either going 265/70/17 or 285/70/17 after installing my lift. It sort of pains me to put a brand new nice wheel under the truck instead of using a steelie. This spare is off a 21 TRD off road premium and I have a 21 TRD OR. Think I could use it and get up to a 33” on it or should I just keep my full sized spare? Just wondering what the majority of people do for spares, steelies or full size?

 

Had a steelie until my last taco got totaled. Only 1 wheel/tire was still good after the hit & run so I kept it and put it on the new ride. My OCD much prefers the new setup

 

Bought a set of 5 wheels from an fj that were mint and made the fifth my spare.

 

Yeah, the steelie maybe isn’t the best of options for a wide tire. But, I had a full sized spare on my last car and I never used it. I feel like it’s slightly overkill at times. I go off-roading like 10% of the time. Your setup sounds good

 

Yeah l, I hear of people use FJ wheels, but I was just checking out this deal close by. That’s the way to go though.

 

I upsized, but not the spare. I'm not worried if I have to limp home or to a garage with a doughnut size tire. It'll get me there.

 

There is nothing more butt puckering than having half of a trail to drive with a doughnut or even full sized OE spare, you only need to learn that lesson once.

 

@silvertep learned this lesson the hard way.


Full sized spare that matches the capabilities of the other 4 tires is mandatory IMO

Rim only matters for specs/tire size IMO (cant use the OEM steelies for 35's for example)

But if you never leave town or cell range... Thats a different story i guess.

 

yeah, I’ll be hitting the trails. I already have a full size ordered and I’ll just keep it. I’m not down to learn that lesson on the trail honestly. Just wanted to hear the opinions cuz it all adds up $$$

 

I thought of this when I dropped my spare to clean the truck. I’m going to be changing tire size soon and need to order a matching spare.

 

You can run a 33 in a 255 80 17 or 85 16.

Should work on the steelie just fine.

Keeps the truck balanced in dia if you need to use it, and the width wont matter in that case

If you go with a matching 5th wheel/tire, go ahead and use the 5 tire rotation method.

 

Full size spare for me too! Better safe than sorry.

 

I run a full size. 285/70r17. I have no regrets. It really comes in handy not having to rush to a tire shop or have my truck down if there isn’t a replacement in stock nearby.

 

The Wrangler get 5 matching wheels.
The Taco doesn't OR so the steelie is fine. If that were to change I'd get a swing-out and another matching wheel.

 

I run a 35 on the stock steel rim as my spare.

 

well dam

it doesnt rub the uca up front? or i assume youre running wheel spacers/adapters?

 

Correct.
Guess I should have mentioned that.

 

I am running a 285/70/17 on an FJ steelie as a spare. It fits the wheel fine and barely fits up in the spare location after bending the locating tabs. If I recall the FJ steelie is 7.5" wide and my SEMA wheels are 7" wide. My OCD of not having a matching sized spare got the best of me.

 

I’m about to upsize to 265/70/17. I haven’t touch my stock spare (275/65/17). Is there danger to keeping the stock spare and riding on it to limp to a repair shop. Or should I find a cheap 265/70/17 to throw on there?

 

Kinda hijacking this but I'm in a similar situation. I have TRD OR and I'm installing 255/80r17 tires on 4Runner TRD Pro wheels, which are 17x7. Would I be okay with just running 255/85r16 tire on the OEM steelie as a spare?