Do you use an exact matching spare?

Finally going to upgrade my stock tires and wheels next week.

Installing some FSW 16" wheels, and 265/75 ultraterrains. Only ordered 4 of each though.

Thinking I will get the cheapest 265/75 tire they have as a spare, and mount that on the stock spare rim to save cost and weight.

Any reason to get the exact same tire as the spare? Thinking in the rare event that I do get a flat, I'll be temporarily changing it to before going back to the tire shop for a repair or replace anyway. So why spend the extra cost for a good tire.... Is this a bad idea?

 

Really depends on your needs. For a daily driver, anything close to the main 4 should be sufficient. If you're using your rig on aggressive trails, spending time outside of cell service or where getting a tow may be difficult or near impossible then it's smart to be prepared.

Not that I'll be doing anything extreme but the main purpose of my truck is to go on adventures, camping, offroading and assume I'll regularly be out in places where getting a tow would be tough and getting out on my own may be tough with a truck crippled by a shitty spare. So I chose to run a full set of 5 matching wheels/tires. The bonus is that you can do 5 tire rotations and actually USE your spare regularly. This means you're better about keeping it aired up, your spare is always as fresh as your normal tires (not 10yrs old) and it means you're getting use out of that tire (and in turn the money you spent on it) rather than buying it purely as an insurance policy.

Different strokes for different folks. You just gotta decide what fits your situation best.

 

Same size and type of tire, doesn’t have to be exactly matched. So if you go on trails, any terrain tire will do.

 

Yo @Turd Ferguson, help your little brother out. Do you run full size spare?

 

To be clear, going to get the same size tire, just a cheaper one as it will not see a lot of use (hopefully!)

Have most of you gotten flats?

 

Just upgraded and got 5 tires with matching wheels. Figured a rotation with spare will help extend the tread life of all the tires. Also, if the spare is needed you want it to be close to the same thread wear of the other tires when 4WD is engaged.
https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-ga...-an-allwheel-drive-or-fourwheel-drive-vehicle

 

Just get a matching 5th

You already have a $50k truck (according to other TW members), what's another $200?

 

Same tire. Same wheel. 5 tire rotation every 5k

 

You don't even need a matching size. Back when I had 32s, I had a blowout on the trail, swapped in the stock 31" spare, and drove 200 miles home. I then went on two more trail rides, driving 1100 miles in that configuration. No issues. ABS, VSC, adaptive cruise, crawl control, all worked.

 

It absolutely will work, everything.

Think the OP just needs help justifying buying a matching tire or not.

Would be a different situation had this been say, a Land Cruiser or something else with full-time 4WD.

 

If you are close enough I have an unused Cooper AT3 265/75/16 SL load rating from 2015 that is just taking up space. Free for the taking but you would have to come and pick it up in Palm Desert, Ca. that offer is open to anyone that could use it.

 

Mine was a rear tire, so the rear diff had to differentiate a little more. A Land Cruiser's center diff could've done the same.

 

SO IM GUESSING IF I HAVE A 33" SPARE AND ARE RUNNING 34" MAIN TIRES, THAT'LL BE FINE ?

 

It’s a nice offer, but you should get that tire recycled.

Just FYI to everyone here. That’s an 8-9 year old tire. It’s already past the age where you should chuck a tire.

7 years and up from the date code if you want to avoid a risk of dry rot and blowout.

 

I have a Toyo Open Country ATII 265-75-16 on a 16x8 Konig Countersteer for my spare.

 

Yes. Total match: 265/75/16 Nitto Ridge Grappler 116T on a TRD offroad aluminum wheel. I got a deal on 4 takeoff wheels and sold/shipped the other 3 to forum folks.

Neighbor on my private road was building a house a few years ago, so I collected quite a few screws and nails. That spare has been used multiple times and run many hundreds of miles.