Spare tire make

I just noticed that my stock spare tire is a Hankook and the 4 tires I drive on are Toyo A31. Just an observation that seems strange to me. Why would Toyota do this? No issues, just wondering if I'm the odd one out.

 

My oem spare (Hankook) was different from the oem 4 installed tires (Firestone) too. It was also perplexing to me.

 

contact a lawyer
send threatening emails to toyota and dealership
start daily protesting at the dealership
dont make anymore payments
contact the BBB
make videos for you and your wife's joint FB account
........
........
........
get a life

 

Because Toyota views it as a true 'spare', not a tire to be included in a 5 tire rotation. This allows them to save a couple bucks per unit.

Well, that's my guess.

But that reminds me. My 11 yo spare is both the wrong size (for what I have on the ground now) and showing a bit of sidewall dry rot. Don't care about brand or tread pattern, as it is truly a spare. I just need it to be safe at highway speeds.

Time to do some bargain used tire shopping to correct that.

 

Thanks for the replies. Just an observation.

Rix tux. 4,692 messages,you need to get a life.

 

There's a reason the forum has an ignore feature under the user profile..... It's quite useful

 

It's a $40-50 cheaper tire...
They sell about 250,000 tacos a year....
so for the 3rd gen 1.5M trucks x$50 =$75,000,000
combine that with the money saved on the plastic rear water bypass joint...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-3-5l-coolant-pipe.531758/

 

Makes perfect sense-- or should I say dollars-- Thanks.

 

Very true. The amount of dirt and crap my spare manages to pick up in 1 year is insane. I would NEVER consider it in the rotation (for obvious reasons).

Funnily enough my 2017 came with a spare that was exactly the same as the stock tire ( totally forget what they were, 2017 TRD OR). It's still there. No cracking or dry rot so I've left it. No reason to spend an extra 200ish every time I put new tires on when in the end it'll be used for 30 miles tops. Not to mention, most aftermarket tires won't fit in the stock spare tire area.

Honestly even not the same / proper size doesn't really matter for a spare as long as it's not a radically different size. I always puzzled at this, as Subarus come with the stupid suicide donut spares which are completely useless and harmful for Subaru drivetrains. Driving your Taco in RWD mode with odd sizes of tires on any side for ~30 miles shouldn't cause any damage at all.

 

wow

 

Legit question. My 2023 also has a Hankook spare with Firestone on the ground. I think @Clearwater Bill hit the nail on the head in two separate post.

 

its honest work....
but some new vehicles have a donut wheel, and some dont have nothing but a can of fix a flat and a cheesy air pump so a full size wheel/tire is nice to have......its the world we live in now

ps. the OR model has the same brand for all 5 tires

 

2017 I drive for work has a Hankook spare too, but it also had the same Hankooks on all four wheels so I'd assumed it came on that tire.

 

I was at the dealership today for service. The spare tire on the TRD off-road looks like an overinflated balloon.

 

For what it’s worth, my 2020 OR came a spare of the same make and model.

 

this is a 2024 so not relevant to this thread

 

Yeah,
But just in case anyone was curious as to what they are now putting on trucks today. It seems the tires are of the most inferior quality yet. This one actually is labeled as a temporary use only...

 

You guys drive on stock tires?

 

start a thread in the 4th gen section