Tire rotation and the spare

Question for the tire tpms dudes. I got a +1 sized spare and matching OR rim for a matching 5 tire rotation. I also got an oem tpms for the spare.

I recall reading (yes, it or I could be wrong) that if you swapped in a new tire with factory tpms, the computer would eventually figure it out.

I’ve had zero warnings on my cluster, so either that *might* be true, or the truck is just measuring the pressure in my spare unbeknownst to me. (Since an original tire is now in the spare location).

Any possibility of truth to the computer sorting out a new sensor on its own? I’ve heard that the system can only hold 4. I’ve rotated more than once since the initial tire change.

<edit>. Oh, and we went simple and just rotated clockwise. Since the bulk of my driving is highway, and I rotate every 5k, it’s probably good enough for government work.

 

No it is not true. The computer can only read 4 sensors on that truck but there where a couple years they did have one in the spare and could read all 5. If you took off one of your tires and put on another one with a factory sensor the computer would not read that sensor until it was programmed into your computer so it could see it. Your not getting a light because when you rotate you are keeping the tire close enough to the truck to continue to read it but as far as the system knows that tire is still mounted on the truck. If you left the spare with the working sensor at home the tpms light would stay on until it was in range again.

 

.

By “doughnut” I was referring to the entire inferior wheel - there was no mention of the tire. But having to drive below the speed limit due to a crappy spare steel rim with a normal full-sized tire on it makes it even worse. Why did they do that? It’s good it was changed out.
Have fun out there!

 

Add me to the matching 5 wheels, tires and rotation crew. No tpms issues with only having 4 in the original wheels. YMMV.

A few reasons I did this. One, I want the comfort of knowing that if I have a flat, I can swap in the exact same wheel and tire combo and not have to worry about getting to a tire shop if I'm far from home. Two, I'm forced to check on the health of the "spare" tire every 5,000 miles since it's in the rotation. Three, I sold the oem spare so the cost to buy an oem Off-Road wheel to use as a spare was negligible.

 

Oh Damn:

I'm not going to take the time to repeat all my investigations, I didn't write anything down, but I was satisfied in the outcome... at the time, maybe no longer. My investigations began when the truck was new with no rock rash on the rims, and I was thinking of getting a set of steel rims for wheeling – I'm hard on tires and rims. My other 4-wheeler's rims are so bent up one would not think they would hold air. I've also lost valve stems on the trail. Twenty-three side wall failures and counting. So, knowing my past I was considering replacing and selling these Tacoma OR rims/tires before I made them look terrible.

It is correct that the spare supplied is not a space saver rim, but a full-size rim. When I read somewhere that the Tacoma had a “Temporary” spare tire I was in disbelief, so I got under and looked to see. I saw what appeared to me to be a full size, fully capable steel rim and tire of the same size and make as my other four tires, I was relieved. I only saw the back side or inboard side of the rim for that is how Toyota mounts it from the factory.

Further inspection later when I was changing tire size revealed a sticker on the outboard spare steel rim saying this was a temporary assembly and to use accordingly at 55MPH or less, IIRC. Sticker has since been removed and discarded so I can't reveal the exact verbiage. I asked the local Toyota dealership what was up, they knew nothing, quite a surprise... not. A visit to a Big O tire store, was able to shed some light on this. Their response was that this was becoming a common practice of the manufactures to reduce weight or save money using less capable steel rims in the spare position.

It was inferred the steel rim does not have the same speed or weight rating (I don't remember which) as my aluminum OR 2021 rims, your 2017 from Canada may be different.

Side note:
Years ago, when I was looking for Snow Tires for another vehicle the speed ratings on snow tires were lower than my regular tires. So, any steel spare rims may indeed be acceptable for snow tire use.

Since your post I again visited the same Big O and got a different story, only thing that matched with the new story is that steel is not as strong as aluminum. Off I went to an American Tire store, and they related they have a Tacoma customer running all factory steel and they have no objections in putting tires on those rims. WTF. Why can't good information be easy to find in the automotive industry?

Myself I am still some time and probably another set of tires away from a trail worthy build. Haven't decided if I will stay with 16” rims or move up to 17” rims, which I understand have more possibilities in the larger size tires. I may still go to steel rims, but it won't be stock.

All this may just be a misunderstanding, the sticker on my rim may have not been for any physical limitation, but a feature limitation. In my 2021 Owner's manual (page 518) it has a warning of 16 features that may not operate properly with the non-TPMS spare in use. Perhaps the lawyers at Toyota wish to keep the speed down for liability reasons when a spare tire is in use as not all the safety features are properly working.

There may also be a difference between the US and Canada.

My 2021 OR was equipped with Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain 265/70R16 112T; the steel spare remains stock... for now. The steel spare rim offset differed by a centimeter from the OR Rims. Direction of offset difference I do not remember.

 

I apologize about my tone in the post, I wasn't intending to be a dick.

It is quite possible that Toyota has changed the spare rims out for something with weight savings in mind. And in fact my spare did have the same sticker you described, but when I examined the rim, I found it was weight rated appropriately for the Tacoma and that the tire was an appropriate speed and load rated tire as well. And when I say appropriately rated I mean for regular highway duty, maybe light off roading. I wouldn't see these rims standing up to rock crawling duties.



As a side note, I have never had an issue with space saver rims either. They are quite strong. I used to drag race Fox body Mustangs years ago, I had a junk yard dog of a 1982 Mustang GT. One of my tricks to make the car lighter was space saver rims on the front... 1994 and up Mustang Convertibles had a slick aluminum rim for the spare. So I found 2 of them, found some 15" tires that fit the old VW bugs and ran those. I got questions when I ran through tech, but the rims had all the right markings to make them a safe and acceptable rim to run on the track.

 

@Speedfreak Could you share how you “decoded” the rim markings?
My markings are:
J16x7JJ DOT CMC 10 20WT5 on the bead area. In the hub area with the six mounting holes are “WT”, “SEP”, “28”.
I’ve looked all over on how to decode this.

 

https://rimsandtiresmag.com/how-to-identify-wheel-markings/

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/blog/how-to-read-the-wheel-markings

J - Bead profile
16 - tire size
7 - inch wide
JJ - 4×4/SUV--- (this is the one that tells you what service it is designed for. Can be before or after the size code.)
DOT - Department of Transportation
CMC - I believe this is the rim hump code. I don't see this exact one though.

The 10 and 20 I am not sure... the WT5 might be offset.

The stamping by the lug holes are date codes for manufacturing.

 

Hello all, I just did my first 5 tire rotation using the 'Jeep' pattern. TPMS did not need to be reset. I put a new factory TPMS in the 'good' spare which has a nice wheel and lives in the bed or the garage.

 

My truck is approaching 5000.
I just rotated rear to front; front crossed to rear.

I contemplated the idea of a matching spare. However, the wheel would get nasty rather quickly being underneath.

Also, the tire brand is different on my spare versus my four Toyo tires.

 

Great topic to discuss * I’m learning a handful good morning wake up and read topic , reminding me to take down spare clean lube chain etc ty. We 0

 

With just napkin math its kind of hard to justify the cost in $ vs hassle of doing a 5 tire rotation. For me, if I can get 50% of the $ cost back with minimum hassle I am ok with that. I wanted a second spare. Steelie with cheapie tire under the bed, and a matching wheel with matching tire in the bed or garage for when venturing way way out.

Thought process is that I wanted the security of a second spare, and if half way into lifespan of the tire sets life one is irreparable, I will put on the spare and run it out vs. having to buy a new one with full depth or retire the entire set early. I have had to do the latter a couple of times in my life and I didn't like doing it.

Kudos to Discount tire for selling me 6 tires; 5 matching Toyos for full service and a generic cheapie for the steelie under the bed. They had no problem with the 5 tire rotation.

 

With your experiences I’m surprised you haven’t gotten down to 2-6 cheap steel wheels and dumped the esthetics. I also carry two spares when I venture out into the desert. And have used them, plus wheeled into town on a flat. Three flats, one trip.

It is interesting that a national tire service shop accepts a non-standard rotation. Yes, kudos to them. I am going to put forward a possible reason why they have no trouble: The original Radial tires 50+ years ago did have a directional weakness, during these many years manufacturing has worked out the weaknesses so it doesn’t matter any longer. But the old advice remains.