Spare Tire decision

[MarcR]

I wanted to get some help/clarification on what people do with the spare tire under the truck for 1) Rotation and 2) Changing tires. My last car was a 2016 car and didn't come with spares nor did I have any on my previous cars.

1) For Rotations, do people swap in the spare tire into the 4 or just rotate the existing 4?

2) When changing out all tires after XX amount of miles due to tread wear, do they swap all 5 tires and throw the perfectly fine spare away?

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[OxygenMask]

There are many correct answers to this.
(Got my first car in 1977)
Me:
1.
If a full size spare with a matching wheel, 5 tire rotation is probably the best. I keep meaning to but never have...
If a full size spare without a matching wheel I do 4 tire rotation.
I do RF-RR LF-LR, but modern tires are ok to criss-cross unless they have directional tread.
2.
No way! I've gone through 4,5,6 sets of tires on many vehicles leaving the factory spare alone, it's not getting UV damage etc....just think of it as a temporary spare if it's beyond the industry recognized date code limit and you need to use it. Esp nowadays with stupid tire prices...

 

[OxygenMask]

I thought I'd add:
I'm 67. I've used my spare...4 times?....in easily a million miles of driving. Admittedly I've never owned junk cars with bald tires.

2 on the road failures (F150 under warranty, tires not covered by Ford, denied by Goodyear, it's why I'll never buy a Goodyear tire. Ever.)
And 2 due to HARDcore off-road damage subjecting my tires to SERious abuse.

I take my spare tire seriously. BUT, it's rarely an issue.

I've also never owned a car with no spare, although a few had cute compact motorcycle tire spares. Every one of my flats would NOT have gotten me home with a can of fix-a-flat. Word to the wise.

 

[Unit 91]

The stock spare is a steel wheel, so I doubt you're wanting to put that in the rotation.

 

[purdyd]

I am a 5 tire rotation guy. But that means you will need a matching rim and tire for spare.

‘and non of the rangers have matching spare rims. And all the spares are speed limited, likely because they aren’t balanced.

if you go anywhere where you might not have easy access to road side assistance, I would get a matching spare rim and tire.

The problem with not rotating the spare is that can get old and neglected. If it gets too old it is not safe. And roadside assistance may not install it for you,

 

[richman555]

I rotate my 4 tires as I have the black out package 18 inch wheels. Honestly, I haven't gotten a close look at my spare to even see what tire on it from factory.

I think the bigger question comes when I go to replace the OEM tires someday. Should I replace the spare and buy 5 tires?

 

[saxdogg]

To do 5 tire you'll need a matching wheel and a TPMS sensor too. Not a bad idea since it would force you to lower your carrier and grease it up a little when needed, but I've only ever done 4-tire rotates. If your spare is full-size it will work with any other set of tires in an emergency.

 

[OxygenMask]

The RR spare is a matching KO3 on a black steel wheel. Looks like 4 tire for me...

 

[srv256ss]

There are many correct answers to this.
(Got my first car in 1977)
Me:
1.
If a full size spare with a matching wheel, 5 tire rotation is probably the best. I keep meaning to but never have...
If a full size spare without a matching wheel I do 4 tire rotation.
I do RF-RR LF-LR, but modern tires are ok to criss-cross unless they have directional tread.
2.
No way! I've gone through 4,5,6 sets of tires on many vehicles leaving the factory spare alone, it's not getting UV damage etc....just think of it as a temporary spare if it's beyond the industry recognized date code limit and you need to use it. Esp nowadays with stupid tire prices...

Bought an extra wheel, sold the steel spare wheel. I do a 5 tire rotation. 25% longer life (time, not miles) from the tires versus leaving it under the bed until I need it.

 

[skytrucker]

To do 5 tire you'll need a matching wheel and a TPMS sensor too. Not a bad idea since it would force you to lower your carrier and grease it up a little when needed, but I've only ever done 4-tire rotates. If your spare is full-size it will work with any other set of tires in an emergency.

my thoughts exactly - I’ve been stranded in the desert with a flat and a spare rust-welded to the bottom of the truck…wouldn’t recommend it…
The TPMS will sort itself out (provided there’s actually a sensor in the 5th wheel/tire) just swapped mine and only drove for a couple miles before the system caught up.

 

[cb4017]

If the spare is a matching tire/wheel with TPMS then I would do a 5 tire rotation.

I looked under my XLT and noticed a steel wheel and the cheapest tire Ford could come up with. At least it's a matching size.

4 tire rotation for me until I can get a matching tire/wheel.

 

[STEVE_K]

I picked up a matching spare for my RR from Ford, it was only $120, and another $50 from Discount Tire for the TPMS. So spent about 1/2 the cost of what it would cost to replace the full sized K03.

From Discount Tire's website.... Although on my Subaru Forester I just do a counter clockwise rotation and everything is looking good after about 45k miles with the Geolanders 015's.

I did get a little crazy with protecting the spare so it won't get scratched up while under the bed, even though there is some rubber strips in the spare mounting locations. Just hope I don't have to deal with it along the side of the road.

 

[Pic-N-Stick]

A few years back I pulled up behind a Chevy sedan that was leaning to the driver's side. Thought maybe it was a rather large driver causing the lean. Nope! He was driving on TWO tiny doughnut spares on the drivers side at 60 mph!

Sorry, every time someone mentions spare tires that comes to mind!

 

[OxygenMask]

I picked up a matching spare for my RR from Ford, it was only $120, and another $50 from Discount Tire for the TPMS. So spent about 1/2 the cost of what it would cost to replace the full sized K03.

From Discount Tire's website.... Although on my Subaru Forester I just do a counter clockwise rotation and everything is looking good after about 45k miles with the Geolanders 015's.

I did get a little crazy with protecting the spare so it won't get scratched up while under the bed, even though there is some rubber strips in the spare mounting locations. Just hope I don't have to deal with it along the side of the road.

Someday you'll need the spare and won't have something to cut those wire ties...
Then you'll discover they held road grime and it chafed the crap out of the finish. And now it has corrosion because it couldn't dry out....

You guys are SO overthinking this. Jeez.

 

[OxygenMask]

my thoughts exactly - I’ve been stranded in the desert with a flat and a spare rust-welded to the bottom of the truck…wouldn’t recommend it…
The TPMS will sort itself out (provided there’s actually a sensor in the 5th wheel/tire) just swapped mine and only drove for a couple miles before the system caught up.

You really should drop the spare once in a while, check the air pressure, hose it off, and spray some lube at the winch. Once a year has always worked for me, but if you live in the rust belt maybe more often.

Factory spares don't have tpms sensors unless the display shows 5 tires... I have ever heard of one that does...

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