Spare Tire?

Hi All,

I will be doing a cross country move and towing a 16' cargo trailer, probably 6k max weight. I wanted to check to see what your all's thoughts were on if I had to use the spare tire during the trip. Is it fine to tow to the nearest tire service station with a spare? The manual doesn't say not to tow on the spare.

I see the manual says to only go 50 mph, so I assume that towing is not a good idea.

I assume I can replace the spare wheel with a full fledged wheel? Does it fit into the spare tire cavity under the bed ok?

 

It’s a good idea to get a matching rim and tire for your spare. I would not want to rely on the cheesy factory spare. It would probably make it to the service station but maybe not.
A full size spare will fit in the same spot

 

I ditched my spare and bought a new rim and tire. It fits just fine under the bed.

 

I assume you are talking about the truck spare tire? Pretty sure my spare on my 21 is a full sized, fully capable spare. It's a Faulken instead of a Michelin but I cannot see Toyota putting a spare tire under the vehicle that wouldn't meet specs. One reason the speed limitations might be the lack if TPMS monitoring on the spare. Which reminds me I need to check my spare for proper pressure.

On the trailer side, mine has a junk Chinese spare which if towed at over 50 MPH would most certainly not be a good idea.

 

Yes, the spare on the truck. You would think they would give you an equivalent spare. But then again, most sedans have little donuts that are certainly not as capable, so makes you think. I recently changed the tire on a Tacoma that I rented, the spare was 'full size' tire but not a normal wheel, it was the black steel. When tightening the lugs on it, I did notice some flex that I don't see with a normal wheel. So not sure.

I think the safest bet is to just find a real wheel and have the tire shop swap it out.

 

Good point about steel v alloy. Since I have all steel I never even considered it.

 

That is a good point.
Both my 2005 and 2014 have steel wheel full sized spares.
But some OEM Toyota aluminum wheels use acorn style lug nuts and some use flat washer..
It would suck to have the wrong lug nuts on a spare steel wheel.

This is what happens when you use an acorn style nut on a flat washer wheel.
Loose lugs and a broken stud, it's a long story.

 

Oh yea, that's one thing i noticed too. The standard lugs for an alloy wheel are acorn, and the connection between steel and the lug didn't look great. In the manual, it distinguishes between the both and gave instructions for each type of lug, and I was a bit confused when changing it on the Tacoma because it didn't look like the picture.

 

Have you dropped the spare to look? 2015/2014 manufacturer date that tire and rim may be in rough shape with corrosion. For example discount tire won’t touch tire with made 10 years ago, so even like a December 2013 date,which could be on a 2015 made in early 2014. Another issue is the way the tire touches the frame it deforms the rubber in some cases, I think sometimes the chain holding the tire against the frame is too tight when the truck goes through the seasons (hot/cold). But like others have said getting a matching rim so the lug-nuts are the same and tread is the same/similar is a good idea. I have 6 summer wheels that I rotate out mid way through summer and keep an unused one as a spare.

 

If you are really concerned and have a rear tire go flat, you could move a front to the rear and put the spare up front since the rear axle will be a bit more loaded. Personally, if it is a full size factory tire with like a 1500lb max load rating, and not bulging, low on air, or dry rotted all to shit, I'd run it. Just depends on the person and the insurance policy.

 

Thats a good point on the tire age.
I've never used my spare on my 2014 (knock on wood).
I've lowered it for mods and air checks, but never had to mount it.
It does have some pretty deep sidewall indentions from the frame.

My OEM wheels are 20" and my steel spare is a 18".
I just figured that a 275/70/18 is pretty close to my current 275/60/20 tires.
It might be time to replace that spare..



Even found the same tire in that size I already have on the 20s..