Does my Limited come w/ a matching spare wheel?

[03_4x4Runner]

It is a shame Toyota cheaped out and did not finish the wheel like the rest and put a tpms sensor in it like the later 4th gens. Then you could rotate all 5 tires to extend their life. Even my 2011 Avalon had 5 matching wheels and 5 tpms sensors.

 

[bloodninja]

It is a shame Toyota cheaped out and did not finish the wheel like the rest and put a tpms sensor in it like the later 4th gens. Then you could rotate all 5 tires to extend their life. Even my 2011 Avalon had 5 matching wheels and 5 tpms sensors.

Since the 5th Gen apparently doesn't come with TPMS in the spare tire, does this preclude you from being able to incorporate it into the tire rotation, meaning will running the spare trip a light on the dash? (serious question)

I would see this as being a rather large problem for the Limited trim given a flat tire situation with significant tire wear on the 4 main tires, and full tread on the spare.
That would give the differentials a hell of a time, no? Constantly compensating for the difference in circumference?

 

[TK-422]

Thanks for the post BobsTrail. It's good to know since I just got mine yesterday.

I drive a Dodge Caravan for work and it's similar but the drop down bolt is in between the driver an passenger seat. It sits low so it's not easy to see by looking underneath. When I did blow a tire on my way home from work it was real fun looking underneath the back of the vehicle and not seeing a spare.

I eventually figured it out and played the spare tire tool origami to get it down.

Not having the TPMS in the spare is good since it would always go off on a cold day in my RAV4 spare. It would be fine by the time I checked it which drove me crazy.

Getting the spare down is a pain and you need to try it before you need it. It's not straight forward as you would expect. Have a look at my old post on how to get the #%$%^ thing down.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/134396-spare-tire-access-2013-te.html

____________________________________________

 

[mdogg]

Since the 5th Gen apparently doesn't come with TPMS in the spare tire, does this preclude you from being able to incorporate it into the tire rotation, meaning will running the spare trip a light on the dash? (serious question)

If all 4 TPMS sensors are operational and transmitting air pressure readings that don't trigger the light, you should be fine running a 5-wheel rotation as long as you keep all 5 wheels on the vehicle. If you use the spare in the rotation and then leave one of the wheels with the sensor at home, then you'll get the light.

The only other caveat with this is that the sensors are designed to "sleep" to prevent wasted battery life. I'm not sure what conditions make the sensor sleep, though. If it is just any movement, then driving with a sensor on the spare should keep it active. If it requires rotational movement, then putting it underneath without such movement will throw up the light.

I would see this as being a rather large problem for the Limited trim given a flat tire situation with significant tire wear on the 4 main tires, and full tread on the spare.
That would give the differentials a hell of a time, no? Constantly compensating for the difference in circumference?

Why on the Limited? All 4runners come with a full-size spare with no TPMS. So, in theory it should affect all 4runners the same way. Other than that aspect, manufacturers generally account for normal wear in the 4WD/AWD calculations through the computer. They understand that a user may have 3 very old tires and then have a new spare put on as needed.

 

[bloodninja]

Why on the Limited? All 4runners come with a full-size spare with no TPMS. So, in theory it should affect all 4runners the same way. Other than that aspect, manufacturers generally account for normal wear in the 4WD/AWD calculations through the computer. They understand that a user may have 3 very old tires and then have a new spare put on as needed.

You may have answered my question. I guess the only way to find out would be to try it. I was thinking about the Rear and Center Differentials getting hot because of constantly compensating for the difference in circumference. Granted you should only be using the spare to get you to a tire shop, but the possibility exists that you could be hours away from one. On a part-time system, if need be you could always move the wheels around and throw the spare on the front, keep it in 2Hi and it'd never be an issue. With the Limited, it's full-time.
That was my thought process. If manufacturers have factored in tolerances for these things, that would be ideal, though I'm not sure how they would have made that work. That's why they get paid the big bucks though.

 

[Neauxla]

:lmao: Sheesh. At least polish up that beautiful spare rim before you post a pic, here is mine from a recent flat:

Why on earth would Toyota do this? I mean, if you aren't going to give us a matching wheel, why spend the extra and give us an ALMOST matching wheel and not just a cheap steel wheel?

 

[Range]

Why on earth would Toyota do this? I mean, if you aren't going to give us a matching wheel, why spend the extra and give us an ALMOST matching wheel and not just a cheap steel wheel?

I've asked this part of the question many times over the last few years.

 

[1engineer]

It is a shame Toyota cheaped out and did not finish the wheel like the rest and put a tpms sensor in it like the later 4th gens. Then you could rotate all 5 tires to extend their life. Even my 2011 Avalon had 5 matching wheels and 5 tpms sensors.

You don't extend anything by doing a five tire rotation. You don't save money or extend the life of the tire.

 

[marshal]

the only thing a 5 tire rotation does is make you have to buy a 5th tire at the end of the road

 

[jwkilgore]

You don't extend anything by doing a five tire rotation. You don't save money or extend the life of the tire.

Sortof... you do extend the time between having to buy tires by 25%. But then it costs more than 25% extra to replace them because most sales and specials are for two- or four-tire sets. That fifth tire would be at full price.

If you don't buy on sale it's a wash.

Where you might save money is if you keep your vehicle for a long time. Rubber and other tire components degrade over time, and tire manufacturers recommend replacing after 10 years whether it's worn or not. It wouldn't do to put the spare on after a flat just to have it deflate from a million cracks after a few miles. No, I'm not suggesting that all tires die automatically after 10 years. But reliability does go down.

If you've never used that spare, then it's one tire worth of wasted money.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

You don't extend anything by doing a five tire rotation. You don't save money or extend the life of the tire.

What I did on my old 4runner and Avalon was always rotate 5 tires. At the end it did extend the life. On my 4runner when all 5 original tires wore out I replaced all 5 with bfg all terrains also doing the 5 tire rotation. When I trade it in all 5 were just about worn out. If I would not have rotated the original tires I would have been throwing away a unused spare tire when 5 bfg all terrains went on. When I traded the Avalon in all the tires were just about shot but the salesman I know marked the tires as good on the sales contract. Without the 5 tire rotation I would have had to put another set of tires on it but the spare would have been new. If I would have kept the car I would have just replaced 4 tires and left the mostly worn spare tire alone. Those new spare tires will just dry rot away if never used.

 

[mattr]

I made my spare yellow limited wheel match the other wheels. It is the exact same wheel , just not finished the same. I sanded the yellow paint off of the areas that are supposed to be aluminum color and polished the areas. Then I painted the wheel black with special wheel paint with the silver masked off. Then I sprayed clear over the whole wheel. I could not stand looking at that yellow wheel under the 4runner. I have used the wheel and tire for normal use for a while just to put some miles on it. You can not tell it apart from the regular wheels. It does not have a tpms sensor though.

I'm surprised your 14 didn't have the same finished wheel - did you spare have the TPMS? My '15 had an identical spare with TPMS.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

If all 4 TPMS sensors are operational and transmitting air pressure readings that don't trigger the light, you should be fine running a 5-wheel rotation as long as you keep all 5 wheels on the vehicle. If you use the spare in the rotation and then leave one of the wheels with the sensor at home, then you'll get the light.

The only other caveat with this is that the sensors are designed to "sleep" to prevent wasted battery life. I'm not sure what conditions make the sensor sleep, though. If it is just any movement, then driving with a sensor on the spare should keep it active. If it requires rotational movement, then putting it underneath without such movement will throw up the light.


Why on the Limited? All 4runners come with a full-size spare with no TPMS. So, in theory it should affect all 4runners the same way. Other than that aspect, manufacturers generally account for normal wear in the 4WD/AWD calculations through the computer. They understand that a user may have 3 very old tires and then have a new spare put on as needed.

My off road tires and wheels do not have tpms so the light comes on after driving. When I pull into the garage that has the stock tires in it the light will reset by itself. I can then drive about 20 minutes or 20 miles before it comes back on again.

 

[Cheers!]

The yellow is a stronger epoxy paint. So that people who own 4runners in the salt belt don't have a badly corroded wheel that as become one with the frame that can not be separated without a sledge hammer and pry bar.

 

[1engineer]

What I did on my old 4runner and Avalon was always rotate 5 tires. At the end it did extend the life. On my 4runner when all 5 original tires wore out I replaced all 5 with bfg all terrains also doing the 5 tire rotation. When I trade it in all 5 were just about worn out. If I would not have rotated the original tires I would have been throwing away a unused spare tire when 5 bfg all terrains went on. When I traded the Avalon in all the tires were just about shot but the salesman I know marked the tires as good on the sales contract. Without the 5 tire rotation I would have had to put another set of tires on it but the spare would have been new. If I would have kept the car I would have just replaced 4 tires and left the mostly worn spare tire alone. Those new spare tires will just dry rot away if never used.

Man, I proved you wrong in 2012 on this subject. Nothing's changed. This is not your old 4Runner. This is not your Avalon. Right now to do a 5 tire rotation on the 4Runner you have to break the spare down and change wheels and TPMS. You will lose doing this. Even if you had a matching spare and TPMS magically appear that was free the best case is it's a wash on cost of a five versus four rotation. I spent the time to lay it out to show you were wrong back then. How about you take the time to show me I'm wrong now.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Man, I proved you wrong in 2012 on this subject. Nothing's changed. This is not your old 4Runner. This is not your Avalon. Right now to do a 5 tire rotation on the 4Runner you have to break the spare down and change wheels and TPMS. You will lose doing this. Even if you had a matching spare and TPMS magically appear that was free the best case is it's a wash on cost of a five versus four rotation. I spent the time to lay it out to show you were wrong back then. How about you take the time to show me I'm wrong now.

My old 4runner did not have tpms. For the limited time I run the stock 20" tires and rotated in my 5th painted wheel I did not swap out the tpms. I used the wheel without the tpms and I am still alive. Most of the time my off road tires are on without tpms. I guess I should have been dead by now. The only cars I have ever owned that had tpms was The Avalon and the current 4runner. My 4runner sets in my air conditioned garage most of the time and I am constantly cleaning/looking after it. If I was a typical auto owner that never checks the tires pressure or anything this would not be the way to go. 1engineer is wrong now as in the past.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I'm surprised your 14 didn't have the same finished wheel - did you spare have the TPMS? My '15 had an identical spare with TPMS.

Maybe they changed this for 2015. I hope so.

 

[1engineer]

My old 4runner did not have tpms. For the limited time I run the stock 20" tires and rotated in my 5th painted wheel I did not swap out the tpms. I used the wheel without the tpms and I am still alive. Most of the time my off road tires are on without tpms. I guess I should have been dead by now. The only cars I have ever owned that had tpms was The Avalon and the current 4runner. My 4runner sets in my air conditioned garage most of the time and I am constantly cleaning/looking after it. If I was a typical auto owner that never checks the tires pressure or anything this would not be the way to go. 1engineer is wrong now as in the past.

Lol it's cheaper to fix the bumper with duct tape too right? It's easy to save money by half assing stuff. Much harder when you have to get it to original operating parameters. Change the wheel, put in the TPMS and you lose. Run the yellow wheel and no TPMS and you break even with the four tire change guys. You probably think the TPMS light is that pesky blinker you always seem to leave on haha.

 

[m85476585]

My spare is 8 years old now, so it's kind of questionable. I would not drive very fast if I had to use it, like 55mph max. I'll surely have to replace it when I replace these tires in another 6 years, or maybe sooner if it fails before then. At that point if I want to save money I could keep one of the worn out tires as the spare, and replace 3 tires and the old spare. Not using the spare must cost slightly more than using it in a 5 tire rotation, because it has to be replaced eventually at the end of its life. Unless it's acceptable to always keep a worn out tire from the last set as a spare, then there's no extra cost to not using it because it was trash anyway. Maybe I could rescue a same size tire from the trash if I decide a 14 year old spare is not trustworthy. But then I would have to pay for mounting and balancing of a worn out tire, which seems a little weird.

The front and rear differentials don't care about a difference in tire diameter. They are open, so there's very little heat created by turning at different speeds. You could drive in circles all day forever and they would be fine.

The limited slip differential in the center might not like having a mismatched tire. I can't remember if there is a spec for tire wear similarity, but I think there is. You could lock the center, but that puts some additional stress on the drivetrain, same as the locked transfer case in the other trim levels.

The TPMS sensors will probably die in a few years since they are sealed but the battery life is only expected to be 5 years. I think it's a stupid system, so at that point I will stop using it if I can. Unfortunately laws or liability fear mean tire shops can't let you have non-working TPMS.

Having winter tires installed just got more complicated

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had issued a ruling in 2011 clarifying that tire stores can be held liable and fined for "knowingly [making] the TPMS system inoperative"-for example by installing winter tires that their own records show don't have TPMS sensors.

Maybe if it is already inoperative they would be OK with it. I'll just tell them that the receiver is broken and it costs $5000 to replace, so there's no point in having sensors.

 

[adoihcj]

Got a flat in my 2015 Limited and was expecting to see a yellow wheel like I've seen mentioned in this forum before. To my amazement, it was a matching wheel to the other 4 in pristine condition. TPMS light stayed on though until I repaired the leaky tire. Once I added the original tire back on, the light went out.