So, what about that spare?

[1engineer]

I just picked up my '15 TE last week and I was disappointed to see the full size spare was mounted on a steel wheel so you can't do a 5 tire rotation without buying a 5th matching alloy rim. What a waste of a full size tire if you just leave it there for an emergency. Tires have expiration dates now right?

On a side note, is the alloy rim on the '15 TE the same one as one of the FJ alloys they use to offer? They look identical.

No. The 10-13 TE had the same wheels as the FJ but slightly different color.
In order to do the 5 tire rotation you would need to buy a wheel and a TPMS and have it programmed every rotation. Even then you only get 10K worth of rubber out of one tire extra versus a 4 tire rotation. Much cheaper to buy a tire every 10 years for your spare.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

This will piss off 1engineer but my 4th gen came with 5 matching wheels and tires. Mine was an 03 so it did not have tpms but my friends 07 came with 5 matching wheels and tires and all had tpms. It is just another thing Toyota cheaped out on on the 5th gens. I always did a 5 tire rotation on my 4runner. Why not get some use out of a perfectly good tire and extend the life of the others. My 14 Limited with 20" wheels came with a goofy stock 20" wheel painted yellow with no tpms installed. I sanded off the yellow paint on the parts that are normally silver and painted the rest of the wheel black to match the other wheels. Since this wheel now looks the same as the others I use it as a normal tire in my rotations when I do not have my off road 17" on (no tpms on any of those). I am an old fart and only ever had tpms on one other vehicle, an 2011 Avalon I trade on this 4runner. The Avalon had 5 matching wheels and tires all with tpms. I guess I will crash and burn without tpms. I think tpms is only good for people who never pay much attention to the tire pressure. It does not instantly notice a tire going low.
When I have my off road tires on the 4runner pickes up the tpms signal from the stock wheels and tires in the garage and resets the light. I can drive for 15-20 minutes with no tpms before the light comes back on. Just monitor your tire pressure and do not depend on technology to save your life.

 

[1engineer]

This will piss off 1engineer but my 4th gen came with 5 matching wheels and tires. Mine was an 03 so it did not have tpms but my friends 07 came with 5 matching wheels and tires and all had tpms. It is just another thing Toyota cheaped out on on the 5th gens. I always did a 5 tire rotation on my 4runner. Why not get some use out of a perfectly good tire and extend the life of the others. My 14 Limited with 20" wheels came with a goofy stock 20" wheel painted yellow with no tpms installed. I sanded off the yellow paint on the parts that are normally silver and painted the rest of the wheel black to match the other wheels. Since this wheel now looks the same as the others I use it as a normal tire in my rotations when I do not have my off road 17" on (no tpms on any of those). I am an old fart and only ever had tpms on one other vehicle, an 2011 Avalon I trade on this 4runner. The Avalon had 5 matching wheels and tires all with tpms. I guess I will crash and burn without tpms. I think tpms is only good for people who never pay much attention to the tire pressure. It does not instantly notice a tire going low.
When I have my off road tires on the 4runner pickes up the tpms signal from the stock wheels and tires in the garage and resets the light. I can drive for 15-20 minutes with no tpms before the light comes back on. Just monitor your tire pressure and do not depend on technology to save your life.

You will have to throw your tires away because of dry rot long before you wear them out! How many miles you go a year? 5K?

 

[03_4x4Runner]

You will have to throw your tires away because of dry rot long before you wear them out! How many miles you go a year? 5K?

You got me there. My tires will definitely dry rot before I wear them out especially since I have 2 sets now. My 03 I trade in on my 14 had 73k miles on it after 11 years and I only replaced the tires once with the bfg all terrains. They were on there for 7 years and still had tread left on them when I got rid of it but they still looked good on the sidewalls. At least they all wore and dry rotted equally. Now for the bigger joke. The 4runner is the only vehicle we own other than my atv. Since the beginning of 2015 I have drove it less than 500 miles. That is because my wife had shoulder surgery right before Christmas and most of those miles have been taking her to physical therapy and getting groceries etc. and being retired there is no driving to work. My 4runner has 6200 miles on it since I bought it last May. Once my wifes shoulder is back to normal I can continues my journeys across the western states. This is atv season in Arizona and my house borders BLM desert land. I have been riding a lot with neighbors while the wife recovers so I have put more miles on the atv than my on road vehicle so far in 2015. I did not really want 2 sets of wheels and tires but the stock 20's do me no good in the desert but will use them on long highway only trips until they rot out. Retirement life is tough.

 

[philsey]

..... Retirement life is tough.

:thumb3:

 

[BobsTrail]

No. The 10-13 TE had the same wheels as the FJ but slightly different color.
In order to do the 5 tire rotation you would need to buy a wheel and a TPMS and have it programmed every rotation. Even then you only get 10K worth of rubber out of one tire extra versus a 4 tire rotation. Much cheaper to buy a tire every 10 years for your spare.

I convinced myself that I must have a spare to match the other 4 and include it in the rotation. Then I added up the cost of the wheel and tire and began to wonder if it's worth it. I never thought about the TPMS stuff.

Looking at [MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION]s numbers it's just not worth the expense and hassle. --- Saved again by forum members.

 

[newbob.s]

This is a good thread. I've been thinking about doing a practice run, but I'm gonna wait until it warms up enough that I won't have to freeze my nuggets off.

 

[8086bruce]

I was very surprised after coming from an 07 with a matching spare and tpm to look under my new one and see a steely under there. I was lucky when I bought a set of FJ rims that I got all 5. Not that I ever see the spare but it makes me feel better it matches.