spare tire questions now that im up to 33"s

[LONO100]

hey all, now that im running bigger tires, i was worried about my spare tire. since its a smaller tire i wanted to find an old 33" tire on craigslist and mount it on my spare.

my question is about putting it under the truck bed. does anyone know if a 33" tire on a 15" wheel will fit under the truck bed like the factory spare fits? is htis possible? i could always throw it on my roof rack, but id hate to use up that real estate when im on a camping trip or something like that. i use my roof rack a lot and would like to keep it open if possible. anyone try putting that big a tire under their truck bed? if so, does it fit? thanks fellas.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

I know Chad put his 35" spare under his bed but het did quite a bit of modifactions to make it fit.

I plan on making a steel rear bumper with a swing out tire carrier.

As far as the spare tire goes with finding a spare, I wouldn't paly around with different brand, type of tires since you have a locker in the rearend.

I bought five matching wheels and tires because I don't wanna ruin either front or rearend if I need to run the spare What do you put in your bed when camping, trailin'?

 

[OffTrac]

Your really should buy the same wheel and tire and work into your tire rotation. Differences in tire sizes can really screw things up with your locker. Locker gurus correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding.

 

[LONO100]

well i figured that a different wheel would not play well with the locker, so i think if i ever got a flat in one of my rear tires, i would move one of the good front wheels to the rear and slap the spare up front. that being said, i have a 5th wheel thats the same as the other four and i found a spare tire thats an old goodyear duratrac for 50 bucks. it's also a 33 x 12.5 R15. so my main issue is whether it would fit under the truck bed. if i were to be going on a wheeling trip like to hollister hills or some other SVRA, i would move it to the roof rack, but id generally like to keep a 33 under the truck bed if possible.

the reason why the truck bed isny an option is that my dog goes with me everywhere, and rides in the truck bed whenever we go camping and the gear usually goes on the roof rack.

thanks for the input fellas.

 

[gmanpaint]

Tire width, wheel size doesn't matter for a spare. What matters is diameter. Matching height is needed not only for your locker, but most importantly, your gears. Being 4wd, all 4 tires need to match in diameter, or you risk breaking internals on your differentials. Having 5 of the same tires for rotating to keep tread wear the same helps insure diff internals well being.

This being said, you can use a spare tire that is much narrower than the others if needed to fit under better. The thinner the tire, the more it tucks up underneath. Of course, a 4 tire rotation will have to be implemented. A 33" will fit under.

If you have to, you can cut off the "Tongue" that hangs down with a sawzall to make more room for the spare.

5 matching tires for a rotation is best in a perfect world, but rotating 4 tires will work also.

 

[LONO100]

thanks gman, i found a used tire thats exactly the same tire as the new ones i have. its not only a 33 12.50 R15, but its actually the same brand/style tire that i just bought (duratrac). i just wanted to know if i end up getting this tire and mount it to my extra wheel (same kind as my main four) how much trouble would i have fitting it under the truck bed. id like to avoid cutting if possible, but i guess that might be an inevitablility now with the bigger treads. your point about cutting that toungue makes sense, i think if i cut that tongue or bent it out a little bit i could probably squeeze that 33 under there.

 

[Demo1986]

I'm on the same boat as you lono. I need to fit a 33 under the bed and I just might have to cut that tongue out or like you suggested bend it out more.

 

[gmanpaint]

33" should fit. 12.5" will hang down a bunch. Just make sure to remove it before going off road.

The only thing that I can think of that might make a difference is if you have no lift of some type. I just assumed you do running 33" tires.

Tip: When lifting the spare with the winch, press down on the tire closest to you, to make the other side raise up. This will get the tire over the diff cover & the sway bar. Hold it like that as you continue to lift it up tight.

Personally, I wouldn't bend that tongue, just cut the dropped end off. If bent, it might hit the sway bar or the diff when the axle is articulating.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Yea you always run the risk of puncturing the tire if it hangs to low when offroading. The only way to stop this would be to do a SOA and then you'd have the height clearance for most stuff. I plan on building a steel rear bumper with a swing out tire carrier to mount my spare out of the way. Hopefully if I get a spot in the clubs garage for a weekend I can fabricate one up before winter. Fingers crossed.

 

[LONO100]

a spare tire carrier would be sweet, my old rodeo had one and it was sweet, but unfortunately i dont have the skills or the resources to make one. make sure you take pics of that thing when you make it.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Yeah I plan on documenting the build. That's one of the downsides to these trucks is the beds are fiberglass composite so I can't mount it to the bed without breaking, cracking it.

It kinda kills you aproach and departure angle but TireGate makes a setup for all truck. I'll link to it.

http://www.tiregate.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1068

 

[Clusterpup]

RLC Welding, a site sponser makes a steel rear bumper and a tire carrier that would work for our trucks, its real nice, about $900 shipped.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Yeah, I emailed him awhile back and never got a response so I'm making my own. He does awesome work though.

 

[Clusterpup]

Yeah I plan on documenting the build. That's one of the downsides to these trucks is the beds are fiberglass composite so I can't mount it to the bed without breaking, cracking it.

It kinda kills you aproach and departure angle but TireGate makes a setup for all truck. I'll link to it.

http://www.tiregate.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1068

I look forward to seeing that build Jerry.

 

[OffTrac]

If you got onboard air you could just air down the spare and mount it underneath. When needed, drop it, air it up and mount.

 

[Clusterpup]

If you got onboard air you could just air down the spare and mount it underneath. When needed, drop it, air it up and mount.

Love my onboard air! Especially since it mainly powers my obnoxiously loud air horns!

 

[dgonz]

I totally screwed myself by having my exhaust done before getting bigger tires. The guys at the muffler shop routed my tail pipes around my spare tire so a bigger on won't fit under there now. I'm thinking of just chancing it without a spare but I guess I could always just put a front one onto the back and the spare on the front since my ST is 2x4.

 

[LONO100]

what size wheel/tire do you plan on going to dgonz?

 

[dgonz]

When I bought the truck I think they were 235/70/16 but after my TT/shackles I have 31x10.50x15 which I think is around 265/75/15.

 

[SKURZ]

Glad I found this thread. I'm in the same boat too. I'm also running 33x12.5x15 Goodyear Duratracs, (which I love by the way) mounted on 15x8 Baja wheels. The tires I had on before were 285 75 16s on stock wheels. I know that size wise that's pretty close to my new 33s. I believe that a 285 75 16 is about equal to a 33x11.5. I stood an old tire up next to one of my new ones and they were pretty much the same height. Will I be okay diff wise using the 285 75 16 as a spare? And like I said, ONLY as a spare, to get me out of a jam and off the road or trail. Hopefully I'll never ever have to use it.
I'm glad to hear that it should fit underneath. I really didn't want to throw it up in my rack. I can't see that being too easy to get up there, or take down, not to mention throwing off your whole c of g, the wind noise and mileage.
I'm luckier than you Dgonz. I was planning on doing my exhaust too. I wanted to have dual pipes coming out the back and almost went for it. But after a lot of research on this site, I opted to stay single out. I realized that there wasn't much way (affordably) that I could keep a larger spare underneath with duals. And single out is apparently the way to go to keep low end torque. But man, I sure do like the look of two pipes popping out the back. Kinda like my 5.0 LX notch.
Thanks guys.