Min spare tire size

[symon_say]

Hi

I'll be adding a LPG conversion kit to my eX and the tank will be mount where the spare tire is, and i'll have to put the spare tire in the back, but i dont want to lose all my cargo area.

I want to make a custom spare tire place back there but want to know the minimun safe size of a spare tire, so i can take the best space. Or have anybody put inside the vehicle or have any idea.

PS: I've never use a spare tire on any vehicle

 

[IZwack]

If you have an AWD or a 4WD vehicle, you can not run a smaller spare tire as doing so will damage the transfer case. If you have a 2WD, then you can run a smaller spare tire.

EDIT--
IF you do have a 4WD (with the 4.0L engine) and not the AWD (with the 5.0L or 4.6L engine), you can do the "brown wire mod" (BWM), which would disasble automatic 4WD engagement. That would allow you to run a smaller spare. If you are interested in this method, search for "BWM".

 

[symon_say]

My eX is 2WD. I wont use a spare for more than 15-20 min until i arrive to repair the damage one.

 

[IZwack]

Well then you can run a smaller spare, but I have no idea what smaller size would be good. I guess it depends on how much tilt or lean looks okay to you. If you do blow a tire and its one of the front tires, I would move one of the good rear tires in place of that blown front tire and use the smaller spare in the back. The reason being that there is more weight at the front (the engine mostly) so the smaller diameter tire would influence vehicle balance less when it is mounted in the back.

 

[Anime]

For temporary use, and to save space and weight, get a "space saver" spare. Anything will do, as long as the wheel has the same bolt pattern as your Explorer. Something from a minivan or a "crossover" SUV would probably be best, as a spare from a car would be too small. You can drive at low speeds with a slightly smaller space saver spare, but something the size of a little car tire might be unsafe.

I would think you'd want to mount the spare in the front on a RWD vehicle due to the differential, but handling is probably better with a small tire in the back as mentioned.

 

[Neil1750825]

Small Spare Tire Damage

I'm not absolutely certain, but I put a small 215 or so size tire on my Explorer which was essentially a car tire. I blew a tire on the interstate and it was all I had under the vehicle. When this happened, my transfer case was shot SHORTLY after and when i took the transfer case apart, it stunk of scorched oil. I blew the tire and then drove about 150 feet with a ragged blown tire on basically the rim. Then i drove about 50 miles with the 215 tire. I'm not sure which act hurt the transfer case more but either way, a tow and tire would have cost less than a tire and a transfer case looking back on it now. Hope this saves somebody a case.

 

[huntman58]

Old thread but info that may help someone

Smaller spare tire use in an emergency.
Always mount the smaller spare on a none drive wheel!
This is especially critical when the driven wheels are limited slip or lockers.

With a 4x4 you must shift to 2wheel drive and fallow the above info for the drive wheels.

AWD = all wheel drive there is no safe use of a smaller spare then the rest of the main tires. Any such use can and most likely will cause damage to the drive system! This is also true for a 4x4 when in 4wheel drive!

If using a space saver spare always use on a none drive wheel and always drive under 50MPH and never use this kind of tire for more then about 50 miles total driven miles in its life! Any thing past that it becomes dangerously thin from wear. This is also why they can not be used on any drive wheel for safety reasons. They can not handle the heat or the extra scuffing that a driven tire will face. Last never ever and I do mean never use a space saving spare if its low on air as this will only increase the heat and scuff ware shorten the life of the tire and also the speed and miles it can be drive period.

When ever possible and this is a personal opinion always change a space saver / smaller tire to a full size tire if it is at all possible. This includes even removing the space saver and replacing it with a full size tire before any need happens even at the cost of some space! Doing this you will be able to drive at normal HWY speeds and if need be longer distance tell you can fix or replace the bad tire. One more benefit is if you have 5 tires same size on the same rims you can rotate all 5 and get a bit longer wear from the set also and in a off road bad spot if you blow a tire your not stuck in 2 wheel drive but can still use 4 wheel drive and from a person who has had to get out of a bad spot in 2 wheel drive its no fun and a lesson I learned well and will never repeat!

 

[Neil1750825]

There is hardly any wiggle room with the SOHC engines. They all have AWD transfer cases and if you don't have the same diameter tire, don't put it on there or you'll have a torched transfer case. Don't listen to what anyone else says on this forum. It will cause damage unless you're traveling 200 feet or less. Thats what I was saying in my previous post.