2014 Ford pickup spare tire ????

Robert in Md. · Jul 30, 2014

I purchased a new 2014 Ford F-150 STX pickup about 2 months ago. I just noticed that the spare tire is a P265/70 R17 and the four tires on the truck are R265/60 R18. I consider the spare a Ford ripoff . How can I use the spare when one of the other tires need replacing. The truck rims are some kind of aluminum fancy rims and the spare is a steel rim.
Also how safe is it to run one 17 inch with 3 18 inch tires.
Going to call Ford Motor company tomorrow about this. Looking for guidance.

.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 30, 2014

I remember a time that 3/4 ton Fords did not even come with a spare tire.

Robert in Md. · Jul 30, 2014

I got an 1989 3/4 ton Dodge pickup that didn,t come with a spare or even a tire rack for a spare.

jwmfarms · Jul 30, 2014

Look up the rolling circumfrence of the two tire sizes. I"ll bet the are the same, or very close.

robgIN · Jul 30, 2014

no different than the little donut spares on cars. It is only meant to be used as a temporary tire until you get the flat fixed. I would have to say that probably well in excess of 90% of the spare tires on trucks look like they have never been on the ground. I think we have an old 85 F-150 with a spare that still has the t@ts on it. Those fancy aluminum rims are probably 600 bucks apiece....

BarryfromIA · Jul 30, 2014

My 96 Dodge 3/4 ton had a one of the used original tires on the spare until last fall when it got new tires then the best of the ones that were on the ground went to the spare.

showcrop · Jul 30, 2014

How do you figure that it is a rip-off? don't you know that you would have had to pay more for a full sized tire and alloy rim? It is also part of the need to keep weight down in order to meet fleet MPG requirements. How old are you? Are you old enough to drive?

OL88D · Jul 30, 2014

Just got a 2014 Chevy 1500 and have the same thing.
18" alloy wheels and a 17" spare. Don"t like it either but guess we have no choices

GregCO · Jul 30, 2014

Your spare is just barely an inch taller then the others. Rolling circumference is what is going to matter and the two are so close it wont matter for short term use as a spare. They do what they have to do to keep cost down and make things fit and still meet fuel mileage requirements. The 60 series probably wouldn't fit the carrier for the spare underneath and they went with the next closest size to keep the ground clearance up.

ShadetreeRet · Jul 30, 2014

Good point. The tires on the truck being 60 series and spare being a 70 series should put the circumference very close,

Robert in Md. · Jul 30, 2014

Yes, I at least thought I could put the spare on the Aluminum rim and eventally use the spare . One of Fords sales points is a full size spare comes as standard equipment.

I don,t consider this a full size spare tire.

Wheatfarmer · Jul 30, 2014

I did live at 9000' elev, 15% grade dirt roads, 20 miles to town. When I buy a new car/truck I MAKE them give me a full size apare tire. They are the ones that say you have to have the SAME size tire on all four of a 4 wheel drive. bought a new Subaru several years ago. Spare tire was on top of the engine. they said a full size would not fit. I Said I didn't want the car. Yep One did fit.

wisbaker · Jul 30, 2014

It's not a T265/70 R17 so it's full size and a regular tire. I'd be scared to put my full size spare into regular use, it's too old for that. It's a 2001 Ford and yes the spare was the same size but it's on a steel rim the others are Aluminium. Besides the first time I bought tires I went to one of the optional sizes so now my spare doesn't match.

ss55 · Jul 30, 2014

Matching spares on matching alloy wheels are often an extra cost option. Few dealers order that option because most buyers don't want it. Your dealer can get one for you but it probably won't be cheap. Consider a less expensive steel wheel and a good used tire for a spare. Years ago, most new pickups came with a spare wheel, but no spare tire. Buyers purchased used tires locally for their spare wheel.

Most people never need to uses their spare tire, so a full size spare is a waste of money and and a waste gas mileage for probably 90 percent of car buyers and over 50 percent of pickup/SUV buyers. I carry a tire pump or an air compressor in every vehicle. I haven't used a spare in over 30 years.

ss55 · Jul 30, 2014

That's a good point. I have a '94 pickup with the original unused full size spare tire. I check the air pressure twice a year but have never replaced the spare when I replace other tires. It might be due.

casecollectorsc · Jul 30, 2014

Got a 92 3/4 ton Dodge Cummins, spare tire is under the bed yet, brand new. Almost 300000 miles. Spare should be good, it's protected from the sun.

Ken Macfarlane · Jul 30, 2014

It is a full size spare, it has full speed rating and load rating. What is the last new vehicle you bought? If you didn't take the fancy alloy rim option all your rims and tires would have been 17" and matched but not many dealers will rotate the spare during tire rotations.

Its purpose is to sit below the bed on the crank thing for 5 years until you need it, at which point the winch is all seized and rusted so you have to get towed to somewhere they can torch the tab off to mount your spare. You then carry the spare flopping around the bed the next 5 years until you decide you haven't used it so it goes behind the barn. The next day you get a flat tire away from home.

Russ from MN · Jul 31, 2014

I don't even know what size my spare is on our 13 Silverado. I haven't used a spare tire in many years, I carry a plugging kit and a little compressor. I can plug them and air them up quicker than changing them. And the last time I had to do that was 7 years ago.

Logan in SE Texas · Jul 31, 2014

I can"t speak about Fords but in GM trucks the spare tire is a 17" and the fancy chrome wheels are 20".
The spare tire size is such that it has the same diameter as the 20" tires on the ground. No problems whatsoever in using it!

howdy1960 · Jul 31, 2014

My 95 Mazda B2300(Ranger) has alloy wheels and steel spare. Took 15 minutes to get spare off carrier when doing some other work. Gotta love rust. Also still haven't the found jack yet. No place for it under the hood like last Ranger had. Maybe it came with a spare and no jack LOL

mkirsch · Jul 31, 2014

Who says you CAN, or even WANT to use the spare when it comes time for new tires?

First off, the spare will be 4, 5, 6 years old by the time your original tires are worn out. Given tire quality these days, it'll be showing weather checking and signs of deterioration.

Second off, it will be gray and dry looking, with rusty rub marks where it pushes against the truck frame. Do you really want three shiny black sneakers and one dingy gray one with rust marks on your truck?

Third off the rim will be corroded. Three nice shiny rims and one corroded nasty looking thing? No thanks.

Fourth off, who says that style of tires will still be available? More than likely, not.

This is nothing new anyway. My 2003 Chevy has a plain black steel rim for a spare, but the truck has the chrome steel rims. I was going to do a 5-tire rotation until I found that out. When I went to get new tires the first time, that brand/style was no longer available. So, 11 years later the spare is still under there, brand new. Still holds air at least.

DaninKansas · Jul 31, 2014

Look at your options list. You only got ripped off if there are 5 alloy wheels listed and you only got 4. Otherwise you got the standard spare tire. I don't think I've ever seen a car or pickup that had a matching alloy or aluminum rim for a spare - once in the while a suv or Jeep that has a front or rear mounted spare will have a matching 5th wheel.

jm. · Jul 31, 2014

If you are worried about that better go on and get you a video of how to use the jack and where to find it in the truck. And yes practice putting it back in place, have seen two folks that had to go to internet to find how to return it to storage . I trade ever year and I think you have the standard spare.

Rich_WI · Jul 31, 2014

(quoted from post at 20:09:34 07/30/14) I purchased a new 2014 Ford F-150 STX pickup about 2 months ago. I just noticed that the spare tire is a P265/70 R17 and the four tires on the truck are R265/60 R18. I consider the spare a Ford ripoff . How can I use the spare when one of the other tires need replacing. The truck rims are some kind of aluminum fancy rims and the spare is a steel rim.
Also how safe is it to run one 17 inch with 3 18 inch tires.
Going to call Ford Motor company tomorrow about this. Looking for guidance.

.

Your truck doesnt care what size rim it has on it. You can run a 15 inch tire is it fits over the brakes or you can pimp-daddy it out and put some 22s on it. The truck doesnt care. What the truck cares about it the circumference of the tire, never the rim size.

In your case, the spare tire is 3.7% taller than the others according to the tire size comparer. http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp That is considered acceptable. Keep in mind that those measurments are just math, the actual tires could be a little different due to tread design.

If your tire size was way off, all you would have to do is make sure the small spare is not on a drive wheel. It sucks when you have a flat on the rear because then you have to change 2 tires to get the small spare on the front but its doable for most people. For others, theres AAA or like was mentioned, plug in place and air the tire back up.

2014 Ford pickup spare tire ????

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