Steel spare wheel - "Temporary Use Only" sticker?

Looking at the 6-lug steel spare-tire wheel that came with my 2014 AC V6 4x4 MT TRD OR -- it looks like a normal, full-strength steel wheel to me, but I haven't seen enough of them to be sure.

Why does it have a "For temporary use only" sticker on it? (Assuming that the tire I will put on it is a brand-new full-size normal tire.) Is the sticker needed because the truck comes with stock 16" alloy (aluminum) wheels (which I am running at this time) and the differing mass (heavier) of the steel wheel, particularly on the rear axle, would cause long-term issues due to different amts of torque required to accelerate/drive the heavier steel vs. ligher alloy wheel?

I want to include this spare wheel + tire in my normal ~4-5K tire-rotation plan so it wears evenly w/ the regular tires.

 

Don’t know the purpose of a 5th rotate. Never done it.

far as I’m aware oval hole presence means low speed limited.

zero oval holes, and full circular holes is a regular steel wheel without that limitation, can be found for cheap, and can also be sourced from FJ steelies.

I switched from oval hole spare to a circle holes spare, 17”.

 

Gotcha. Staring me right in the face, that strangely-placed oval hole. Of course that would compromise strength and potentially balancing. Weird choice by Toyota.

Edit: google search says the reason for the oval hole is to make it possible to check the air pressure in the spare without having to drop it from the vehicle. Makes a bit more sense.

 

In my view the theoretical point of a 5-th wheel rotate is to keep even wear across all tires so that if the spare was ever needed it would be fully capable and ready to use for extended periods in any driving conditions (including high speed) without possible issues caused by A) different diameter (spare being larger than the other tires) or B) different traction (spare having a lot more grip because it's still brand-new, basically.)

Let's say the brand new tire has 12/32" tread depth and a very worn tire has 3/32", that's a difference of 0.21" radius or 0.41" diameter on a 30" tire, or ~1.4%.

Is a 1.4% difference in tire diameter & wheel speed enough to screw with ABS / VSC? Or any other issues related to unequal torque on the axle?

 

I recently replaced the spare on my '11 when I got new tires on all 4 wheels. The tire had never been on the road, but once a year I dropped and lubricated the lift unit. This year, I noted that the spare, which was an original tire, had numerous lateral cracks on the sidewall. I got a "cheap" tire for use as a spare (compared to the Michelin Defenders on the 4 wheels). When looking underneath I saw that the tire tech had put the spare on, but he had rotated the wheel 180 degrees (flipped it). I saw that the steel wheel had a "temp use" sticker which I never noticed before when I did the lubrication. It appears that the sticker was a "normal" placement, at least on my '11.

 

I believe it has to do with the lug nuts and the wheel. Factory lug nuts aren't supposed to be used long term with the spare wheel.

edit: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lug-nuts-for-spare-steel-wheel.805772/#post-28891376

 

Thanks. Will def. pick up the appropriate lug nuts to use for extended and/or off-road driving on the steel spare.

 

Your math is off. 9/32" (12/32 - 3/32, per your example) is .281", which works out to .009% of a 30" diameter. Not worth the consideration.

 

But is it? A single thickness is the radius. Diameter = radius x 2.

 

Oops, you're right... .018%. That's .018 of 1 percent, still not worth the bother.

 

But is it .018%? Or is it .562 " / 30" = 0.0187 which is.. 1.8%. Nearly 1.9% if rounding.

Based on what I've seen elsewhere on the internet (the subject of tire wear/diameter differences has been discussed plenty) I think 1.9% is probably tolerable for a certain distance at lower speeds, probably not ideal for long-term/ongoing use.

 

I thought the oval hole was there to stick a tire inflation tool in and top off air pressure..
The valve stem is point up, you need a dual head inflator. Or at least that's the only way to air up with out dropping the tire down.

 

never used that kind of inflator. It is one style of many styles out there. Not commonly used in shops, gas stations, or Costco self serve tire fill.
Or air compressor.

I may be wrong. But will say this. There is steelies out there people seem to run full time, such as aftermarket or FJ 17.
I just run 4 tires and rotate them.
Don’t know if the specific tire is a factor.

just a heads up, if the oval is in fact just one for airing up
I had no idea. Always placed my spare upside down with the rim down. Stem exposed. So I could air it. Figured it made sense that way. It’s not hitting anything and so far the hoist has worked without issue holding it that way. At the end of the day it’s a steelie with a hole and no cap, for the holder to grab regardless of side, and be cinched tight.

eventual goal is swingout, Archive HH w high clearance cross tube that blocks spare

It appears later Dirt King released their own version with angled bars that doesn’t block spare
Not that cramming a 35 in there is easy anyway.

had a working removal tool (the bars that put together) until one stripped and further got beat up at a tire shop

they don’t look rounded to slide like Archive and who knows what other comparisons



maybe I’m thinking of the weird uglier spare might’ve had that one originally

that would make sense. For example, even a 5x114.3 can probably be star patterned to run on a 5x112 car. And/or cone seat lugs used on a ball seat or vice versa. But it is not ideal.

Steelies are typically straight ball seat. While I think alloy Tacoma wheels are a combination of both ball seat and outer flat seat that is trickier to get straight then other designs.

 

Not something I would do or recommend but I’ve been passed by people with the tiny donut spare going at least 90mph. Then Ive also seen people standing next to a flat donut on the side of the freeway. I don’t want to say anything else in fear of jinxing myself.

 

The aluminum spare on my 14' Limited is the exact same casting as the 18" wheels that came on the truck....except it doesn't have the dumb plastic cover stuck on it. It also doesn't have the TPMS transmitter. It came with the same sticker as shown on the steel rim. Toyota saved the price of a transmitter - for the price of a sticker.

My guess is that the missing transmitter is the sole reasoning behind the warning. Otherwise the OEM spare has to be mechanically safe to install on a loaded truck.