Tire rotation and the spare

Hi,

a few months ago I bought a ‘22 off road and so far it’s been great.

I’m getting near the 5k mark for the service (I already changed the oil myself and will probably do it every 4K from here on out as going 10k miles between changes is absurd to me) and I was wondering about the tire rotation.

Has anybody done or think it’s worthwhile to buy another OEM wheel for the spare and ditch the steely? I’d like to rotate the spare (or have the dealer do it while it’s free) but really do not want to have to swap rims every time and I know the dealership will absolutely refuse to do it.

I guess I’m wrestling with the idea that if I do get an unrepairable flat when the stock tires are worn down a fair bit that having a brand new tire on there with three worn ones would not be great for the vehicle

 

Things to consider:
- The truck only recognizes 4 of the 5 with the TPMS. Every time you rotate you have to resolve this.
- You can get away with a few miles of driving with one new and 3 worn.
FWIW I sold my 15 year old TRD OR that still had the original spare. Was lucky in that I never needed to use it. YMMV.

 

You will lose money doing a five tire rotation. At best, it will break even with a 4 tire.

 

I live for danger. I kept the OEM spare. It will do exactly what it is designed to do.

 

if I buy another tpms sensor with a new rim can it just be programmed in every time rotated?

 

4 tire rotations is the service.
I’ll charge you for dropping the spare.
Yes you can reprogram in another sensor every time you rotate.
I’ll charge you for that too.
All about time and equipment.

 

I picked up a non matching spare wheel because the OEM spare wheel has a very limited speed rating. Also, went with a bigger tire to match my other upsized tires. Glad I did both, because I’ve had a fair amount of flats, and I like having full confidence in the replacement spare to perform like a regular wheel/tire.

But that said, I don’t rotate the spare into regular use and don’t care if it’s the only one with zero wear.

 

I was told long ago that with a 4x4 it's best to just rotate tires front to back/back to front. In other words keep the driver side tires on the driver's side and passenger tires on the passenger's side with no spare involved in the rotation.

 

You're seriously over thinking this. Why waste the money?

 

I have always rotated in the full size spare.

 

That's incorrect, or in the world of partial credit, only half right. You move the back tires straight forward, but you swap the front tires going to the back.

 

Costs extra unless you got a special deal. Yes it is possible.

 

Amazing you can determine OCI and tire rotation needs better than Toyota engineers! Are you a tribologist per chance?

Honestly, doing both items your way sound like a good plan. Back in the 60's.

Time to step into the new century.

 

There are Tacoma's with 400,000 to 1,000,000 miles on them that have used 10,000 mile oil changes. Changing at 10K is actually on the conservative side. This is 2022, not 1922, changing at 4K is way too often. If you use your truck in extreme conditions 7K to 8K might not be a bad compromise. How long the oil has been in there matters more than miles. I don't like to leave oil in longer than about 6 months, certainly not more than 12 months. If you're only driving 8,000 miles a year, then changing at 4K might make sense.

It isn't worth the effort to do a 5-way tire rotation. Especially with TPMS in the wheels. Rotate the 4 tires on the ground. When you wear them out have the best of them mounted as the spare. Then you can sell your practically new spare. As long as it isn't more than about 5 years old based on the date code you should be able to get a decent amount for it. Most tire stores will buy it and deduct it's value from the cost of the new tires you just bought.

Do this every time you buy new tires. Of course by the time you get to the 2nd set of tires the spare will be close to, or out of date and worthless. But by doing this you will at least have a spare that isn't out of date and will be the same size as the 4 on the ground.

 

Your answer is at odds with the owners manual.

 

Well I’m on the fence with the spare which is why I made the thread but I will absolutely be changing the oil between 4k and 5k.

while the additive packages and obviously esters/oils have come a long way I cannot mentally get past going 10k between changes.

 

See a doc. Take meds, then join us in 2022. 10K is conservative. This oil is not 10W40 Dino and this engine is not a 350 4 barrel.

 

smiling and cracking that drain plug open with 6200 on the clock

Nobody can stop me

 

this makes the most sense and is prolly what I’ll end up doing

 

The factory spares on the Tacoma is a regular service steel wheel and a appropriately load and speed rated tire. It is not anything special.