TRD 4x4 - factory equipped wheel for the spare tire

I've not paid attention to the wheel (factory) that the spare tire is mounted on. Early on I had a new tire mounted to match the size tires I had put on the truck. Yesterday I had to use the spare due to a flat. It was then that I saw a decal of sorts on the spare wheel saying to the effect that the wheel is for temporary use only. I had not noticed this sticker before. We do a good amount of off-road stuff and now I'm concerned about this wheel being reliable.

I find it hard to believe Toyota would use this wheel on a 4x4 "off-road" model knowing that this vehicle is marketed for off road use.

Anyone have experience driving off road for any length of time or distance with this sub-standard wheel?

John M

 

The spare is fully capable of service. In fact many purchase them for winter tire. There is no need to worry about it.

 

The spare wheel doesn’t have the flat-mating surfaces for the OEM lug nuts and is not hub-centric (from my recollection). It’s temporary because it’s not ideally suited for long term use with the set-up the truck comes with and could introduce vibration.

Lots of people get acorn nuts and run Toyota Spare wheels as ‘Steelies’, so no biggy honestly.

 

I have run steels and the factory lug nuts for years as winters without any issue.

 

Yeah. The factory lugs have a cone on the bottom for this. I think it’s still better to get proper acorn nuts as the cone on the OEM aluminum-wheel lug nuts isn’t as deep.

I dunno…..

 

I questioned this at first too, but then realized, Toyota does not include spare lug nuts for the steel spare and does not include an aluminum spare for mag style lug equipped vehicles. If there was a liability issue, they certainly would have done one or the other. So to my small brain it made sense that the mag style lug nuts were safe to use on the steel wheels.

 

They absolved themselves of all liability with the “temporary use” sticker. No suing Toyota when your wheels fall off!

Pretty sure Toyota lawyers monitor this site, so I would guess this is now on your permanent record at corporate.

 

The interesting part about that sticker is, it only comes on factory equipped spare assemblies. It does not come on the wheel when ordered from the parts counter. Even though it is the exact same part number, but yes, that is their get out of liability card... err sticker.

 

Are the steel wheels hubcentric?

 

I would say yes. They fit snug on the hub when mounted.

 

I would like to change my answer... they have to be lug-centric since they have the cone.

 

Ok. One more question: is the offset the same?

 

I have not measured it, but it does appear to be in the +25 to +30 area similar to the TRD Sport, TRD Off-Road aluminum wheels.

 

The spare tire does what's it's supposed to do. Replace your flat tire until you get it fixed. It's not meant to be a permanent solution.

 

Plenty of room in the underseat cubby to stash a wheel's worth of the proper lug nuts for that steel wheel for some added peace of mind if you think you're going to be using the spare for extended distances.

 

My 2011 spare is a totally different wheel than the other steel wheels yes of course it fits but it's not the same as the others. No experience with the alloy wheels so I have no ideal how Toyota decided to hold the spare on seems like they would have a set of lugs to hold them on other wise they would have a lot of very unhappy people.

 

Follow-up - I went to a see wheel guy this evening, met him at his house - he has been in the wheel business 40+ years, so I do trust his judgement. He said the decal on the steel wheel "not suited for extended use" (or something to that effect) refers to its intended use ONLY when it has the donut spare, not when it has a full size tire - the wheel itself is nothing to be concerned about. He said that the steel spare wheel appears to have the same offset as the factory alloy wheels. He suggested instead of using the alloy factory wheel lug nuts, I might get 6 "bulged acorn" 12mm x 1.5 lug nuts - he sell's 'em $1.00 each. So, tomorrow I'm going to his shop, they'll take a wheel/tire off the truck, mount the spare, and just be certain I'm comfortable with the fit and way it tightens and decide if I'd be happier with other than factory lug nuts.

John M

 

We sell the spares as winter rims, all you need is lug nuts. The factory alloy lugs are the only temporary part of the scenario.

I've run spares as winter rims (with proper lugs), it's very common. You are way overthinking this.

 

I had a flat tire once and the guy at the tire store flipped out when he took the spare off because of the lug nuts. He insisted the Factory Spare was wrong and didnt come with the truck, I even showed him the cone at the bottom of the lugs to no avail.

 

These trucks don't come with a donut spare on any trim so I think you're wheel guy is mistaken. My '20 came with the same Goodyear A/T tires which are mounted on the factory Alloy wheels.

It's my understanding that the decal is there because the spare tire/wheel has no TPMS sensor in it, which means while you're using it your TPMS light will be on.

As far as lug nuts go, the one time I've used my spare while on a roadtrip they stock lugs held fine and I appreciated not having to dig around for another set of lug nuts while sitting on the side of a busy highway. 100 miles later the tire which failed was replaced and the spare was back under the bed.