Not much room for a larger spare tire under our trucks

[CATOY]

The Off Road with a temporary spare doesn't have much room for those thinking of replacing it with a taller tire. The trailer hitch is in the way. I haven't tried dropping the spare to see if it will move back off center enough to mount a larger spare up there.

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[Tacanta14]

You'd think that for what they priced the '24 Taco at you'd get a full size spare, like my '22 Bronco, but maybe it's because of a limit on the space underneath, just like the space for the fuel tank.

 

[Type2Diabetes]

I went with a set of 285/70/17 BFG KO3. They will be in tomorrow.

Was looking the other day and was concerned about a 285/70/17 fitting in the stock spare tire location as I plan on getting a used 285/70/17 to put back there.

Took a digital caliper out and measured the distance from the inner hitch assembly (pictured above) to the 245/75/17 spare tire.

This inner hitch assembly is the only major clearance spot for the tires I plan on running for now.

There is approximately 37.04 mm of clearance ( tread to hitch)

A 245/75/17 is 799.3 mm in diameter

A 285/70/17 is 830.8 mm in diameter

799.3 mm + 37.04 = 836.34 mm of clearance

A 285/70/17 should fit with a little less than a quarter inch of clearance. With that said I’ll probably grind some relief off the inner hitch to allow a little more room, or as OP stated try to move the spare off center to allow room.

In the future i will be getting a rear bumper with swing outs and spare carrier, so will have to evaluate if the juice is worth the squeeze.

I’m sure the folks already running the 285/70/17 probably can chime in if they replaced there spare.

 

[CuriousTaco]

What's the clearance like at the front of the spare tire?

I'd be more inclined to cut/modify the exhaust than grind anything by the hitch. The trailhunter's dump before the rear axle seems like the easiest way to gain extra clearance.

 

[Type2Diabetes]

What's the clearance like at the front of the spare tire?

I'd be more inclined to cut/modify the exhaust than grind anything by the hitch. The trailhunter's dump before the rear axle seems like the easiest way to gain extra clearance.

Thanks for the idea i appreciate it! Pretty wide open up front. At this point I’ll see what it looks like once it gets mounted and go from there. As Steve mentions above maybe able to off center the spare a bit. Only need about 1.25 inches to get the clearance the truck shipped with.

 

[tacotac]

Anyone tried to fit a 285/70/17 or larger?

 

[CATOY]

I took a look at the spare tire this afternoon and it's not looking too good for much bigger tires or pushing the wheel back a bit to get more room where the rear of the trailer hitch is. There's two hard stops, one of each side to keep the tire from rubbing the sway bar. You can see the two hard stops in a couple pictures. The last picture shows the maximum amount of room you can gain and that said, you should be able to fit a larger tire than the spare that comes on the Off Road, not sure what size temporary spares the other trucks come with. I also found out that the second hole in the trailer hitch receiver is blocked and doesn't go all the way through.

 

[Powhunter]

My hope was to put a 275/70r17 which is around 32.2 diameter, in the spare location. Stock tire is around 31.7.

 

[CATOY]

My hope was to put a 275/70r17 which is around 32.2 diameter, in the spare location. Stock tire is around 31.7.

That should probably work. Someone out there needs to try it and let everyone know.

 

[Powhunter]

That should probably work. Someone out there needs to try it and let everyone know.

My truck is supposed to be here first week of April, and if I haven’t heard anything once I get that tire in, I’ll report back.

 

[Romer]

Any progress with fitting a real spare?

 

[2TR-FE]

I know many of us who are serious about off-roading carry an air compressor. do you think airing down a full size tire would work?

 

[oxi]

My plans are to keep the phony spare underneath as a weight for the truck.

I am running 265/70 R18, so for this year it will remain in the bed secured. If I need the full bed, it will have to come into the cab, rear passenger area. My 2016 SR access cab, I kept the full spare 265/75 R16 behind the passenger seat and it nestled in the foot well very nice.

Plans for my new TRD Sport will be either roof basket, so when I need the bed, I use one of my many ramps to slide it up on the roof basket and when done, bring it back down into the bed.

Other solution will be a new rear bumper with swing gate to mount the full 265/70 R18 like a 4runner or Jeep in back and match with a low profile front steel bumper.

It will all depend on how I like the look of the front and rear OEM plastic covered bumpers before I decide. Never have I had the spare mounted underneath less for weight. Corrosion is a big deal and I am not getting down there to drop the spare in a cold rainy or snowy day.

Some examples of past trucks.

My old 2010 SR5 bronze oxide... 265/75 R16 first image.

My old 2010 SR5 bronze oxide... 285/75 R16 second image.

My old 1985 2wd 4-speed manual... 32x10.5 R15 last image.

 

[spenticus]

I know many of us who are serious about off-roading carry an air compressor. do you think airing down a full size tire would work?

This is what I was thinking, that makes sense right?

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