Opinions please

[kvenner]

State inspection is due, and it’s likely I will need tires. I currently have five BFG M/Ts with one very good spare. I think I want to go with the A/Ts (for street-ability). I hate to buy five new tires when I have a good spare, but I’m afraid the one M/T on the back will look goofy with the A/Ts. I do have a spare tire cover I could use. What do you guys think?

 

[67Customs]

State inspection is due, and it’s likely I will need tires. I currently have five BFG M/Ts with one very good spare. I think I want to go with the A/Ts (for street-ability). I hate to buy five new tires when I have a good spare, but I’m afraid the one M/T on the back will look goofy with the A/Ts. I do have a spare tire cover I could use. What do you guys think?

My personal opinion is that it will not look right. I have always hated seeing non-matching spare wheels and tires on a vehicle, especially a Jeep. It will look even more goofy if you ever need to use the spare. If you don't buy all five though, I would definitely use the spare tire cover.

Just my opinion.

 

[ChiefRudy]

I would buy all 5 new tires and then start rotating all 5 tires. Thats what I do. Sure, you have to buy 5 tires instead of four every time you need tires but you get your moneys worth out of the 5th tire and it pro-longs the life of your tires believe it or not.

 

[snowsport]

Both of those are good reasons to have matching spares: the appearance and the function.

 

[sevenhelmet]

I had a similar dilemma a few months ago and bought 5 new tires. My spare was brand new, but it didn't even match the tires I had then and I was sick of having an unused spare. I now include the spare in my tire rotation to prolong the life of my tires. It also keeps me from "wasting" a tire if I decide to upgrade when my tires are old.

It's easy to spot a guy who just bought offroad tires because they "look good". Look at the back. You'll see a stock street tire spare on a stock rim. Looks silly and, as snowsport already said, it is non-functional if the tires under the Jeep are anything bigger than stock.

Don't be that guy. My $0.02.

 

[Dave]

It is best to have all 5 matching I guess. But what I have done is get 4 and get past your inspection. Then sell your spare (which I'm guessing is pretty good) and then take that money and put it towards a matching spare. It will lessen the blow of buying all 5 at once.

Just a thought.

Dave

 

[VTNomad]

5 tire rortation

Rotation in the spare will increase the number of miles you can go on a set of tires, but it also increases the size (and therefore price) of the set from 4 to 5. You'll be paying the exact same price per mile, if you're doing a 4 tire roatation, and just replacing 4, or you're doing a 5 tire rotation and replacing 5. A five tire rotation will get you 25% more miles, but will cost 25% more. For example, you'll be dropping $800 for every 48,000 miles, or $1000 for every 60,000 miles.

I've always done a four tire rotation. When I switched to the SilentArmors, I didn't replace the spare. It would have cost another $200 to have a spare SilentArmor installed and balanced, I couldn't justify that for a tire that most likely will never be used.

The MT will look different, but if anyone ever asks, just say you have a set of matching wheels with 4 MT's at home, sitting in the garage that you swap out when you go off roading. You can afford to wear off all you tread on the highway, or that only an idiot would waste a set of MT's on the highway.

I like the aggressive look of an MT on the back.

 

[Marlon_JB2]

I do a 4 tire rotation as well. I never understood the 5 tire.

The only justification I can see for buying a matching spare for switching tire brands/models would be if you changed sizes, like when I went with P245/70R16s to replace the P215/75R16s that were already on there. Other than that, no.

 

[jnaut]

I do a 4 tire rotation as well. I never understood the 5 tire.

The only justification I can see for buying a matching spare for switching tire brands/models would be if you changed sizes, like when I went with P245/70R16s to replace the P215/75R16s that were already on there. Other than that, no.

I'm kind of a cheater-cheater pumpkin eater. When I went from stock to my Yokohama's, I had been doing a 4 tire rotation, so I kept by brand new stock tire and left on the back. When I wear out my Yoko's, I figure I'll move one of the worn out one's to the spare and then buy 4 new Yoko's. I suppose if I could get a price on my practically brand new stock tire, I might buy a new fifth tire. But don't tires have a shelf life anyway? Even if unused, a tire that's been sitting in the sun for 5 years on the back of a vehicle is questionable, right?

 

[JeepJeepster]

My spare hasnt matched in around 2 years.