SQOD Squad - Stupid Question Of the Day (12 Viewers)

[LX Cruiser]

I only do 4 tire rotation. So my spare KO2 is pretty much brand new.

I’m more considering if I’m on a road trip and need to put the spare onto one of the axles due to a flat.
In that situation, I would get the flat tire repaired or replaced ASAP but depending on location this could still be many miles on-road and off with the misweighted tires.

That's totally fine.

I do 5-tire rotations. Below is the pattern I use. Each tire spends a 5k-mile timeout in the spare position. 5-tire rotations are not necessary but I like to think they extend my tire life a bit. Everything wears evenly, including the spare.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

You’re overthinking it. This is very simple. All your tires should match—size, weight, tread pattern, rubber compound. This is not controversial.

Go into any tire store and tell them you want three of one tire and a fourth of a totally different brand/tread/weight. Even if you say “oh but I want it in the same nominal size,” they’ll look at you like you’re crazy and most likely refuse.

The exception is if it’s just the spare (very limited use), which I said in my first post is fine.

“I really shouldn’t” lolol

Do you also make sure to place your passengers based on their weight so as to evenly load the suspension? Seems equally important.

 

[gaijin]

I’m about to switch from KO2’s to Firestone Destinations. I’ll keep the same size of 275/70r18’s with the Destinations.

However, the Destinations are 8lbs lighter per tire.

So my question is if I should also switch out my spare? Should I need to use the spare, will the 8lb difference on that one tire be an issue?

A few questions first:

- Are all 5 of your current tires the LT275/70R18 125/122R Load Range E BFG KO2's?
- Are all 5 of your wheels the same?
- Are the 4 tires you are looking to buy the Firestone Destination X/T LT275/70R18 125S Load Range E?
- Is your BFG KO2 spare tire still within 6 years of its manufacturing date?

If yes to all 4 questions, and you will only use your current BFG KO2 spare in emergencies for a short period of time until you can replace the damaged tire, then no, there is no need to replace your KO2 spare.

If my tire assumptions are wrong, or your spare is more than 6 years old, then yes, you should also replace the spare.

Let me know.

HTH

 

[MCtree]

A few questions first:

- Are all 5 of your current tires the LT275/70R18 125/122R Load Range E BFG KO2's?
- Are all 5 of your wheels the same?
- Are the 4 tires you are looking to buy the Firestone Destination X/T LT275/70R18 125S Load Range E?
- Is your BFG KO2 spare tire still within 6 years of its manufacturing date?

If yes to all 4 questions, and you will only use your current BFG KO2 spare in emergencies for a short period of time until you can replace the damaged tire, then no, there is no need to replace your KO2 spare.

If my tire assumptions are wrong, or your spare is more than 6 years old, then yes, you should also replace the spare.

Let me know.

HTH

1. Yes all 5 of my current tires are LT275/70R18 125/122R Load Range E BFG KO2's
2. Yes. All 5 of my wheels are the same. The bronze ones that come with heritages. (I purchased the 5th one to match the other 4 since the spare was initially aluminum.)
3. Yes. I plan on buying either 4 or 5 of the Firestone Destination X/T LT275/70R18 125S Load Range E.
4. Yes, my current KO2 is only about 3 years old.

Your use of “short period of time” gives me pause. I could see me needing to use the spare for a day or two given the situation.

 

[dudemancool1904]

1. Yes all 5 of my current tires are LT275/70R18 125/122R Load Range E BFG KO2's
2. Yes. All 5 of my wheels are the same. The bronze ones that come with heritages. (I purchased the 5th one to match the other 4 since the spare was initially aluminum.)
3. Yes. I plan on buying either 4 or 5 of the Firestone Destination X/T LT275/70R18 125S Load Range E.
4. Yes, my current KO2 is only about 3 years old.

Your use of “short period of time” gives me pause. I could see me needing to use the spare for a day or two given the situation.

I think a day or two is fine. He probably means a whole rotation period like 5k miles.

 

[gaijin]

1. Yes all 5 of my current tires are LT275/70R18 125/122R Load Range E BFG KO2's
2. Yes. All 5 of my wheels are the same. The bronze ones that come with heritages. (I purchased the 5th one to match the other 4 since the spare was initially aluminum.)
3. Yes. I plan on buying either 4 or 5 of the Firestone Destination X/T LT275/70R18 125S Load Range E.
4. Yes, my current KO2 is only about 3 years old.

Your use of “short period of time” gives me pause. I could see me needing to use the spare for a day or two given the situation.

Great! My preference would be to purchase 5 new tires and perform regular 5-tire rotations, but you should be fine only buying 4 new tires, doing 4-tire rotations, and keeping your BFG KO2 as a spare.

Using the spare for a few days would be no problem.

P.S. Just FYI, the RCTIP for those LT275/70R18 tires on your LC200 is 41psi F/R.

HTH

 

[linuxgod]

It really depends on the conditions - unfortunately, there is no clear, general guidance for this.

If you are on sand or any smooth road, then you would probably be OK going 40 mph for short periods of time; but still, you should avoid any extreme maneuvers, hard braking, etc.

Bear in mind that the two biggest enemies of a tire are low pressure and (consequently) heat build-up. Try to avoid conditions that push either of these conditions beyond normal limits.

HTH

FYI I started monitoring tire temps using OBD Fusion and I’ve found my rear tires run hotter when towing than my tires have ever run when aired down even on pavement. Towing I’ll see sustained 130F for hours. Aired down to 16-17 psi I’ll see <120 driving 30-40 mph for extended periods between trails.

That said aired down can be like driving on marshmallows - I would not want to have to take evasive maneuvers or drive at 75mph+ highway speeds. But tire devulcanization shouldn’t be a concern if you’re keeping it under 45 or so

 

[MCtree]

Great! My preference would be to purchase 5 new tires and perform regular 5-tire rotations, but you should be fine only buying 4 new tires, doing 4-tire rotations, and keeping your BFG KO2 as a spare.

Using the spare for a few days would be no problem.

P.S. Just FYI, the RCTIP for those LT275/70R18 tires on your LC200 is 41psi F/R.

HTH

Ha! Thanks! I was going to wait until I had the tires before asking you the RCTIP.

And thank you everybody who chimed in on this question. I appreciate the input!

 

[LX Cruiser]

2. Yes. All 5 of my wheels are the same. The bronze ones that come with heritages. (I purchased the 5th one to match the other 4

I’d buy all 5 tires. With your matching spare, you are set up for 5-tire rotations.

 

[MCtree]

I’d buy all 5 tires. With your matching spare, you are set up for 5-tire rotations.

Yes, this is what I think I will do. I think I was getting penny wise and pound foolish.

Speaking of… if anybody in the Houston area could use an unused KO2 275/70r18, PM me.
I’ll price it to move - $0.00!

I’ll put a post on the sales forum as well… but since we are talking about that spare here I thought I would mention it.

 

[manofthewoods]

That's totally fine.

I do 5-tire rotations. Below is the pattern I use. Each tire spends a 5k-mile timeout in the spare position. 5-tire rotations are not necessary but I like to think they extend my tire life a bit. Everything wears evenly, including the spare.
View attachment 3890156

As indicated in post 7,703; an advantage of a 5 tire rotation is not having to toss an unused spare that is too old to be safe. Moreover, while a 5 tire rotation is somewhat of a hassle, it gives you a chance to make sure the hanger is functional when it's most needed.

 

[LX Cruiser]

As indicated in post 7,703; an advantage of a 5 tire rotation is not having to toss an unused spare that is too old to be safe. Moreover, while a 5 tire rotation is somewhat of a hassle, it gives you a chance to make sure the hanger is functional when it's most needed.

Yeah, some people leave their spare on for a decade or more. Not good.

I actually prefer the 5-tire rotation. I can lower the spare to the ground and jack one corner at a time, starting with the rear passenger and going in the pattern I posted above. I don't need to use two jacks or put stands under the rear axle or anything like that. It's quite nice

 

[FrazzledHunter]

As indicated in post 7,703; an advantage of a 5 tire rotation is not having to toss an unused spare that is too old to be safe. Moreover, while a 5 tire rotation is somewhat of a hassle, it gives you a chance to make sure the hanger is functional when it's most needed.

I ran into this on our car. I ruined a rear tire and had a years old new spare. I thought I could just buy a new rear tire and use the unused spare so I would then have 2 new tires on the rear.

Nope. Tire guy said no way he would mount the old spare. So I wound up buying 5 new tires as all were worn.

I now do 5 way rotations now on the car and the LC. I don't want to toss a new-old tire again.

 

[dudemancool1904]

Yeah, some people leave their spare on for a decade or more. Not good.

I actually prefer the 5-tire rotation. I can lower the spare to the ground and jack one corner at a time, starting with the rear passenger and going in the pattern I posted above. I don't need to use two jacks or put stands under the rear axle or anything like that. It's quite nice

Bingo. Since my off-road jack lives in the back of my truck, I don’t need jackstands to do the 5 tire rotation

 

[linuxgod]

I knew Techstream did this but wasn't aware the bluetooth OBD adapters had the capability.. I'll look into it with my 2013

Edit: I did just notice yours is reporting the position of each transmitter, which I'm 99% sure the pre-2016 vehicles don't. But I'll dig into it either way.

My 2013 reports temp

 

[linuxgod]

Collective brains...


Approaching 220k miles. Zero hints of steering related issues.. but I'm to the point that I wonder about tie rod and tie rod end health. Considering doing TREs and Tie Rods via the current parts sale. Total for those parts would be about $600.. the inners are 250 each, outers 50.

I gave a half-hearted attempt at separating the TRE from the knuckle to see how loose the associated ball-joints are, but they are in there pretty good and I didn't want to risk damage to the threaded portion until I was ready to really do the job.

Well here's the thing.. a whole steering rack including inners and outers is $661 on the sale. At that price I'd have to wonder if it is rebuilt vs factory-new..

But for only an extra $60 and the effort of putting it in.. a whole new steering rack?

Am I nuts for considering this? Or just leave the steering alone (tracks straight.. and I will be installing new LCA's for the fresh bushings and lower ball-joints) until it actually starts giving signs of being tired, and wait for a sale then?

Another option is do the outers because they are relatively affordable.

Running stock-sized tires and the vast majority of my miles are on the road. for what it's worth.

If the rack isn’t leaking I wouldn’t touch it. It’s a labor intensive pita

 

[LX Cruiser]

Do you also make sure to place your passengers based on their weight so as to evenly load the suspension? Seems equally important.

Congratulations! You have just discovered why people rotate their tires every 3-5k miles— varying load and handling characteristics at all four corners.

Welcome to reality.

 

[Zjohnsonua]

Congratulations! You have just discovered why people rotate their tires every 3-5k miles— varying load and handling characteristics at all four corners.

Welcome to reality.

That was a reference to a joke from the Andy Griffith show, man.

 

[manofthewoods]

That was a reference to a joke from the Andy Griffith show, man.

I'm like Barney Fife, no bullets in my gun

 

[terrapin]

FYI I started monitoring tire temps using OBD Fusion and I’ve found my rear tires run hotter when towing than my tires have ever run when aired down even on pavement. Towing I’ll see sustained 130F for hours. Aired down to 16-17 psi I’ll see <120 driving 30-40 mph for extended periods between trails.

How do you monitor tire temperature with OBD Fusion?