New Tire and Rotation

[Area 51]

Do you plan to replace the unused spare when it dry rots? To me, that's just a waste of $. I'll rotate all 5 tires on my LC and replace all 5 when the time comes. With TPMS on the spare, I'd know if it's not holding air pressure. Plus, since I'll be doing the rotation myself, I'll inspect the tire that becomes the new "spare" when I rotate. Nothing wrong with keeping it "perfect", but you should inspect and replace the spare when the rubber begins to deteriorate (typically within 5-6 years). I'd wager most people never replace the spare.

We never see dry rot on indoor stored vehicles and spare tires here in NorCal. Never here at the Oasis.
I wholesale out entire sets of tires before they wear out so the entire subject in kind of irrelevant in my case. Trying to give the OP some guidance that would possibly save her some money and more fun.
Depending on her use profile this is a subject the could go on and on.

 

[Area 51]

I am replacing my OE tire to KO3 but I am not messing with tire size. Too many things get messed up with size upgrade. Only the spare rotation is a tricky thing for this type of car

I have KO3s on two other vehicles, not LCs.
Noisy, harsh rides, excellent off road. tough and well built. love them. On the bigger truck i run 2 sets of rims and tires, KO3s and Mich LTX. depending on the planned use.
On the TJ 35" KO3s, bad ass.

 

[Marinna]

Oh if you're getting KO3's, then yes, you really don't need to worry that much about non-repairable flats (unless you plan lots of rock crawling on sharp rocks, but even then . . .). Those are about as indestructible of a tire as you can get. Get 5 and rotate in the spare.

I didn't mentioned tire I planned to swap into in the beginning is worrying exactly the response like this. People tends to be far more excited to talk about product than how to use/maintain them. I didn't meant to discuss tires much, BFG, Michelin, or whatever, AT or not, it doesn't matter. My original purpose is to discuss the tire rotation practice. It should be a topic fairly independent from the rubber you plan to use.

Now having that said, the tire rotation discussion is for a healthy use/maintenance of our equipment. Yes I can keep my spare shining new, but when I have to use it together with heavily worn tires it sometimes works horribly, damage the vehicle even for some AWD cars like Subaru. It doesn't really matter how likely I will use my spare, but more about what to expect when I do need my spare. I guess the typical scenario I had in mind is when I got a flat in the middle of nowhere, and I don't want the option to repair my tire right next of the pavement whether it is a 140F hot desert in Death Valley or -40F blizzard in winter Montana. If I have good traction on the road the minor diameter difference might be identified as slippery (?) by the MTS? If I have bad traction or mixed condition of the road would diff lock still function right or it would cause some kind of jittering?

Just think about driving in that condition for hundreds of miles before you have the option to really address tire issue. If we can manage our tires better it might never even have the chance to happen, however the rarity it is.

As for tire, there are quite a few KO3 thread here. An all-around tire is what it is, for the good and for the bad. For me it is just a cost/logistics management for how to use the right rubber to the right terrain. I made my decision to simplify everything into one set of tire, 4 or 5 of them, instead of keeping 2~3 sets of tires and wheels each optimized specifically for efficiency, weather, and/or traction. I don't really have brand loyalty or even passion to the rubber though. I want simple and worry free, that is the core value proposal I see in Land Cruiser.

 

[Markarian421]

I didn't mentioned tire I planned to swap into in the beginning is worrying exactly the response like this. People tends to be far more excited to talk about product than how to use/maintain them. I didn't meant to discuss tires much, BFG, Michelin, or whatever, AT or not, it doesn't matter. My original purpose is to discuss the tire rotation practice. It should be a topic fairly independent from the rubber you plan to use.

Now having that said, the tire rotation discussion is for a healthy use/maintenance of our equipment. Yes I can keep my spare shining new, but when I have to use it together with heavily worn tires it sometimes works horribly, damage the vehicle even for some AWD cars like Subaru. It doesn't really matter how likely I will use my spare, but more about what to expect when I do need my spare. I guess the typical scenario I had in mind is when I got a flat in the middle of nowhere, and I don't want the option to repair my tire right next of the pavement whether it is a 140F hot desert in Death Valley or -40F blizzard in winter Montana. If I have good traction on the road the minor diameter difference might be identified as slippery (?) by the MTS? If I have bad traction or mixed condition of the road would diff lock still function right or it would cause some kind of jittering?

Just think about driving in that condition for hundreds of miles before you have the option to really address tire issue. If we can manage our tires better it might never even have the chance to happen, however the rarity it is.

As for tire, there are quite a few KO3 thread here. An all-around tire is what it is, for the good and for the bad. For me it is just a cost/logistics management for how to use the right rubber to the right terrain. I made my decision to simplify everything into one set of tire, 4 or 5 of them, instead of keeping 2~3 sets of tires and wheels each optimized specifically for efficiency, weather, and/or traction. I don't really have brand loyalty or even passion to the rubber though. I want simple and worry free, that is the core value proposal I see in Land Cruiser.

The kind (not brand) of tire and the use does factor into this question. For instance my winter tires are directional and short life tires (that statement applies to several brands). Swapping in the spare with a 5 tire rotation is complicated (tires would have to be remounted) and probably not worth it. My spare will stay my spare and when I buy a new set I'll only buy four. With tires with shallow tread it will also not be so much of an issue. Deep tread off-road E load non-directional tires, keeping one as a spare will result in a pretty different tread depth over time. I want to be able to swap in the spare, drop off the tire needing repair, and not worry about it if that stays on until my next tire rotation. This answer is not brand specific -- any E load off-road focused tire I'd give about the same answer.

 

[Stage7]

The kind (not brand) of tire and the use does factor into this question. For instance my winter tires are directional and short life tires (that statement applies to several brands). Swapping in the spare with a 5 tire rotation is complicated (tires would have to be remounted) and probably not worth it. My spare will stay my spare and when I buy a new set I'll only buy four. With tires with shallow tread it will also not be so much of an issue. Deep tread off-road E load non-directional tires, keeping one as a spare will result in a pretty different tread depth over time. I want to be able to swap in the spare, drop off the tire needing repair, and not worry about it if that stays on until my next tire rotation. This answer is not brand specific -- any E load off-road focused tire I'd give about the same answer.

+1 on the 5 wheel tire rotation.