Tips on Buying Cars: Buying an extra wheel and tire, yokohama geolandar, rotating tires

Question
Paul- Question: I recently purchased a 2009 Rav-4 (2wd) with steel 17" 5 spoke styled  wheels ( Yokohama Geolandar G91a  225/64r 17 tires)  It comes with a full size spare and matching wheel.  Toyota recommends you rotate the spare with the two tires on the right side.  Because I usually put on about 4 to 5 thousand miles a year, I was thinking of buying another matching wheel and tire to rotate on the left side. (wheel new is aprox.$150. + tire.   If I rotate this wheel on the left side, I beleive I should get through without buying a new set of tires.(10 years of ownership) Does this make sense to you?   Where can I find a spare that has never been used without going to the dealer and paying top $$$. Also these tires have the TPMS system on them. Is their any difficulty with this?  Thank you, Tom

Answer
Dear Tom,

I hope you are doing well.

My honest suggestion would be not to rotate the spare tire with your other tires.  First of all, your spare tire is for use only in emergencies and my opinion is that you should have it in as good as condition as possible.  The main purpose of rotating tires is to keep tire wear even and to extend the life of your tires, especially since you have a 2WD vehicle and the driven wheels will wear their tires out faster than the non-driven wheels.  If you did need a tire due to a flat, you would most likely have to replace this tire.  You could then use your spare and buy a new tire for your spare.

I would not spend the money to buy another tire for this purpose.  Since you only drive about 5K miles per year, you will be rotating your tires about once a year.  Also, with the low mileage that you drive, your tires may outlive your ownership of the vehicle.

If you did decide to buy an extra tire, the TPMS system is not a problem.  Any major tire dealer (i.e. Discount Tire, etc..) are able to purchase the necessary pressure sensor which goes into the wheel.  One thing to remember, when you rotate the tires, you have to re-train the TPMS system to recognize the changes in tire locations in the vehicle.  Your owners manual should have instructions on how to do that.

I would suggest that you keep the spare tire properly inflated and protected with a tire protectant (i.e. Tire Dressing) to keep the rubber in good condition. But I would not suggest putting as part of the tire rotation program.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Best regards,

Paul