Just got out from under my 04.5 Ram 2500 and saw that the wheel with the spare tire is different than the other 4 on the truck. My dealer said they are all like that. Is this right? You can't rotate your tires using the spare? Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

 

My tire is the same but the wheel is diffrent. Black I think as opposed to chrome on the truck.

 

Yep, my spare tire is the same size, but it is mounted on a steelie instead of a nice aluminum wheel. You may be able to pick up a wheel from Ebay or a local tire shop that does take offs.

 

Thanks guys, all the trucks I have owned before had all 5 wheels the same. I thought they had made a mistake.

 

Actually the plain black steel wheel is a different size than the 4 on the ground. I believe that it is a narrower wheel but the tire is the same.
I just ran out to my local Les Schwab dealer and bought a matching wheel from where someone that took theirs off when their truck was first bought
It cost me $50 and anothe $10 to mount my tire on the wheel.

 

I just found this out the other day too!
I rotate the tires myself and like to put the spare in. So I call up the dealer and they say $290 for another steel wheel with the mickey mouse plastic cover on it. I too went down to Les Schwab. I ordered 5 chrome steel wheels at $100 each.
Now I can rotate the spare in, have steel wheels without dumb plastic, and sell the stock wheels and make some money! It actually worked out pretty well.

 

From what I read, the spare is 17X7.5. The wheels on the ground on the Laramie and SLT are 17X8. On the ST they're all 17X7.5.

BTW, the spare on my Ford has never been on the ground in 12.5 years. I changed tires and wheels when it was new and sold them. At least I don't have to worry about anyone stealing a 235/85x16.

 

Hey HighTen, what is the stock # of the wheels you ordered? Are they rated to handle the weight, in other words the E rated tires?

 

Can't seem to find a number...

I'm looking at the Les Schwab Collection 18 Catalog and on page 13 in the upper left hand corner are the Allied Type 91 Chrome Soft 8 steel wheels. The guy seemed pretty knowledgeable (and he could speak english!) and he said they handle the same load rating. They come in 8 lug also. The only thing I'm not sure about is they're 17x9 not 17x8 like the stock ones. He said the tires would work on them and the offset is the same. So theoretically they should only stick out 1/2" more on each side.

There's another number/letter thing:
35-091-XX MD/RD
Maybe this is the stock number.

Hope this helps.

 

While you guys are thinking of changing your wheels, remember the H2 option. Nice wheels, cheap, plentiful, strong. My set of four, with tires, in like new condition, were $450. I picked up a fifth one on e-bay for, I think $85. with shipping, and bought a fifth tire. By the way, the 315's do fit in the spare position but you could also run 285's or even 265"s if you wanted.

Wetspirit