Flip Your Spare?....

Rainy night here in the Great Northwest and my wife is out with the girlfriends....so let's go to the garage....

Having been surprised once or twice over the years with a "Spare With No Air" just when it was needed most, I've taken to flipping the spares on my trucks making it easy to check tire pressure. (Tire had 42 psi in it, FYI).

On my 2018 Raptor there is a matching 17" factory aluminum wheel and full-size BFG KO2. (Previous garden-variety F-150s had a steel spare wheel with an unmatched cheapo tire).

If you haven't already looked, there is the standard crank down center cable as well as an additional cable that goes through the "T" and is bolted to the frame. I'm assuming this just adds a bit of security.

I put a couple layers of duct tape around the "T" that goes through the center of the wheel and on the face of the wheel itself to protect the nice shiny finish.

Part of this fun project is learning how to take the jack kit out and put together the correct rods to crank down the spare.....oh....then reassembling and re-velcroing it all back together under the back seat.

And the night is still young....

Northlight

Why not just carry a compact compressor?

We do....

....carry a compact compressor.

You just can't check tire pressure without dropping the spare.

And on that wet or snowy night by the side of the road, I'd rather have a full spare than unpack the compressor and wait till it's full.

Northlight

Northlight said:

....carry a compact compressor.

You just can't check tire pressure without dropping the spare.

And on that wet or snowy night by the side of the road, I'd rather have a full spare than unpack the compressor and wait till it's full.

Northlight

Click to expand...

If you pull the spare first and begin airing it up while you prepare and use the jack, you will not experience much delay. But flipping the spare seems easy enough.

Northlight,
If you are considering high speed offroading, you might throw a cheap ratcheting strap around the tire to the frame to prevent it from coming loose. One of our fellow Raptor owners had it happen to him...

Eddie

Ditchplains....

....thanks for the advice.

I've got a set of ratcheting tiedowns hanging around in the garage looking for something to do.

Northlight

It would be nice if the TPMS would monitor the spare.

JeremyFXDWG said:

It would be nice if the TPMS would monitor the spare.

Click to expand...

Thats actually a good thought. I think I might take mine up to Discount Tire and have them break it down and put a sensor inside of it. Then I'll protect that new shiny wheel as well, cuz that's a good idea too.

My girlfriend walked by and saw the title of this thread and threatened to call my wife. You guys really need to choose your words more carefully. Please.

The GEN1 will not monitor the spare and even if you did have a TPMS in it, you would have to move it to the location and have the tool to relearn the sensors.

Will the GEN2 monitor the spare under the bed if you do install a TPMS?