Spare tire options

TresK3

I tried searching this on the forum, but couldn't find anything.

Has anyone planned on using their TV spare tire on the trailer, if it's needed?  Then you could leave the trailer spare back at home and save some tongue weight.

We have a 2019 Tab 400 BDL.  The tires on the trailer are 235/75 R15's.
The tow vehicle spare is a 245/65 R18.

If I've done the math correctly, the TV spare is 0.4" wider and 1.1" taller.  Does anyone know if this would fit in the wheel well of a 400 BDL?  What other issues would I encounter (other than the two tires not spinning exactly the same)?  Would the fact that the TV spare isn't a trailer tire make a big difference for a shorter-distance tow at slower speeds?

4ncar

More importantly, is whether the lug pattern is the same, and whether the back spacing will allow clearance of the brake drum...

TomCanada

I wonder - could one just leave the T@b spare at home and bring a can of fix-a-flat instead? 

dragonsdofly

@TomCanada, ever see a tire blow and shred? No amount of goo in a can is gonna fix that. We have 44/45,000 miles on our 2017 320 S. Have never, ever been without that spare. Also carry a full spare for the tow vehicle, not a donut. It's our way to be prepared and, if superstitious, banish the flat tire goblins.

rh5555

We use our Jeep Cherokee spare tire for the trailer too.  It is slightly smaller than your tire (245/65 R17) and fits our with room to spare (though we have to remove the flared fender, because the tire is too wide).  You'll need to get an adapter plate manufactured to translate lug hole patterns, but before you get that far, you'll need to verify that your TV spare can be made to work.  We were lucky and our TV spare's center hole was just large enough to fit over the Dexter hub on the trailer.  This is what our adapter looks like before the TV's spare is mounted:

TresK3

Sounds like I will just have to jack the trailer up and see if it fits.

Thanks everyone!

B0atguy

Pretty sure a 2017 Durango wheel will not fit on the T@B . Its not the size of the tire, its the bolt pattern of the wheel (and clearance in the hub) . 
The stock wheel bolt pattern for a T@B is 5x4.5 or 5x115mm . Your Durango looks to be 5x127mm. The wheel will not even fit on the lugs . You can double check yourself , but I am pretty sure thats what you will find . 

What we have found is a spare tire "donut" from a 2007 Chevy Equinox is the correct bolt pattern and size for a Standard T@B (not a boondock) . We have one mounted under the rear of our 2019 320S vs the standard size spare to gain some ground clearance back there . Got sick of dragging the standard spare on the ground , lol .   

rh5555

For my Jeep Cherokee, the hole pattern is 5 x 110mm and the Dexter axle is 5 x 4.5"  The adapter does the conversion.  My adapter needed to be 1-7/8" thick to get the Cherokee tire aligned correctly.  The axle's studs are bolted to the adapter within its thickness, and the new studs align with the Cherokee's spare tire.

TresK3

Thanks to @B0atguy and @rh5555!  It's going to be a bit too cold, when we get back, to fiddle with this outside, but when the weather warms in the spring I'll jack it up and see what I've got.  I did a rough measurement on the bolt pattern and it looked like it would fit, but I'm not certain.

gulfarea

I did it the reverse of rh5555. I used the Tab spare for the tv and mounted it on the Jeep spare tire mount on back of Jeep with the 32 dollar adapter. That way I know the spare will fit the Tab as it is its spare. I drove the Jeep at 75MPH (no trailer) to see how the Jeep  would handle, no problem! Like driving any car with a doughnut tire on. I suggest if you use an adapter on the front of tv be careful on breaking as with the adapter the front wheel can pull badly to the side when braking. This arrangement is only to get me to a place to get a new tire. Art

[Deleted User]

I store the spare tire for my 2019 T@b 400 under the bed. It fits in there perfectly and it counter balances some of the weight off the tongue. The 2019 models still had the atrouciously heavy tongue weight so moving the tire to the back won't make the tongue too light.