Spare tire question - P vs LT

[Rocki]

Dealer I purchased my bronco replaced the front tires only due to an alignment issue, and I did not notice at the time of purchase that they replaced the fronts with LT rated wheels. I’m perfectly happy with the LT rated wheels, but my two rears and the spare are P rated. My rears are also now significantly more worn than my fronts. I’m looking at options to replace my rear wheels, and found two single new tires that match my fronts for cheap, and within dot date code etc. Question is, will I have issues with my spare being P rated, and a different weight, if it’s the same size/same tire? All falken at3w 285/70/17

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[Rocki]

Also to head this off, the dealer was no help when I realized this and about 3hrs away in the mountains.

 

[Brian_B]

I wouldn't go serious off roading with P rated tires or air down too much. Dirt trails and such should be ok, but Passenger (P) tires are made for highway use and often will have weaker side walls and such - Light Truck tires (LT) can come with beefier side walls and such and are more durable - but often at the expense of comfort and/or fuel economy.

I'd also make sure that the P set and LT set stay on the same axle when you do rotation, if you end up keeping them long term (I don't recommend that, but sometimes life is what it is)

For long term use, an unmatched spare will get you home, but I wouldn't run different tires on the same axle for any more than it took me to get to someplace safe where you could get the tire repaired or replaced.

And yeah, the dealer won't be helpful until you show up at their door and make them take a look at it - they got the wrong tires for you, plain and simple.

 

[Rocki]

To clarify, I’m hoping to match my main 4 as LT tires, but keep the brand new P as a spare as long as it won’t damage anything if it’s needed.

 

[CalvinT]

Your dealer gave you a better tire, one better matched for the Bronco. P rated tires are for passenger cars. Whoever installed the P tires on your Bronco made a mistake.

Falken recommends an LT tire for the Bronco.

I found this on a reddit post.
"Compared to the non LT version (P version), the LTs have deeper tread, stronger sidewalls, can handle more weight, but weigh a bit more. They will last longer before needing replacement and will be more puncture resistant, including in the sidewalls, which is the weak point of the P version."

Front and rear tires should match unless a vehicle is designed for different tires front and rear. It's very important with vehicles with AWD. Then all four wheels need to be the same tire. Different tires will have a different rolling radius. If they don't match it can cause handling problems and excessive wear with AWD vehicles. Also different tires front and rear will have different traction.

The mismatch also means you can't do a four wheel tire rotation. Tires on the same axle must be the same. They should even be a close match in tire wear besides being the same tire.

You should also replace the spare so you can do a five wheel rotation. Stop being a tightwad, it saves you money in the short run but will cost you money in the long run. Since the spare is new, sell it to someone.

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