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Happened to be under my rig and noticed the spare had a different tread than my tires, yep, Goodyear spare 18" wheel and I have Michelin tires all the way around on 20" wheels.
Of course I call my dealer who tells me the space under the truck will not HOLD a 20" wheel/tire but will hold a 18" wheel/tire and that the spare is for Emergency Use Only. They think Goodyear had a matching size in an 18" and Michelin did not and its why I got a Goodyear.
CRAZY!
NOTE: This is truck computer cal mpg, NOT hand numbers
IMHO it's not because a 20" wheel won't fit under the bed it's because Ford doesn't want to spend the money on procuring a 20" steel rim and the 20" tire is more expensive as well.
For the most part, I don't care. As long as the spare works long enough to get to me a location where I can replace the failed regular tire then that's OK. I don't have to look at it when it's under the truck. My last truck had a spare tire and wheel that exactly matched the other four. I never brought the spare into the rotation because it didn't have a TPMS sensor. The Ford doesn't either so there no plan to bring the Ford's spare into the rotation. Why spend the extra money to dismount/mount the spare?
My Nissan Leaf doesn't even come with a spare or a place to put it. That bothers me far more than a non-matching spare on my F-350.
IMHO it's not because a 20" wheel won't fit under the bed it's because Ford doesn't want to spend the money on procuring a 20" steel rim and the 20" tire is more expensive as well.
Would not doubt that, but my dealer said it would not fit, FWIW, who knows...
The diameter of a 275/70/18 tire is 33.2" v 34.1" for 275/65/20......so there is some difference......but likely not enough to notice anything when driving. That being said, I've got a 13 year old vehicle that still has the original spare hanging and never been on the ground........not much of a concern.
A 20" will fit. People have bought a matching rim and tire to put under there. It is Ford being cheap and not passing the cost to us if they did.. that is the only reason.
A 20" WILL fit under there. I'm in the process of removing my 18" and buying a take off 20" and swapping out the rubber for the same size as on the truck. If I need a spare on any of the tires I can mount it quickly without worrying about harming any 4wd parts.
My 2012 F250 had 18" all around with a matching spare, and my F350 dually has seven 17" wheels/tires. It never occurred to me that they would put a different sized spare on a truck.
I once had a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited that came with a space saver spare. At some point Chrysler issued a TSB and provided me with a no cost spare the same size as the other tires.
If the circumference of your 18" spare is within wear limits of your 20" OEM tires, you can run the 18" no differently than the 20". The vehicle has NO idea how much metal (wheel) and rubber (tire) there is -- it only needs the same circumference tires.
My friend bought a '17 250 a week before I got my truck and it has the same 18" Goodyears as my spare, so my bet is they just use the stock 18" size since 20's are an option. I wish you'd get a 20" spare with the option, but it comes down to $$$ I'm sure.
A 20" will fit. People have bought a matching rim and tire to put under there. It is Ford being cheap and not passing the cost to us if they did.. that is the only reason.
I bought a 20" F250/350 rim off ebay and put a 275/65/20 AT tire on and put it under there and took out the 18" spare. I have been quite a bit off the beaten path and then even farther away from a tire shop with a trailer in tow to want to use a small spare. It also gives me the option to have a second spare for a couple areas I have explored in Death Valley. There is plenty of room under there to go up to even a 295/65/20 it looks to me. The 275/65/20 has plenty of room under the truck.