Driving With Spare...

[grober02]

Well, during the first snow of the year, I hit a curb in my VX. It was a front impact involving the front right wheel going about 30mph. The wheel and tire took most of the damage. After putting the spare on, my VX pulled very hard to the right. So, I submitted an insurance claim and took my VX to get repaired. The garage straightened out the suspension, but told me that they cannot fully diagnose the damage until the wheel/tire is replaced. However, the 16” OEM wheel is on a 2-month backorder. I have been driving the vehicle to-and-from work for the past month with the spare on. Recently, I noticed a pretty severe thumping and a little grinding while exceeding 30mph. I took the VX back to the garage, and they said that the differential and transfer case could possibly be damaged from driving the vehicle with a spare on—and, they want to drain the fluids to check for metal. So, I am asking anyone here if they had a similar experience and whether it’s possible to further damage my VX by driving it with a spare. I would guess that I put about 100 miles on my VX with a spare. I know this was probably stupid, by I need to get to work. You may have seen in another thread that I have another set of wheels/tires on order, but Alan from www.4wheelparts.com informed me that the Interco SSRs are on backorder for another 2-3 weeks….

[etlsport]

yea the vx is definately not meant to be driven for long with a spare, has your tod been freaking out? you could get a 16" wheel from a trooper or rodeo or honda passport for now, youll also have to watch out because if your other tires are worn down, a tire with fresh (taller) tread is gonna throw your tod

[grober02]

The TOD gauge is definitely acting up. The front wheels are fluctuating dramatically. I guess I'm gonna park it until my wheels come in. I just want to make sure I don't cause damage by driving it short distances...

[Scott Harness]

Owners manual says never exceed 45mph with spare on. I've also heard it's better not to use spare on the front,move a wheel from the rear and put spare on the rear.

[etlsport]

!! you dont want a spare tire on the rear axle of your VX... the wheel is smaller, so itll make a rotation faster.. so TOD is going to think its slipping and constantly be sending power to the front im pretty sure the owners manual also tells you to move the spare to the front if you blow out a rear tire

[Scott Harness]

!! you dont want a spare tire on the rear axle of your VX... the wheel is smaller, so itll make a rotation faster.. so TOD is going to think its slipping and constantly be sending power to the front im pretty sure the owners manual also tells you to move the spare to the front if you blow out a rear tire
You are correct Sir! I checked the sticker on the spare and it said "must be on front and don't go over 45 mph."

[rowhard]

Couldn't you go buy a steel 16 inch wheel and tire in the mean time, and then you would have a real spare whenever you go offroading.

[JAFO]

I haven't measured it yet, but isn't the spare the same height as the factory tire, just not as wide.

[Thejerseyfish]

I know that this probably won't help you at the moment, but don't know if you remember guys putting in switches to turn off the TOD monster, I always thought about getting around to it, just for instances like this. So maybe for the future.