factory aluminum wheels & spare tire carrier.

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

osprey ram

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2021
Posts
64
Reaction score
21
Location
34229
Ram Year
09 1500 4x4
Engine
4.7 lit.
Hey there, I have a 09 1500 4x4. Factory 7x7.5 aluminum wheels. The spare is a steel wheel. Spare carrier has a rectangular metal tool that fits thru hub opening in wheel. Metal wheel has much larger hole than the factory aluminum wheel ! Parts guy at local dealership says he never ran into such problem . How is that possible ? Does anyone have suggestion for problem ?
 
OP
OP
O

osprey ram

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2021
Posts
64
Reaction score
21
Location
34229
Ram Year
09 1500 4x4
Engine
4.7 lit.
Well if the truck bed is full, where do you put the wheel with the flat, if you can^t put it back on carrier under truck ?
 

StateOfMind

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2023
Posts
228
Reaction score
382
Location
Orange County CA
Ram Year
2018
Engine
5.7 Hemi
Well if the truck bed is full, where do you put the wheel with the flat, if you can^t put it back on carrier under truck ?
Valid point. Last flat I changed on this I stuck in the bed and drove straight to the tire shop. Thank goodness I didn't monkey around trying to hang it. I'm glad you asked the question, I would've thought it would hang in the spare space. I even flirted with the idea of having a fifth stock wheel to match if I did have a flat.
 

RamDiver

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2022
Posts
2,716
Reaction score
4,895
Location
Marlborough, Ontario, Canada
Ram Year
2021
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Hey there, I have a 09 1500 4x4. Factory 7x7.5 aluminum wheels. The spare is a steel wheel. Spare carrier has a rectangular metal tool that fits thru hub opening in wheel. Metal wheel has much larger hole than the factory aluminum wheel ! Parts guy at local dealership says he never ran into such problem . How is that possible ? Does anyone have suggestion for problem ?


Is this steel spare some type of compact spare?

I would have thought all wheels would be hub centric and have the same sized opening.

How much larger of an opening can it possibly be and still accommodate the wheel studs?


.
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
15,605
Reaction score
28,693
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
Is this steel spare some type of compact spare?

I would have thought all wheels would be hub centric and have the same sized opening.

How much larger of an opening can it possibly be and still accommodate the wheel studs?


.
The factory wheels all neck down past the hub hole,and won't let you slide the spare tire carriers bar through their center hole.
 

RamDiver

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2022
Posts
2,716
Reaction score
4,895
Location
Marlborough, Ontario, Canada
Ram Year
2021
Engine
Hemi 5.7
The factory wheels all neck down past the hub hole,and won't let you slide the spare tire carriers bar through their center hole.

I know what you mean about the spare orientation in the carrier and how the bracket or bar might not fit through the opening but how tough would it be to have some sort of reliable disconnect on the cable, pop the carrier bracket off, drop the cable through the rim and re-afix to the carrier bracket?

Don't tell any of the manufacturers or the lawyers.

I know I've experienced this spare carrier challenge with aluminum factory wheels sometime before but the solution doesn't seem to be that difficult. :cool:

We use locking carabiners on lifelines while climbing rock or ice without a second thought. OK, maybe we always use redundant connections on a lifeline. :cool:

.
 

BenchTest

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2023
Posts
417
Reaction score
839
Location
Midwest
Ram Year
2018
Engine
3.6
As already stated - the factory spare has a larger diameter hole to accommodate the carrier winch assembly. The factory "running" wheels (aluminum wheels) do not. If you get a flat, you're either leaving your aluminum wheel in the ditch, putting it in your back seat, or in the bed. **** poor planning from Mopar in my opinion. I guess the engineers just assume people aren't using their truck beds and will have space for a flat. Chop up the carrier if you're so inclined. I personally wouldn't do it. Several people have rigged up various gizmos to circumvent this size difference, but as often as it would realistically be a problem, I'm not dinking with it. I did opt to toss the factory spare and put a 20" steel spare with a real full-sized tire on it. If I need a spare on a truck, I need a real tire, not some Mickey Mouse BS size mismatched "temporary use only" low tread POS.
 

Wild one

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Posts
15,605
Reaction score
28,693
Ram Year
14 Sport
Engine
5.7
And then there's me,lol. My truck hasn't had a spare under it in years,i make a point of keeping decent tires under the truck,and don't go anywhere that might cause a tire to be hurt,lol
Hell if the cars don't have a spare, my truck doesn't need one either :Big Laugh:
 
OP
OP
O

osprey ram

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2021
Posts
64
Reaction score
21
Location
34229
Ram Year
09 1500 4x4
Engine
4.7 lit.
I am amazed that neither dodge nor the aftermarket have come up with a safe fix for this problem. So apparently it is to each individual to come up with something or just live with it. I do honestly appreciate all response to my thread !
 

Bigskyroadglide

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Posts
1,518
Reaction score
2,533
Location
Montana, except for work
Ram Year
2014
Engine
Hemi 5.7, supercharged
I got curious about this in regards to my new 2024 4th gen warlock classic. When I ordered the truck I made certain to click the box called full size spare.

I crawled under it today as I was changing out the side swaybar standards, from stock to some roadmaster ones and well. The full size spare is a standard ram 17 inch aluminum wheel with a full size 265/70/17 Goodyear wrangler mounted on it. This wheel if I dropped it would have the small center hole and accept the round disc with the rams head on it.

Now, I did not investigate further but, it appears there is some way to mount a regular wheel to the spare tire carrier cable or I've got a spare that can never be unmounted.

I'm not curious enough to take the wheel down however i did take pics.

Fyi
 

Attachments

  • 20240727_172940.jpg
    20240727_172940.jpg
    137.1 KB · Views: 20
  • 20240727_172847.jpg
    20240727_172847.jpg
    165 KB · Views: 21
  • 20240727_172819.jpg
    20240727_172819.jpg
    146.9 KB · Views: 19
Last edited:

RamDiver

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2022
Posts
2,716
Reaction score
4,895
Location
Marlborough, Ontario, Canada
Ram Year
2021
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I got curious about this in regards to my new 2024 4th gen warlock classic. When I ordered the truck I made certain to click the box called full size spare.

I crawled under it today as I was changing out the side swaybar standards, from stock to some roadmaster ones and well. The full size spare is a standard ram 17 inch aluminum wheel with a full size 265/70/17 Goodyear wrangler mounted on it. This wheel if I dropped it would have the small center hole and accept the round disc with the rams head on it.

Now, I did not investigate further but, it appears there is some way to mount a regular wheel to the spare tire carrier cable or I've got a spare that can never be unmounted.

I'm not curious enough to take the wheel down however i did take pics.

Fyi


You might want to drop that spare wheel at least once to make certain the assembly is functional before you need it unless you have an unbelievable roadside service.

I live in a rural area, nobody is coming too quickly to rescue me. :cool:

The full sized spare with my '21 Warlock has been shrunk to a 235/85/17 on a steel wheel.

I have yet to determine if a real full-sized tire can be fit up there and if the carrier bracket can be fit through an OEM rim.

.
 

Bigskyroadglide

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Posts
1,518
Reaction score
2,533
Location
Montana, except for work
Ram Year
2014
Engine
Hemi 5.7, supercharged
I agree, i live in Montana, if you can't do it yourself its not gonna get done, however they got it up there somehow, I'll bet they would not have sold it without a way to use it. I don't think Ram is that incompetent. This is on a 4th Gen 2024 Warlock.
 

zrock

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2022
Posts
334
Reaction score
400
Location
canada
I would never take my good alum wheel and put it back under the truck where its going to get damaged by the holder when you sinch it back up. Myself the first thing i do when i get a truck with the stupid under bed mounting system is take the tire off and get rid of the system, if i do a long road trip i will toss the tire in the bead. I have seen far to many of those fail and drop the tire out while driving, or they seize up and your under their trying to cut the cable..
 

John Jensen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Posts
1,544
Reaction score
1,703
Location
San Diego County
Ram Year
2016
Engine
Ecodiesel
My 2016 Eco came with a full-size temp tire on the 17x7 aluminum rim. I replaced the temp tire with a 285/70-17 D tire and it fits fine under the truck.
The on-truck OEM rims have a smaller center hole due to the shiny wheel cap. Many have removed that cap to make it a spare rim to fit under the truck
 

etbrown4

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2017
Posts
88
Reaction score
45
Ram Year
2024
Engine
hemi 5.7
On my 2016, I bought a full size aluminum rim and tire, and i added a short piece of angle iron to the end of the cable so it will hold the larger spare.
To protect the aluminum i affixed some rubber to the angle iron.
Works perfectly.
 
Top