Is there any advantage of including the spare in normal tire rotations? The only disadvantge I can think of, when buying a new set of tires you could get by with only three new tires and use the spare as the 4th. Provided it isn't destroyed from the underside of the bed.

 

yes there is an advantage of a 5 tire rotation. first of all you will extend the time between tire changes by %20. I.E. if four tires normally get you 25k miles before buying new ones you will get 30k using a 5 tire rotation setup. it won't save you any money cause you have to buy a 5th tire each time but it will give you more time between tire changes. secondly, since tires will get smaller as they wear, if you got a flat after 30k miles with a 4 tire rotation and put the 5th unsed tire in its place it will have a larger diameter than the other three on the vehicle. this will give your differential a lot of extra work since you will basically be turning two different sized tires. Some all wheel drive cars (eagle talons for example) must have all four tires changed if you get a flat (one that can't be fixed anyway) because of the diameter change if you try to put on one new tire. (this is what the manufacturer claims. it seems to me to be a design flaw in the differential but what do I know)

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97' F150 XLT, 4 X 4, Auto,4.6L, Vortech Supercharger, jet-chip, Gibson Cat-back Duals, rear Posi, 4.10's, jet shift improver, Tonneau cover, Rancho RS5000's, 33's on American racing rims, Rhino brushgards and pushbumper, Dual Fosgate 800's w/Alpine head,
and musty smelling A/C system. Lookin for Chevy's to eat!!

 

Leave the spare under the bed till its destroyed then have the dealer replace it with a new one.
Rotate the new tire with the worst tire currently on your truck.
Repeat every 5,000 miles or so till Ford comes up with a permanent fix.
You'll never have to buy another set of tires.

 

Yea man include it, you will get 25% longer life out of the first set of tires. Then keep the best one as your spare. Why would you haul around a brand new tire and never put it on the ground. (If they match), mine don't! For the $295 tire upgrade price, you would think they all would match. Neither my tire or the rimm is the same. SUX

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2000 F-150 XLT Supercab Flairside 4.2 Auto 3.55 LS axle 255/70R16" Factory CD, Keyless entry, sliding rear window. Slim-Top hard tonneau, Front spoiler, K&N, Lund Interceptor, Kleen wheels