I own a '99 4x4, I rotated my tires yesterday and had to pull my spare tire out to do so. I noticed 4, 1/4" deep X 1/4" wide X 3" length cuts on the side of the tire that presses up against the frame. It's more of a rub mark or a burn than a cut but all the same. I was wondering if any of you guys with '99 truck could pull your spare tire down and see if this is happing to your tire as well. It is definately damaged, I just want to see how many other people have seen this problem before I go to the Dealer and complain. Poor design on someone's part... Recall?

-Jeff

 

My tire has some grooves in it from sitting against the frame but no cuts. If you have cuts in the tire its probably due to it not being secure. When you crank it up, go all the way up until you get an override click (actually sounds more like metal snapping). This will insure the tire is seated correctly.

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The Truck: 1997 Black F-150 Flareside. Regular Cab ORP and Towing Package
The Mods: K&N Filter, Eurolid Hard Tonneau and Ford Bug Deflector.
The Site:
Triton's 4.6 Liter Web Page
www.mindspring.com/~acbradley/index.html

 

my spare tire is useless thanks to the geniuses at Mieneke Discount Muffler. The morons had the pipe hugging my tire which now has a burned dent in the tread. and i'm the moron for just now deciding that a year and a half ago they did a crummy job.

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'97 f-150 XLT V6 auto 3.55 silver reg cab flareside , 6 cd, Lariat floor mats, tonneau, ground effects, tint, glasspack w/ duals. the heartbeat stops here.

 

I check my spare tire this morning, and sure enough, I to have the same markings on my tire. I am going to metion it when I take the truck in on Wed for some service.

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99 F-150,XLT, Silver, 2WD, 4.2L, 5spd, RegCab, Shrt WB, Styleside.
Current Mods:Billet grille, Line-X bedliner, 5%window tint all the way around, Alpine CD w/2 MTX Subs & Rockford Fosgate 250w amp.
Future Mods: K&N Airfilter, Superchip, Gibson cat back exhaust, driving lights, & a custom paint job

 

My spare had the same markings on it when I bought the truck. Not long after getting the truck, I had a EuroLid installed, and I put the spare in the bed, so it would be locked away from thieves. By getting the spare out of the under-bed "rack", some of the grooves came out of the sidewall...The first flat I had, after driving 30 miles on the spare, it no longer looks like it had ever been in the rack.

 

I have the same groves on my spare. I first noticed it changing my spare on the way to vegas I think it's from the heat of being pressed against the metal and the heat of the muffler close by. I was told they are no big deal and they weren't deep enough to make a big deal over

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98 F-150 s/c Lariat Sport-Side V8 4.6
Bassani Side exit exaust, K&N FIPK, Snug-Top Hard Lid,600 watt power acoustic amp,8 inch kicker substation

 

So far every f-series truck that I have seen including mine has that cross indentation on the spare tire. On some trucks the mark goes away eventually, but I imagine in due time, it will wear a permanent mark on it. I just put a thick piece of cloth on all four contact points, should do the trick. I asked a couple of salesmen at the ford dealership about this, and they had never heard of this (of coarse). I'm sure it would be covered under warranty if the sidewall is permanently blemished.

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'98 F-150 XLT Reg. Cab Flareside 4x4, Black, 5.4l, 3.55LS, tow package, K&N, GTS headlight covers, Alpine changer w/FM mod, Clifford alarm system / Future considerations: 285/75/r16 Mud Terrain BFG's, bed cover, tonneau cover, suspension lift.



[This message has been edited by fordification (edited 08-18-1999).]