That makes little sense

[Marky Dissod]

Since you called me Marky, I doublechecked your driver's door sticker here

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and to my surprise, the sticker and your VIN's RPOs seem to agree.

Your vehicle was issued 4 265/70R17 tires; the 5th tire would need to be 265/75R16, to be of equal rolling circumference (31.6" diameter).
Your vehicle was issued 1 265/70R16 tire; the other four would need to be 265/65R17, to be of equal rolling circumference (30.6" diameter).

Either way, GM done did you wrong, @ueww40. Statute of limitations, among other things, means GM gets away with saying something like:
"Since it's a 2WD, and GM never gave it any G80 to begin with (click the link, no G80 RPO to be found, meaning it has NO Gov-Lock),
so there was no harm to come to the vehicle when we pinched pennies by providing a spare tire 1" shorter than the other 4 tires."

 

[exp500]

What does owners manual say?

 

[strutaeng]

It's a spare, so they used whatever fit and worked.

It's no different than those cars you see driving on the highway with those TINY wheelbarrow-looking spare tires with their road hazards blinking and driving 55 mph (or 75 and no hazards)...lol

"If it fits, it ships"

 

[Marky Dissod]

ueww40, were I in your position, I'd find another 17" wheel and put a 265/70R17 tire on it.

 

[DRLexpress]

Working on my wife's 2010 Ford Ranger as we speak, and it is the same way. 4 aluminum 15" wheels and spare is 16" steel. Tire almost looks like a donut spare but is a real tire. 2" smaller diameter than the others.

 

[strutaeng]

Our 2013 T&C minivan was built during a transition year. Early 13 had smaller brakes with 16" wheels, later had HD brakes with 17" wheels, which later became standard.

The donut spare lives under the vehicle. You have to remove the console and do some hokey pokey to lower the wheel. The vehicle is so low, so to get the spare you already have to had the vehicle lifted with the sketchy scissor jack they give you. I've never done it, but I can see absolutely be cussing to do this on the side of the road. I've never checked our, nor have I inflated it...

So going back to the 16" vs 17" wheels: I've read that if your van had the 17" wheels, they didn't give you a donut spare, because apparently the donut didn't clear the HD brakes. At least in the early years years before they all went to the HD brakes. So basically any van with factory 17" wheels in the 2011(?)-2013 didn't have a spare. I think they gave you a tire patch instead! LMAO

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I agree, get a spare that matches the other wheels/tires, but first make sure that it fits properly in the spare tire location.

For me, when I converted to dual exhausts, I needed to remove my spare tire for proper fit of the exhaust pipes. So, this is now my spare tire, and hopefully, I'll never need to use it.

 

[dps01]

Running 285/70R17 on 03 Z71.

Bought an EBay special OEM junk rim and mounted a take off tire from when I needed to replace its match due to multiple punctures (another story).

The 285/70R17 fits underneath, but it is tight and really close to the track bar and Gibson CatBack exhaust.



Spare w/ rear bumper removed

Door jamb label:

 

[Marky Dissod]

Running 285/70R17 on '03 Z71.
Bought an EBay special OEM junk rim and mounted a take off tire from when I needed to replace its match due to multiple punctures (another story).
285/70R17 fits underneath, but it is tight and really close to the track bar and Gibson CatBack exhaust.
View attachment 486049
Spare w/ rear bumper removed
View attachment 486044
Door jamb label:
View attachment 486043

Since yours is a 4WD, all 5 tires must be the same radius/diameter/circumference.
@ueww40's is 2WD, so GM clearly pinched pennies with that vehicle.

 

[2591tdj]

Confusion at its best. I call up tire places to shop for tires for my 2004 Tahoe. They all say that the tires for my Tahoe need to be 265/70R16. I look what's on the car now and they are 265/70R17. I look at the label on the driver side door and it gets even weirder. It says that the correct tire is 265/70R17 and the spare is a 265/70R16. Now why would that be. The spare (I assume SPA means spare) is a different diameter than the rest of the tires? Never heard of that. I know that the 17" size tires that are on there now is probably what the car came with from the factory, because my speedo is correct and I am pretty sure that the rims are original. Why do the computers of all the (so called) tire experts insist that I need 16" tires. Can anybody shed any light on that?

My 2005 Z71 has exactly the same size tire and spares as yours. It’s apparently the std. Here’s the door label.

 

[2591tdj]

Since yours is a 4WD, all 5 tires must be the same radius/diameter/circumference.
@ueww40's is 2WD, so GM clearly pinched pennies with that vehicle.

Apparently not the case. Mine is a dual-range 4WD and has the same tire sizes as the OP.

 

[Fless]

My 2005 Z71 has exactly the same size tire and spares as yours. It’s apparently the std. Here’s the door label.
View attachment 486312

Better have a closer look. The OP's spare tire is a 70 aspect ratio (on a smaller wheel), same as the front and rear. Your spare is a 75 aspect ratio (on a smaller wheel) which makes its overall diameter very similar to your front/rear tires.

 

[Marky Dissod]

Since yours is a 4WD, all 5 tires must be the same radius/diameter/circumference.
@ueww40's is 2WD, so GM clearly pinched pennies with that vehicle.

Apparently not the case. Mine is a dual-range 4WD and has the same tire sizes as the OP.

No, the case is as PREVIOUSLY stated. The OP's vehicle was equipped by GM with NEITHER 4WD NOR any G80.
GM apparently took advantage and equipped the OP's vehicle with a spare tire 1 full inch shorter than the other 4 tires because 'screw it, it's NOT A 4WD'.

 

[Mudsport96]

The reason the tahoes got the 16 inch spare was to eat up the remaining 16 steel wheels. That is why they never got the upsized front rotors and caliper combo. Because the 16 inch spare would not clear it. My 06 silverado had the 17 inch spare and the larger front brakes. The Tahoe has the 16 and smaller tahoe front brakes. That is really as simple as it gets. If you got a 17 spare on a tahoe, it was optioned.