2004 original spare. Should I toss it???

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

srkpaco

srkpaco

10 Year
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Threads
84
Messages
273
Location
Austin, TX.
I have a 2004 LC all stock except crancked tosion bars and no running boards. I am about to buy some new tires and the guy at discount said I need to take one of the tires that is on there now and use it as the spare because the spare was to old? Is this true in order to have a safe spare?
 
Odds are the spare has never seen daylight so there should be little UV damage such as cracking or checking. However, I'd rather trust a slightly worn tire with a recent date code than a 9 year old tire.

In descending order of preference I think I would;

Buy 5 tires that match.

Buy a new cheap 5th tire the same size as the new tires. Something like Federal that is rated for 15K miles.

Buy a used tire with lots of tread from the tire guy, many times tire dealers will have take off tires from an upgrade somebody else did that are in really good shape. If you buy used make sure to check the date code on the tire---->>>>http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11
 
Info from a couple of web sites:


Consumer Reports:

"Tires do age and become unusable after time regardless if they were in service or not. Some auto manufacturers like Audi, BMW, Ford, and Volkswagen recommend replacing tires after six years, and some tire manufacturers agree that any tire ten years or older should be replaced regardless of tread wear."

Tire Rack:

"Tires are manufactured by bonding rubber to fabric plies and steel cords. And despite the anti-aging ingredients mixed into the rubber compounds, there is a realization that tires are perishable, as well as a growing awareness that some tires will actually age out before their treads will wear out." " Our experience has been that when properly stored and cared for, most street tires have a useful life in service of between six to ten years."
 
I know my local discount won't touch a tire after 10 years...

On the other hand on our '84 FJ-60 we used the factory spare successfully in about 2008 and it was not showing any cracks and held up fine. (1-owner Colorado truck)

In the end it's your money and piece of mind. I've lost more spares to rocks or wheel corrosion than age.
 
Change it out, driving on anything over 5-6 years old is just taking a chance. You don't want a blow out at speed in a LC.
 
hoser said:
Ever take a rubber band out of a drawer and it break on it's first stretch... despite being stored in a cool place out of UV light?
Click to expand...

Yes! I've also peeled a tire tread off just by sliding a smoothly paved turn. Found out that the tires on that car were around the age of the OPs spare. I'd rather a half-worn one year old spare than a brand new 9 year old tire.
 
I guess it depends on how much of a spare it is. But from the condition of it, it sounds like you never use the spare, so who cares if it's worn as long as it gets you home.

I felt bad about ditching my LTXs that were in good shape, until I read the date code and realized they were over 6 years old.
 
When you need a good spare you really need it! Replaced all five last year with Nitto 295's The spare was unused and twelve years old. Looked real bad and the tire guys didn't want it.
Imagined it might blow when you let down the jack. It had never been removed from day one.
A good spare is no less important than any of the other four. Not having a good dependable spare can be as bad or worse than running out of gas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom