as several have already mentioned, i also keep the "best" tire as the spare when getting new tires put on. That being said, i recently bought an 01 dually that had the original spare tire. The tires on the truck had tons of tread left, but they were getting up there in years, the truck had not been driven much by previous owner. Plus the tires that were on it were POS to start with! it does cause some confusion when you tell the guy you need to purchase 7 new michelins, it takes a second for them to figure out what you're trying to do!