The tire shops always want to sell me a new spare,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Donf]

,,,,,every time I get new tires. And, to be honest, I kinda think that's overkill. After all, at 180,000 miles and 26 years and never having put the spare on the road I just assumed I would never have to worry about that. So recently I'm driving home one unseasonably hot, late afternoon when I become aware of a funny noise, eventually I slowed down and felt the front end react sluggishly so I found an exit and parked her. Yep, blow out on a 1 YO 7,000 mile tire. I'm sweating just looking at it and decided to call AAA. The fellow was very nice and had the old wheel off in no time but felt the spare needed some air. It was about 20 psi which I figure was pretty good but after filling it up we could feel a little sidewall leak. He decided to scratch the tire near the leak for some reason, his nail dug down 1/2 mm or so. I tried it in a few places with similar results. "You know,' he told me. "you're supposed to replace your spare when you get new tires." I made it home and the next morning was surprised that I still had 20 psi in it again, drove 10 miles to my tire shop to get it replaced. Salesman looked at the tire and said he thought it was shot (Real training there) and asked how old it was, I told him and you know what he said. So I ponied up for a new tire. Twenty minutes later he returned my keys to me, as I headed to the door he said "Remember to replace that one too next time you get new tires."

Yeah, will do pal, in 2056.

 

[bsamole]

Great write up. You just gave me a reason to replace my original 27-year-old spare.

 

[Marky Dissod]

Most people I know will not risk using a 5 year old kahndumb, for fear of it breaking under stress.
For similar reasons, I do not use a tire past the 5-year mark.

Donf, when you buy 4 new tires, take the best of the old 4, and use THAT one as the spare.

 

[stonehenge]

Reading this thread gives me anxiety. I'm so neurotic about vehicle maintenance and tire care, etc., just the thought of having, let alone using an "old" spare, well I would lose sleep at night.

I usually buy 5 tires every time, and work the spare into the 3000 religious tire rotation. Theoretically you get more miles out of doing this, but I will admit it is kinda a pain. The tire that becomes the spare is dirty and so is the wheel, and it needs a good cleaning inside and out before it gets the honor of being placed in my cream-puff. So I stopped doing it. But I still keep a very good spare.

Side note on my neurotic tendencies, back when we ordered this new from the factory, they wouldn't/couldn't sell us a spare wheel that matched the oem wheels for the spare. Come on, if you have to use a spare you can't have it looking different or not the same size right? Anyways, the spare, it matches all the other wheels, lol.

And all this spare tire talk, I have never had a flat in 26 years of owning it. But it only has 91061 original miles, so there is that.

 

[the 18th letter]

Reading this thread gives me anxiety. I'm so neurotic about vehicle maintenance and tire care, etc., just the thought of having, let alone using an "old" spare, well I would lose sleep at night.

I usually buy 5 tires every time, and work the spare into the 3000 religious tire rotation. Theoretically you get more miles out of doing this, but I will admit it is kinda a pain. The tire that becomes the spare is dirty and so is the wheel, and it needs a good cleaning inside and out before it gets the honor of being placed in my cream-puff. So I stopped doing it. But I still keep a very good spare.

Side note on my neurotic tendencies, back when we ordered this new from the factory, they wouldn't/couldn't sell us a spare wheel that matched the oem wheels for the spare. Come on, if you have to use a spare you can't have it looking different or not the same size right? Anyways, the spare, it matches all the other wheels, lol.

And all this spare tire talk, I have never had a flat in 26 years of owning it. But it only has 91061 original miles, so there is that.

View attachment 459243

I would just clean all 5 inside and out during the rotation. Rims need to come off every so often for proper cleaning anyway.

 

[clogan2]

snip...

Donf, when you buy 4 new tires, take the best of the old 4, and use THAT one as the spare.

I was told by the dude at my tire store that the spare is a different tire size/rim configuration, and that using the best of the old would not fit on the spare wheel. (I know: RTFM!)

 

[NELLY1947]

,,,,,every time I get new tires. And, to be honest, I kinda think that's overkill. After all, at 180,000 miles and 26 years and never having put the spare on the road I just assumed I would never have to worry about that. So recently I'm driving home one unseasonably hot, late afternoon when I become aware of a funny noise, eventually I slowed down and felt the front end react sluggishly so I found an exit and parked her. Yep, blow out on a 1 YO 7,000 mile tire. I'm sweating just looking at it and decided to call AAA. The fellow was very nice and had the old wheel off in no time but felt the spare needed some air. It was about 20 psi which I figure was pretty good but after filling it up we could feel a little sidewall leak. He decided to scratch the tire near the leak for some reason, his nail dug down 1/2 mm or so. I tried it in a few places with similar results. "You know,' he told me. "you're supposed to replace your spare when you get new tires." I made it home and the next morning was surprised that I still had 20 psi in it again, drove 10 miles to my tire shop to get it replaced. Salesman looked at the tire and said he thought it was shot (Real training there) and asked how old it was, I told him and you know what he said. So I ponied up for a new tire. Twenty minutes later he returned my keys to me, as I headed to the door he said "Remember to replace that one too next time you get new tires."

Yeah, will do pal, in 2056.

I believe this also applies to Yukon tires as they are a truck tire. (Mine are). And i think this also applies to car tires. Your tires on a truck or trailer after are considered DEAD after 5 years. No longer legal on the road. Sidewalks are cracking. Get in an accident from a blow out and your insurance could have a problem paying the claim.

 

[Fless]

Your tires on a truck or trailer after are considered DEAD after 5 years. No longer legal on the road. Sidewalks are cracking. Get in an accident from a blow out and your insurance could have a problem paying the claim.

Do you have a reference to such a law that makes a tire illegal to be on the road after a certain age?

Tire Age Limit Law

Imagine you're on a road trip, cruising down the highway with your favorite tunes on the radio. Suddenly, you feel a thump, thump, thump - one of your tires has

tiregrades.com

 

[vcode]

I believe this also applies to Yukon tires as they are a truck tire. (Mine are). And i think this also applies to car tires. Your tires on a truck or trailer after are considered DEAD after 5 years. No longer legal on the road. Sidewalks are cracking. Get in an accident from a blow out and your insurance could have a problem paying the claim.

Wrong. There is no law on how old tires can be. Some states have laws regarding minimum tread depths. Most tire manufacturers and stores like Tire Rack say 10 years, not 5 is the max. Also, define a "truck tire". Most Tahoes/Yukons and 1/2 ton pick-ups come with a tire that has a P designation, like P275/55-20. The P stands for P-metric indicating a passenger vehicle. Tires designated LT are light truck.

 

[EvergreenZ71]

And all this spare tire talk, I have never had a flat in 26 years of owning it. But it only has 91061 original miles, so there is that.

Yeah, I used to say that too until one day driving on a 40-mph road less than 1/4 mile from work and the TMPS alerts that I’m losing pressure. No place good to turn off so I drive it into the lot and deal with I after.

I put on the spare (happy that the winch wasn’t seized) and take it to Les Schwab. They pulled out a 3” long 1/4” socket extension that had gone in socket-end first. No clue where the tire picked it up (wasn’t mine).