Re: Unused spare tires - any good?

Yannis Saridakis (saridak@kerkyra.ionio.gr)
Thu, 02 Sep 1999 10:26:57 +0300

Hi Fred,
Regardless of a tire's usage and storage conditions, I wouldn't dare to use
any tire older than 5 years. It might "crack" on the very first stress or, at
best, severly impact the car's handling performance. Especially if it is
placed on a driving wheel, it might even cause the car to rotate about its
axis in a sudden braking or when cornering. Tires deteriorate with time and
should be replaced at maximum intervals of 5 years, no matter their mileage!

fred smith wrote:

> I've wondered about this before - and now I REALLY wonder.
>
> My '91 Mi16 had (up til this morning) the original Michelin V-rated spare
> tire sitting under the trunk. The car started its American life in San
> Diego, and ended up in New York. Thus, for eight years, it has hung in
> there through heat and ice.
>
> Finding, suddenly, that one of my rear tires was not exactly safe to
> drive on anymore, I went over to my long-time favorite tire place and
> asked them to put the spare where the bad one was - meaning to just
> unbolt it, and bolt on the spare. Unfortunately for them, they proceeded
> to unmount the bad tire from the nice aluminum wheel, then unmount the
> spare from its steel wheel. In the process of unmounting the spare, the
> guy managed to poke a hole in the sidewall. I didn't see how he did it,
> just the "U" shaped scar.
>
> Since I'm sure this guy has unmounted hundreds of tires in his
> professional career, I wonder if the sidewall was particularly brittle or
> something. Thus, would it have been a safe tire to drive on?
>
> Any opinions?
>
> (I got a free tire out of the deal - hope it didn'tcome out of the guy's
> paycheck.)
>
>
>
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