Spare Tire Lifespan?

While preparing my 2011 for undercoating, I dropped the spare and it looks like it's never seen the light of day. Has a date code of 37th week of 2010. Deep wear marks where is seats under the body. Anyone replace their spare at a certain age?

 

Yep, I vote it's too old.

If heading off-pavement I don't think I'd want to keep one past several years, but otherwise definitely not past a decade.

I might give a spare stored on the inside of the vehicle a little more leash but not much.

(This is all my unprofessional opinion.)

 

General rule of thumb is 7 year's max.

 

One of the reasons I switched to 5 tire rotation. Most of my spares in the past dry rot out never being used.

 

Most manufacturers will say 6 years but it's all on your area. A spare in the southwest desert or that sees NE/midwest road salt isn't going to last as long as one in the south or PNW.

Personally, just do 5 every time and do 5-tire rotations. Gets you 20% more out of a set, you never have to worry about the spare being too old, and it reminds you to keep your spare aired up.

 

I can't tell you the number of times I see someone trying to use a spare that is flat.

Most people never check them.

 

I like this. How do you handle the logistics of the tire pressure monitor system?

 

Just go thru the recalibrate process using dash controls after rotation.

 

I should have bought a 5th Wildpeak A/T3W when I got my set so I could do this.

 

It clearly has dry rot, i would replace it.

 

That’s pretty old but I’d I take that over the temp spares a lot of new vehicles come with.

 

I had one on a Gen3 that I needed to swap in due to a flat, and the valve stem had rotted out of the spare. At least I was in my driveway.

 

Ok-the dilemma-I run 265/70R17 Wildpeak A/TW3s spring/summer/fall and 245/60r20(stock Limited size) Blizzaks in winter. I also have a spare matching 17" ORP wheel. Do I:
1-Get a cheap name brand tire for the current spare wheel-20"-and leave it alone for the next 6 years
2-Get a Wildpeak A/TW4(can't find anymore 3's) on the 17" wheel and use that for the spare?

 

I would use one of the winter tires as a spare in the summer and one of your wildpeaks as a spare in the winter.

 

6-10 years is typical life. 10 years is the max regardless of storage conditions: https://www.discounttire.com/learn/tire-aging

Some jurisdictions with safety inspections won't safety a car with tires older than 10 years.

I treat an expired spare like an expired fire extinguisher or expired trauma kit - if you went all those years without needing it, it's a good day Spend the money to replace it and move on.

 

Getting one or two spares is up to you, I personally would get one (although i did get a second for extra insurance when far out there) and I got a basic, used all-season from a tire shop.

It doesn’t have to match unless you want them too, especially if planning to hit the rocks.

 

Yep. And always on the side of the interstate.

 

Me personally, tires are too important to cheap out on. My rule is 5 years whether they are worn out or not. I'm going to do all 5 next time around.

 

10 years is max. And make sure it is inflated to normal psi. Nothing like trying to change a tire on the side of a road or trail and needing to take extra time to inflate it to a usable PSI

 

I have 4 tpms sensors on my 2017 SR5.
Spare does not have a sensor. If you get a flat and mount spare on axle the flat sensor will keep the tpms dash light on. I have a Scanguage2 that reads out up to 5 tpms sensors with actual tire pressure. I set it to normally show 4 tires.

Next tire I get for spare I will also add a tpms stem so it will output to my scanguage2. As long as the Toyota OBD2 supports 5 tires?
Does anybody have knowledge on this?

 

Limited supports 5 from the factory and other trims require the 5th read out to be programmed. Not sure but I think this was added ~21.

 

Thanks Todd. Guess I need more research on OBD2 capabilities for my 2017 SR5.

 

+1

This is the least wasteful way.

 

Tire rubber is affected by UV exposure and ozone. If the spare is under the vehicle, UV isn't a factor, but if you are in an urban environment, ozone can be. 10 years is getting a bit geriatric for even a rural environment.

Assuming the wheel is OK (not badly rusted) getting a cheap new tire of about the same OD is cheap insurance to get you home and to the tire shop.

 

Yes. I am getting another one. The rub marks on the original tire really wore sidewall down.

 

With techstream one can actually program the 5th tire to show up on the dash.

 

I've been wondering the same thing. I recently purchased a matching wheel with the tire and TPMS sensor from a fellow member (awaiting delivery, sad to say, not the seller's fault) and wonder how that 5th sensor can be read and displayed. Let me know if you find anything aftermarket that works for 5 tires.

 

Sort of curious why that wheel looks like a plastic lawn chair that was left out in the sun too long...

 

Good question. Not sure what the new condition would be. It appears it's more yellow when newer-https://youtu.be/ubvcAYO4o-s?si=kG7Dq_abCN7O-DxR&t=147

 

That's odd. The guy in the video has a similar looking spare, which looks nothing like the other four wheels. I thought the Limited came with a matching spare wheel/tire?