How Safe Is a 20-Year-Old Spare Tire?

[emerydc8]

My spare tire does not appear to have been used at all, although it still holds a charge. I'm curious to get members' thoughts on whether such a tire would be safe to use, only as a spare.

If you had a blowout on the freeway, would you feel comfortable mounting this tire and driving 50 miles home?

 

[sheward]

I wouldn't have any worries, although I would keep my speed below 65mph. I have driven on many old tires in the past without incident. Tire failure due to age is more rare than the Manufacturers/sellers, and safety police would like you to believe but they speak to a driving public with one hand on the wheel and the other clutching a cell phone. I would not trust an old tire at high speeds.

drew

 

[sheward]

I should have added that the spare tire in my car is a 20 year old unused one as well.

drew

 

[alabbasi]

I'd be cautious, especially if you live in a hot a climate as the heat will accelerate damage and it will likely come apart while you're traveling at speed. Many industry bodies give tires a shelf life of 6 years.

 

[Bryan Wells]

De-Lamination is always a risk with old tires. Be careful.

 

[gsxr]

Ditto what was posted above. For emergency use at reasonable speeds, it should be fine, although I'd keep it on the rear, not the front. Be extra careful in extreme heat (90-100F ambients, or worse) and make sure the pressure is on the high side (35-40psi, if rated that high).

 

[emerydc8]

Thanks for the input, guys. I suspect that most of us have the same tire in the spare compartment.

 

[szvook]

I put a brand new tire on the spare wheel, the only downside, I can't put the 16" wheel on the front since I'm running the SA brake kit. I might bite the bullet and get another 17" HRE wheel with a 245 tire. Btw, should a 17" wheel with a 245 tire fit in the spare wheel well? Since the Evo-II wheels were on later cars, did those cars get a spare Evo-II wheel, or was it the 16" wheel/tire?

 

[gsxr]

I think the cars with Evo wheels as a factory option still had the stock 8-hole, 16" spare. Steve, you may find that any wheel wider than 8.0", and/or tire wider than 225 section width, may not fit in the spare tire well and still allow the plastic cover to seat flush/flat. I haven't yet found an ideal solution, but I'd expect a 17x8.0 wheel with 225/50/17 tire might be ideal as a spare. There are also OE MB 17" spare wheels/tires from newer models that might work well, again, I haven't identified good candidates (yet).

On my wife's 500E with the SA brakes, I have an AMG 17x8.5 wheel with 245/45/17 tire and just live with the plastic cover not quite seating all the way. As to how far off it is, I'd have to look again, but it isn't bad. You miiiiight be able to sneak an Evo II wheel in there.

 

[jhodg5ck]

having driven @ ridiculous speeds on VERY old rubber in college I'll say it can be done, and for a surprisingly long period of time @ that..!

Indicators things are going poorly..

cruising say, 90-95'ish you notice a vibration starting to creep in, in a matter of miles it's getting pretty bad, you back it down to oh, 80.. As you go to accelerate up the hill (cause hey..why not, isn't that what hills are there for, climbing..no?) you all of a sudden feel one BIG BUMP and then slapslapslapslap REALLY loud inside the car.
Don't freak out @ this point. You still have a tire per-say, but no tread. Make your way to the slow lane, keep it around where ever the vibration is livable and limp to where ever you are headed.

Now if you pull a full retard (aka, ford exploder) and do something Trully spectacular @ the wheel I suppose you could get yourself into some serious trouble, but again, that takes a special kind of stupid, so anyone here should be Fine

Jono

 

[fudgitive]

I put a brand new tire on the spare wheel, the only downside, I can't put the 16" wheel on the front since I'm running the SA brake kit. I might bite the bullet and get another 17" HRE wheel with a 245 tire. Btw, should a 17" wheel with a 245 tire fit in the spare wheel well? Since the Evo-II wheels were on later cars, did those cars get a spare Evo-II wheel, or was it the 16" wheel/tire?

The limited that I previously owned did have an EVO spare, and from memory the plastic cover seemed to fit OK.