Any advice would be appreciated, my spare is almost 13 years old, but has never been used and kept in the wheel well in the boot, is it safe to keep as a spare or do I need to replace the tyre.

Thanks

Geoff

How does it look, and sign of cracks or reason not to use it in an emergency at a reduced speed to get you to a repairer?

Does it hold air OK?

 

Can you get the wheels off the car if you need to fit the spare, especially the rears if you have drum brakes? 

Take the wheel out and then check side walls near the rim also look in the gaps of the tread for any sign of cracking if so myself I would replace, I did this on my old Fabia and just used a buget make to replace as normally you might only ever use it once, my old Fabia was 11 years old when this was done.

49 minutes ago, pippin said:

Any advice would be appreciated, my spare is almost 13 years old, but has never been used and kept in the wheel well in the boot, is it safe to keep as a spare or do I need to replace the tyre.

Thanks

Geoff

 

If it's not showing any signs of perishing then it'll be just fine.

I had a similar question regarding my unused spare on my Honda Jazz which though 12 years old looked brand new with no signs of cracking or aging.  I contacted Bridgestone who manufactured the tyre and received the following:

“Thanks for your mail, which has been passed to me for reply.

For this space saver tyre, if the tyre has been stored in good condition and is displaying no signs of ageing then it should still be suitable for emergency use. However I would stress that space saver tyres are a temporary mobility solution and if used, should be changed for a full sized tyre as soon as possible, driving for a maximum of 50 miles at 50mph.

As with any natural product, rubber does age and will become more susceptible to cracking as it does. The rate of ageing depends on how the tyre is stored and what it is exposed to. We cannot offer an official cut-off point at which a tyre should not be put into service but based on my own knowledge I would recommend changing a tyre of this type once it is 10 years from date of manufacture.

I hope this helps, and if you need any more info, let me know.

Best regards
Pete

Peter Moulding
Lead Field Engineer
Bridgestone UK Ltd”

Typical overcautious belt 'n' braces engineers response from a company with a commercial interest.

1 hour ago, Jocko said:

I had a similar question regarding my unused spare on my Honda Jazz which though 12 years old looked brand new with no signs of cracking or aging.  I contacted Bridgestone who manufactured the tyre and received the following:

“Thanks for your mail, which has been passed to me for reply.

For this space saver tyre, if the tyre has been stored in good condition and is displaying no signs of ageing then it should still be suitable for emergency use. However I would stress that space saver tyres are a temporary mobility solution and if used, should be changed for a full sized tyre as soon as possible, driving for a maximum of 50 miles at 50mph.

As with any natural product, rubber does age and will become more susceptible to cracking as it does. The rate of ageing depends on how the tyre is stored and what it is exposed to. We cannot offer an official cut-off point at which a tyre should not be put into service but based on my own knowledge I would recommend changing a tyre of this type once it is 10 years from date of manufacture.

I hope this helps, and if you need any more info, let me know.

Best regards
Pete

Peter Moulding
Lead Field Engineer
Bridgestone UK Ltd”

 

If I was doing that job, I would also recommend 10 years just to cover myself.

 

Personally, I would go up to 20 years if there's no signs of cracking, no bulges, no cuts, etc. It only needs to last up to 50 miles on the car driven slowly at up to 50mph. If it would pass an MOT, it's good enough for me. And the MOT doesn't fail tyres just because they have passed some sort of artificial use by date.

 

Old bus and HGV tyres have been know to explode when the tyres are over 10 years old, but that tends to be low mileage vehicles that are left standing exposed to the elements for years, not tucked away unused in the boot of your car away from the elements and away from UV rays.

 

It's easy to check a spare tyre because you can view both sidewalls for signs of cracking, cuts, bulges, etc., unlike tyres that are fitted to the vehicle where it's not so easy to check the inner sidewalls, as these are out of sight.

 

Edited 16 March, 20233 yr by Carlston

Thanks for the advice, I will stick with it and if necessary keep to 50 mph.

Thanks again

Geoff