I need new tires. The spare has never been on the ground, so I’m considering using it and buying three more like it. However, this is a 2003 Silvarado, which means the tire is at least seven years old, even though it’s never been driven on. I wonder if using it is safe. Anyone know?
Too old for me (have you checked the actual tire age using the serial number?). Might be ok for a while, but it’ll be 10 years old soon.
Many tire stores offer 4 tire specials that may be cheaper than buying three. Also, check the date stamp on the spare. It may already be 10 years old. This is too old to consider for sustained use.
As mentioned, try and establish the age of that tyre first; see below how:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11
IMHO that tyre is probably at least 8 years old by now. That is too old IMHO.
Recent bulletins from the tire industry indicate that tires degrade simply due to time. The age of a tire is important even if the tire is unused. There some disagreement over how to best express this age limitation, but my take is:
If you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) then the limit is six years. If you live in a cold climate (MN, ND, WI, MT, etc), then the limit is 10 years. States in between are … ah … in between.
So, not only is your spare likely to be too old BEFORE it even hits that ground, it will certainly be too old before very long.
New ones would be the safest course of action - keeping the spare for TEMPORARY use only.
Are the tires being replaced as old as the spare? If not, I would use the best of the 4 worn tires as the spare and get rid of the old tire (as long as you don’t have AWD).
Thanks to all who answered. I kind of thought that it was too old, but wanted another opinion. I guess I’ll buy four.