[androdev]

I have an unused spare tyre, while the rest of the four tyres need replacement. The unused spare tyre is more than 4.5 yrs old (it was 6 months old when I bought the car and it has been 4 yrs since then). What do people normally do with a 4.5 yr old unused tyre?

I am thinking of getting five new tyres and sell the spare tyre to the dealer. Makes sense?

Thanks!

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by androdev

getting five new tyres and sell the spare tyre to the dealer

Yes. Thats sensible, if you get good price from dealer. Periodic rotation of all 5 tyres would yield good life from the tyres and wear & tear would be even.

Otherwise, you can have only 4 and keep the spare as it is (if you are not going to change the profile). use spare only on emergencies. Rotate only 4 tyres.

[shankar.balan]

I would suggest sell off the old tyre to the dealer along with the tyres you are replacing and get a complete set of 5 brand new tyres fitted on to the vehicle.

Please note:
Tyre wear does not start and end with usage. It also has a lot to do with the age of the tyre itself - tyres do age even if they've not been in active service - either sitting in the boot of the vehicle or sitting on the shop shelf. With age, the rubber compounds tend to harden, which affects the performance of the tyres.

One needs to rotate all 5 tyres periodically so that all of them get worn down evenly. It is usually good practice to balance the tyres and perform a tyre rotation along with wheel alignment every 5000 km. Always bring the spare tyre into play with the first tyre rotation so that it does not remain forgotten inside while its other 4 brothers do all the work.

And every 10000 km, it is good practice to remove all the tyres from the wheels, give everything a thorough cleanup and then mount them back on the wheels but with the tyres facing in the opposite direction (this would not of course apply to the uni-directional tyres). This practice also helps identify potential issues (if any) with the tyres as well as with the wheels.

If one follows these simple things one will achieve a more even wear and tear pattern and ensure that one is able to extract maximum life from the product - after all tyres are expensive things to replace - hence it is worth taking a little extra care of the tyres and maximizing one's tyre life!

[androdev]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. The rotating the spare is a big deal because its not an alloy wheel and requires tyre-swap which is time consuming and invariably the alloys are damaged by the workers during this swap.

[Jidousha]

Fully agree with shankar.balan's comments.
For this reason I bough 5 set alloys and take care during the wheel balancing and rotation so that the workers do not damage the alloys while handling.
It is better to use all the 5 tires so that we don't end up with an unused tires which tough new, but it useless due to natural ageing

[Nikhilb2008]

If it's not too late, I would suggest you keep that 4.5 yr old tyre as a spare itself. It will last for another 2-3 years as a spare without issues. Dont watse money buying a 5th new tyre. You will also get a substantially lower value for the 4.5 yr old tyre.

[shankar.balan]

interesting insight Nikhil
Whats the typical shelf life of a stock tyre in case of a situation like this where it has never been deployed but has remained as an unused spare on a vehicle?
At what stage would its composite materials start hardening and ageing so as to have a detrimental impact on its performance/ reliability?

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

If it's not too late, I would suggest you keep that 4.5 yr old tyre as a spare itself. It will last for another 2-3 years as a spare without issues. Dont watse money buying a 5th new tyre. You will also get a substantially lower value for the 4.5 yr old tyre.

[nfsfreak]

IMO, As long as we are using that one only as a spare tyre just for emergencies that should be fine.

Nikhil can comment on technicals

[amitwlele]

Not an expert in tyre or rubber technology but did the tyre change recently on my 2 year old vehicle hence posting my 2 cents. Replaced only 4 tyres. Dealer also advised to keep the spare tyre as it is and use it as a replacement only for emergencies and on the first possible opportunity put it back as a spare wheel. Was not really offering any good deal for a 2 year old tyre.

Rotation and aligment to be done only with the set of 4 new tyres. I thought this made sense especially when i was saving around 4K.

[muralisk]

Agree with Nikhil. I have changed tyres on my Matiz three times till now and I did the same every time I changed tyres. A good dealer would always suggest that if the tyre condition is good, you should keep it. There is no reason to sell as it doesn't fetch any good value.

[Jidousha]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

Dealer also advised to keep the spare tyre as it is and use it as a replacement only for emergencies and on the first possible opportunity put it back as a spare wheel.

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

IMO, As long as we are using that one only as a spare tyre just for emergencies that should be fine.

The above makes it clear that the so called "new" unused tire is not 100% new and so not fully reliable and can be used only for emergencies.
Even in case of emergencies, I would say that highway trips at high speeds would be risky.
The deterioration of rubber in the tire is continuous and varies from brand to brand and cannot be easily seen visually.
I have wondered many times do we really need a 5th tire, I mean after all we carry it with us all the time thereby increasing the dead weight of the car.
If there is a reliable system of renting/replacing the punctured tires within city limits and in case of out station visits rent and take it with us, then the requirement of 5th tire becomes redundant.
How about this idea?

[nitin.rai]

If you have the money to spend; ideal scenario would be sell the tyre to a dealer; buy one more alloy & 5 new tyres.

However, if you want to keep it value for money & STRICTLY use the spare only in emergencies and no high speed driving; then it's allright.
Would presume that you would go for tubeless so it should be allright to keep the old one on steels.
Please refrain from high speed driving on 3+ yr old tyres (sidewall damage risk increases & is very dangerous on high speeds).

A tyre compound very slowly degrades as soon as exposed to air so even if you dont use it the tyre is degrading; developing internal cracks and geting brittle with each passing day. 3 yrs is the recommended life (wether being used or not used) as a thumbrule.

[Nikhilb2008]

A tyre lying in the boot of your car can bu sed even 6-7 yrs after it was manufactured without any problems.

The reason I say the spare should be used only in emergencies is because the newer tyres will most likely be of a different brand and model (maybe even a different size) and the car's handling characteristics wikll never be the same. If you are going to drive around only in the city, you can use 3 new tyres + the old spare for months at a time without noticing much difference. Also typically, city driving speeds are pretty slow and will not be of much concern.

Out on the highway however, a slight change in car handling can lead to an accident which is why I am saying that the spare should be used for short distances and at reasonable speeds.

A tyre if it is 5 yrs old will not just open up on the highay if you are driving at 100-140 kmph. These tyres (at least the good ones like MRF, Apollo, Bridgestone, Michelin, JK, Yokohama, Continental) are meant to last for a really long time.

You may lose out on certain ride quality characteristics or on some grip, but the tyre will not suddenyl explode unless there is some other factor (over or under inflation, sidewall bulge, etc...)

[CARDEEP]

When I got the tyres replaced for my Santro Xing, I got the spare replaced as well. This was also because I had used all the 5 wheels, arising out of punctures & tyre rotation, including the spare replacing one of the tyres in use.

Moreover, if the tyre is 5-6 years old (> 4 years as per manual) the rubber compound becomes harder & prone to cracks, plus the ride becomes bad as well.

[benbsb29]

Just replaced 4 tyres on my Ikon, and since i was doing 5 wheel rotation earlier, asked them to keep the better one among the 4 as my spare wheel. This would do duty strictly as the spare since it is a tubed tyre, while the 4 new tyres are tubeless.