BlueCrabby

I have a question about the '01 Bridgestone spare tire that came with the RX300.

It has never been used. Over the years, the only times that I took it out was to
check the tire pressure. (once every few months or whenever I remember to)

It looks exactly the way it did when new. It's completely clean and free of any
visible defects, as far as I can see. It also never lost more than 1 or 2 psi
and I suspect the 1 or 2 psi difference was usually caused by changing of
the seasons.(hot summers or cold winters)

In the unlikely even that I have a flat, is this spare tire still usable? How safe
is it to rely on an old tire like this?(even one that has never touched the ground)

Thanks!

2KHarrier

Excellent question. I'm in the same boat. My spare dates from 3903 (39th week of 2003) and It too has never been on the road. No U.V. exposure, no road salt, etc.

I wonder what the life expectancy is. I know the tire manufactures would scream "Replace it!" and I'm sure we'll hear from both camps on CL....
Here's a snippet from an article on tires;


"CHECK YOUR SPARE TIRE TOO

Every year, many consumers are victims of tread separations on old, spare tires. Without knowing it, they install a spare tire on their vehicle that has little, if any, previous use on the road. The tire subsequently suffers a tread separation, often resulting in injury or death.
Even if your spare tire has seen little or no road use, the combination of heat, oxygen, and time, have caused the tire to begin degrading internally. Even though the tire may look fine on the outside, internally, the tire could be falling apart.
Tire dealers do not check the age or condition of your spare tire unless requested. As a result, it is a good practice to always know the age of your spare tire and replace it if it is older than six years."

So, perhaps we should invest in a new spare????

BlueCrabby

Where is that article from?

I recently had the Mr. Tire shop and the Sam's Club tire center guys inspect the spare.
Both say the spare looked fine. Of course, that's just based on visual observation.

Single tire rarely go on sale. (or fo that matter, buying 5 at a time) I guess I'll just keep
my eye out for a good price on a single tire. Perhaps something under $85 installed?

salimshah

Just an opinion:

If the spare is used on short run basis it might be OK.

Salim

hypervish

+1!

I wouldn't use it for very long, and I would keep the speeds low!

Z07

IMO use it when needed to get from where you are to the tire store: no more. Also, regardless of which tire is flat, place the spare on the rear and move a rear tire to the forward position if needed.

jimbug

Yes, this is a great question. I need to check the spares in my daughter's 2001 RX300 & in my 2002 RX300 to see what condition they seem to be in.

BlueCrabby

I'm just gonna order one tire, probably around $85, from the Tire Rack
and have a local shop put it on for $12. Life it too short to take a chance
especially on just $97. I want a spare tire that i can count on, not one that
can only get me to the nearest tire shop.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Could use a change. You'll notice there will be cracks in it by now.

Even a good, used tire will do. That's all I did for mine, ended up getting a winter tire as well. 20$ well spent.

salimshah

Good choice.

Dont forget to check air pressure of the spare every 6 months.

Salim

carguy07

Do you know of anyone that has had a clean unused spare that was stored in the trunk "fail"?

thomas1

I suspect the tires is just fine....funny in the old days they used to rotate the spare along with the other tires, seems that is no longer done....But tires have evolved since those days and are of much better quality.

Raoul

I guess the old days were when the First Generation were built, since my old RX300 had a full size spare mounted on factory matched aluminum rim. That car was setup for a five tire rotation right out of the box.

Hate to tell you what I found in this 2015 RX, a steel rim with what looked like a full size tire but on closer examination it was for 'Limited Use'. It ain't a doughnut but, it ain't like the Michelin Latitudes on the car either.

BlueCrabby

I never understood how the 5-tire rotation was supposed to work. If I get a new set of tires, do I have to buy all 5? If only 4 new tires, how was I supposed to incorporate the older spare tire into the 5-tire rotation cycle? (especially if the 4 new tires were a totally different brand of tire)

Speaking of spare tires... It wasn't that long ago that the tire and car manufacturers were promoting run-flat tires on some cars/SUVs/minivans. My friend had one of the older Honda minivan that had run-flat tires. Not having a spare tire at all seemed like a cool idea. Until he and I went on a roadtrip from Florida to Chicago. He drove over a pothole at 50mph. The tire had sidewall damage and couldn't be repaired.(duh!) We were stranded about 20 miles north of Atlanta for 2 and half days because that was how long it took the nearest Honda dealer to find a replacement tire. Oh... the one tire was like $450 installed. Yes, ONE run-flat tire! Needless to say, my friend got rid of that minivan a few months later.

salimshah

Some Lexus models did/do come with matching rim. I dont have the early production 99 RX but around mid-year, the standard issue was a steel rim (but full size). The rim built quality tells you that it is a stop gap use tire.

The 5 wheel rotation pattern requires 5 identical rims and tires, along with rotation pattern independence. With directional tires you can only swap front to back. I dont know who would go through the trouble of removing the tires from the rim to turn them over.

Things are changing at a slow pace. It has been few years that I saw a picture of a tire, which was a like a belt on the rim and the rim was build with diamond shape lattice to provide flexibility.

Salim