topgun129

Hi,

I have a 99 Lexus ES300.

I had a bubble forming on the side of my tire and went to swap it out with the spare just to save myself from having an incident on the road while driving.

I didn't know this but the spare tire is a full size brand-new Michelin which originally came with the car.

I've been using the spare for a week now and I'm looking to buy new tires for the entire car and I'm now wondering if I should just buy 3 tires instead of 4 and then use one of the best old tires as a spare (of course not the one with the bubble . Is it safe to put this full size spare tire which originally came with the car to full time use now? It has never been used and doesn't have any cracks in it.

Thanks!

Dave Mac

The full size spare is just the same as the other tires on the car but with it now being maybe 12 years old I wouldn't make it part of a new set of four. You could have it checked for continued use as a spare but I think any tire of that age would not be safe for regular use. They deteriorate just from the natual aging of the tire compounds.

Dave Mac

schmoozer

I would never use a tire that old as a full time substitute. The rubber can dry rot and bad things can happen.

Especially considering a lot of tire places have buy 3 get 1 free!

imherenow

Thats y they are called spare..even if u can have a full size tire..its still spare so u don wana drive with it forever. What would happen if a get a flat tire now.. U wouldnt have any tire to change. I have removed the spare tire and instead got a can sealer and compact tire pressure machine to replace the spare tire. Unless if i m going on a long trip i will put the spare tire back on the trunk

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

don't do that.

Sure its the right size and all, but drive around on it temporarily. I drove around on mine last year for a couple of weeks.

I wish that i had an OEM alloy with the car, this way i'd have five matching wheels for which i can comfortably rotate all five, like people used to do.