Finally got around to getting my spare chromed. The vehicle came w/ 4 chromed wheels while the spare is normal. My plan is to run a 5-tire rotation so the spare always has the same wear and is the same brand/age. The rubber degrades with time, so after 5-6 yrs, an unused spare would have to be discarded anyways. Turns out, it was cheaper to have my dealer send it out for chroming than for me to have the tire unmounted, package and ship it out to LA, get it chromed and shipped back, tire remounted & rebalanced. They contract out to a chrome service that picks up wheels every week, as most of the higher-end cars (LX,LS) they sell come w/ chromed wheels. Turnaround time is 2-3 weeks.

 

Very NICE!!!

I want to change my rims or powder-coat them black, not sure, or just keep them stock.

 

Wouldn't a powder coat chip off from the tire mounting machine? I would think hard anodizing is the way to go. I had the aluminum checkerplate on my kaymar hard anodized. The hard anodizing is thicker than conventional anodizing, also more of a flat finish (but that is somewhat dependent on the finish of the metal).

 

My plan was at the end of this year before the snow falls I want to just buy 3 Michelin Pilot LTX MS tires and use the best one of my worn tires as the spare and then use the unused spare as a new regular tire. That means the old spare that I was now using as a regular tire would be about 4 years old and I would be running it for another 4 years or around 60K miles. Looks like from a safety standpoint I would be better off buying 4 new tires and keep the spare just for emergencies, since the spare would only be used for short periods of time and distance, before the regular tire was patched and reinstalled.

Looks like you need to use the spare within 6 years and 10years is the replacement mark. I think 6 years might be a better replacement mark just for added safety. http://www.safetyresearch.net/Library/SRS046.pdf

 

I have 5 pro comp AT tires on my 4Runner that are just about 5 yrs old w/ 75K mi on them. My feeling is they should be replaced this year; the environmental elements take a toll on the rubber, mostly the UV and heat here in AZ. Even the valve stems are cracked badly. Everytime I check the pressure, I wonder if the stem is going to tear off and air leak out. That car gets parked outside. OTOH, the tires on my '01 honda (garaged most of the time, only 32K mi) still look pretty new from the outside.

I have heard, however, that tires degrade from the INSIDE, and a lot of this has to do with moisture in the air inside the tire, and for that reason, tires filled with 100% nitrogen suffer less degradation over time. I try to inflate my tires on days with low humidity (less water in the air).

Max707, I'd probably buy 4 new tires and keep the spare as a spare. Next time you buy tires after that, keep a 4-yr old tire as a spare and discard the 8 yr old spare. Be aware that different brands of tires of the same listed size do not necessarily have the same true size (e.g., brand X's 275/60R18 can be slightly larger or smaller than brand Y's 275/60R18). The weights and rolling resistance will differ, too. The slight difference in size should still be okay on the drivetrain, I think, as roads are already cambered to one side for rain runoff plus the front/rear diffs are open.

The two reasons why I like a 5-tire rotation is all tires are identical in brand, age, wear, rolling resistance, and you don't have to discard a tire w/ lots of remaining tread due to age. Some of these tires are over $200 ea (like the Michelins).

 

Jim I think your right. Either 4 new Michelins at about $250 each ouch!!! or maybe 4 new Brigstone Alenza with the closest to stock size of 285/60/18 (this is a 1.5% difference in the speedo at 60 miles per hour 60 compared to 60.9 mph) and pump the Michelin spare up to say 36psi since its a 275/60/18. You think it would be a big problem using that wrong size spare? or should I just buy 5 of them since 5 would still be cheaper then 4 new Michelins.

 

You want your spare to be the same size as your other 4 tires. This is very important on a full-time 4wd vehicle! If it were merely front wheel drive, you could put the oddball one on the rear like you see with sedans w/ the little donut spare. Otherwise, if you have a spare that's a weird size and get a flat, the only thing I can think of that will save your drivetrain from damage is to put the weird sized tire up front, remove the front driveshaft, then lock the center diff so you are rear wheel drive only. Or do the opposite and drop the rear driveshaft (advantage is the steering won't pull to one side, but the front diff is only 8" and might be straining to pull the vehicle whereas the rear diff is 9.5", much stronger). Or you could let air out of the larger tire, but the rolling resistance will increase and steering will be whacky.