Spare Tire Longevity???

[antzrus]

I've got an '06 M35x w/the original spare tire; never used. It's been tucked away in the wheel well in the trunk for the past 10 years. It looks OK, but is it OK to use??

Anyone know about the longevity of an unused-sunk in a dark hole for 10 years spare tire?

[steve_c]

My old forum companion Antz, I remember you from the days we were active posters on another Infiniti Forum!

I have a 1961 Corvette, a 1998 Lincoln Mark and a 1979 Cadillac Deville, all with original spares. All look as good as they did new!
Everything I read tells me it is unwise to use NOS tires because rubber breaks down with age, often with no visible indicators present.
I believe I read that 3 to 4 years was the average longevity of tire compounds, meaning the life span where they will perform as engineered
under loads & heat conditions they were designed for.

[Larz]

Hello, Antz!
Your question made one of my brain cells switch ON and made me curious, so I did a bit of research and found some good info;
To determine the "born-on" date of any tire just look at the sidewall and read the DOT serial number (Usually begins with "DOT". Look at the last four numerals in the group.
The first two numbers indicate the week of the year it was made.
The final two numbers indicate the year it was made.
.

.
The tire above was "born-on" the 51st week of 2007. That makes it December 2007 just before Christmas. That makes the tire roughly 9 1/2 years old. Replacement time is usually 6-8 years, regardless of the tread left. That is a powerful thing to know when buying tires "on sale" or 'close-out'. Is the price reduced because the tires are already 3-5 years old before they stick them on your car?

I checked Edmunds about the life of a spare and found this:
Storage: This applies to spare tires and tires that are sitting in a garage or shop. Consider how a spare tire lives its life. If you own a truck, the spare may be mounted underneath the vehicle, exposed to dirt and the elements.
If your spare is in the trunk, it's as if it is "baking in a miniature oven," says Dan Zielinski, senior vice president of public affairs for the Rubber Manufacturers Association. Most often, the spare never sees the light of day. But if the tire has been inflated and mounted on a wheel, it is technically "in service," even if it's never been used, Gervin says.

A tire that has not been mounted and is just sitting in a tire shop or your garage will age more slowly than one that has been put into service on a car. But it ages nonetheless.

[antzrus]

My old forum companion Antz, I remember you from the days we were active posters on another Infiniti Forum!

Did you have another screen name? Was it the Ohmster's?

[antzrus]

Hey Larz:

Thanx for the info. I kinda' figured all that-hoping they would be like Methuselah. Do you have any idea where to get a small tire like that? Does the TireRack stock them?

[Larz]

I reckon Tire Rack might carry them but I didn't see it on the website. If you ring them, they will let you know. It seems my dealer has one, but they want over $300 ?!?!?!?!
It would be cheaper to just buy a real tire on a real wheel, get it balanced, and plop that in the trunk. I don't use the trunk all that much and when I travel, my suitcase goes on the floor behind my seat. The rest hangs on a rack that attaches to the front seat head rest posts and hangs behind the passenger seat.

[EdBwoy]

I have 2 conflicting opinions on this.
1. I usually felt that donuts were manufactured the way they are to allow long life (age) but temporary use. That's why they usually have a speed limit and most times a mile limit per trip. I will say a 10-yr old donut looks and feels much better than a 10-yr old full size spare, even when the latter is unused... not a very scientific method by any means.
If I keep a donut in my car, I just check the air pressure periodically to make sure it works when called upon.

2. Most times I listen to advice such as what Larz has posted above. If I plan to hold onto a vehicle for a long period, then it gets a full size spare. This spare usually gets worked into service because most times it's one of the winter tires; or the most recently curbed rim becomes the spare. Other times I just buy a cheap brand tire and plonk it into the nether regions of the car, expecting to replace it in its unused state in a few years.

[antzrus]

I found this spare at The Tire Rack:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js ... ID=7913187

Mine was made in 05. It's 11 yrs old but it looks new. I guess I should spring for a new one.

Thanx for the help guys!

It's the OEM tire.

[steve_c]

hey Antz,
Ohmster was one of the moderators, along with Palmerwind, the Admin.
I was not a moderator, my screen was "Lobo"

My 06 M35x had a compact as I saw it on the dealer lot. I requested a change out to full size before delivery.
Sometime afterwards I read that all M's with AWD had full size spares as standard.

I think many dealers swapped out spares to meet the needs of the buyer to seal the deal.
I do believe my M had a full size spare originally, and that it was swapped out because another buyer of a non AWD M
wanted a full size spare.
In my case, they put a full size back in when I requested.
In all non-AWD models, space-savers were standard, full size spare with alloy rim was optional (extra cost option as I recall).

I think many M35x buyers had the original full size alloy wheel & tire removed by unscrupulous dealers who substituted space-savers in place.
An OEM alloy rim & tire was over $500.00 retail, so the temptation & demand was present!

[EdBwoy]

Steve, both 06 M45s I have owned came with donuts. (Edited for accuracy)
When I threw a full size wheel and tire in the trunk, it raised the trunk mat and cardboard in the center section so I figured that space was only meant for donuts.

For people with the AWDs and those that convinced the dealers to swap out the space savers, what modification was made to the trunk area to make it sit flush? Did they install thicker foam padding from Nissan under the mats?

[antzrus]

hey Antz,
Ohmster was one of the moderators, along with Palmerwind, the Admin.
I was not a moderator, my screen was "Lobo"

My 06 M35x had a compact as I saw it on the dealer lot. I requested a change out to full size before delivery.
Sometime afterwards I read that all M's with AWD had full size spares as standard....

Aha! I remember now Steve. That list will remain un-named. They pulled some fast ones on the Ohmster and he quit and I went with him to his own site which now appears defunct. He was the originator of the first M nav hack; a really clever and nice fellow.

I bought my '06 M35x with 35k miles on her in '07 on e-bay. The donut was what was in the wheel well when I purchased it.

[steve_c]

Steve, both 06 M45s I have owned came with donuts. (Edited for accuracy)
When I threw a full size wheel and tire in the trunk, it raised the trunk mat and cardboard in the center section so I figured that space was only meant for donuts.

For people with the AWDs and those that convinced the dealers to swap out the space savers, what modification was made to the trunk area to make it sit flush? Did they install thicker foam padding from Nissan under the mats?

Exactly.......closed foam molded to the shape of the trunk, I think it is in 2 pieces right & left. You do loose quite a bit of trunk capacity, as the foam adds several inches of height to the entire floor of the trunk.

Supposedly, AWD applications are sensitive to mismatched tire sizes, brands & unequal tire pressures.
Thread depths on all tires must be equal as well.
If not, excessive wear on the clutch packs in the AWD drive-train occurs.
The local indy that does my vehicle inspections swears that Infiniti AWD's are prone to failures due to the above.
He says he has seen it more than a few times. His transmission rebuilder agrees!

In theory, if you wanted to keep all on an even plane as far as tire wear for AWD applications, you would need to do a 5 wheel rotation (utilize spare) at every recommended rotation interval.

[The00Dustin]

Interesting time for this thread to pop up. I had to use what I assume to was the original donut in my 06 M45 (bought the car in 09, so it could have been replaced, but more than likely it was 11+ years old, I can check if I remember) on Thursday of last week. I didn't drive on it for too long or far, but I didn't have any problems, either.

[antzrus]

I finally sprang for a "new" donut tire. It came 2 years old already. My OEM was 14 years old. It looked OK and I never used it. But, enuf was enuf. I'm still driving and enjoying my original M that I joined hereon with. In fact, it probably works better than I do at this stage!!!

[Larz]

LOL Antz. When I had my 07 M, we (and 1-2 others) shared the bourbon leather interior. My 07 was totaled by a fully soused 20 yo tart. I still have my 09 M but with wheat interior.
I reckon you might be the last of the bourbon members in this forum. Kind of makes you rather unique among us! Just out of curiosity, what did you have to pay for the new doughnut?

[antzrus]

Hey Larz-U-me we're still around and live!!! Sorry about yer rig. I hope no one was badly injured-but totaled-damn!! Yeah, I luv the Bourbon interior-along with the "Genuine CoCo Mats" that also have some Bourbon in them and remind me of the mats I had in my new '69 Datsun 2000 just before the USMC sent me off to Vietnam.

I had a helluva' time finding a "new" replacement for the donut. Finally, SimpleTire.com had some "new" they said were no older than 4 years or they wouldn't sell them. Mine came "new" but 2 years old for $174.92 total.

My '06 has only about 110k on it and still runs like a champ w/o a lot of major work done. Since I bought a new RoadTrek 190 Popular RV in 2013 (my retirement gift to myself) I really haven't been putting the long distance miles on the M. I've also been traveling by plane a lot; U know-retired folks travel...

Stay healthy, drive carefully. 'Til we meet again-

[Ilya]

Holy moly! Antz is alive!

[antzrus]

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated...