spare tyres

[gibble king]

went and had my front tyres sorted at kwik fit yesterday.....55 quid for a wheel...hm i thought,,,quickly looks at spare ...hmmm...its new condition.....gets a quote of twelve quid........thinks about it for five seconds and smiles saying go on then....total cost 70 inc balance and stuff...they put the worn one on the spare wheel for free and im done....ps the spare wheel was the original and was in perfect condition...not bad for a tyre 13 years old...the man was amazed at the fact it was so good...also discovered a new tow bar in the wheel bay so yay bonus ...all i have to do is get those rusted ones off now.

[DaveNP]

Seems like a great economy but a tyre that's 13 years old?!
I can't remember exactly but as I recall tyres are considered to have a 10 year 'shelf life', (the production date is on the sidewall) as time goes by the rubber can deteriorate, I'd be keeping a very careful eye on that tyre while it's on the car (check for cracking in the tread grooves and on the sidewalls) and personally would replace it as soon as I could. You've only got four tyres between the car and the road to take care of handling and braking, I'd rather spend the money for peace of mind.

[tt82]

The life span is 5 years. Just shows what a cowboy company kwikfit that they would do it.

[DaveNP]

I wouldn't argue with 5 years, just makes a 13 year old tyre even more scary.

Question1- How many of us think about the age of the spare?

Question2- How many people now thinking 'Hmm perhaps I'll have a quick look in the boot'?

[tt82]

Not even crossed my mind. I have a space saver, which like the foam in a can is purely a get you to the nearest garage fix. Its not intended to be driven around on constantly, not even to get you home as people might think (AFAIK). So I would use it whilst adjusting my driving to account for the fact I have reducded grip and change it ASAP.

With mobile tyre fitters willing to come to your work, there is simply no excuse for driving on a spare for more than 24 hours. Whilst some of us on here who are motoring enthusiast would prefer to use a certain tyre or our preffered tyre dealer to remedy the problem, and as such might not be able to change it asap, there is always the option of not using the car full stop.

[gibble king]

thanks for the concern fellas...but i have to say the tyre is perfect...soft rubber and he did go over it several times and checked it over...i will keep an eye on it tho...

[tt82]

Perhaps consider checking the production date on the spare. It may have been changed recently or did the tyre fitter already do this?

[gibble king]

he said if i recall that he was amazed at the condition and that who ever had the car before me looked after it as it was fine..thats as much as i think he said at the time..

[tt82]

Again if you can check for the age - how to check age (http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care/age.aspx) - for us please as I really would be interested to know exactly how old it is.

It may just show how stupid or devious the grease monkeys at kwik fit are.

[gibble king]

this is all i can find...the tyre is nice and soft,no cracks or dry rubber ...

[tt82]

The guide should really say but its only shown on 1 side of the tyre. Might be on the inner side.

[gibble king]

hmmmm..dont really fancy taking the wheel off...fwiw the spare was pumped up so i dont think cracks would have formed ...it would have showed when the air was let out...

[Moosejaw]

I guess in a lot of ways that vindicates the use of the much hated space-saver tyre.

If you have a puncture and have a normal spare (albeit 10+ years old) you're far more likely just to keep it on the car and drive around on it for days on end.
With a space saver, they're so limited and obvious to Plod that you've got to go pretty much straight away and get the tyre fixed, so there's less likelihood of an older tyre causing an accident at 70 on the motorway.

As an aside, did I read that a spare kept in the boot will last a bit longer than a tyre on the car because two of the main things that degrades tyres are exposure to heat and light?

[gibble king]

he told me the same thing .. as it was kept cool and out of sun light i should be fine...those slim tyres are only good for 50 miles ...he said because they are quite narrow they get hot bloomin quickly..

[kebab10]

he told me the same thing .. as it was kept cool and out of sun light i should be fine...those slim tyres are only good for 50 miles ...he said because they are quite narrow they get hot bloomin quickly..

I know someone who has been using a spacesaver wheel on there car for months now cos he is a lazy, tight old sod! 50 miles, he has done at least 500 now. Must be awful on the less than perfect roads around here.

[gibble king]

good old norfolk roads are awful.......built for tractors and carts and thats about it...east german roads were better then this.

[tt82]

I know someone who has been using a spacesaver wheel on there car for months now cos he is a lazy, tight old sod! 50 miles, he has done at least 500 now. Must be awful on the less than perfect roads around here.

Do us all a favour and stick a knife in it 1 night.

[kebab10]

Ought to really as its clearly dangerous.

[KwikFit]

Hi there,

Kwik Fit here - just to clarify that we recommend that tyres are replaced when they are six years old: http://www.kwik-fit.com/tyre-age.asp

The centre should have made this clear.

If you'd like to discuss this with us you can always email us on KwikFitWebcare@kwik-fit.com.

Kind regards,
Gerry

[Anadinolin]

Do us all a favour and stick a knife in it 1 night.

drill with a small bit :P

[gibble king]

im being followed by kwik fit...makes a change from trained assasins...

[wooble]

TBH kwik fit should definitely not have fitted that tyre - it leaves them open to a lawsuit if the tyre then fails, regardless of what the fitter's opinion was. When working as a mechanic I've seen tyres which have blown at speed which looked absolutely fine, but have degraded internally.

It also means you have a spare tyre which is nearly worn out? Depending on the level of wear, that could land you in hot water, what if you get a flat, switch to the spare and plod then pulls you over and finds the spare fitted is below the limit. 3 points/£60 fine on the spot.

Personally I prefer to buy good used tyres from eBay, I recently replaced all 4 tyres on my car with <5000 mile Michelin Primacy SP which I bought for £160 on ebay, plus £40 to fit and balance - would have cost me £100+ each to buy at a tyre centre.