Do I need to replace my spare when I replace my Casita trailer tires?

[Lisle]

My tires look fine and still have tread, however, they were made 2-1-17, which means they are 5 1/2 years old. I'm thinking I'd better replace them just to be safe. Question is, do I also need to replace the spare? On the "yes" side, the spare doesn't ever get used, which means it has been sitting there under its cover for 5+ years, quietly aging. I've been told it is the time the tires are not being driven which causes the most harm. On the "no" side, it is just a spare and I'd only use it for a short distance until I could get my camper tire fixed or a new replacement tire. What do you all think? Even at Walmart, they are $123 each.

[Jon in AZ]

I wouldn’t. For future replacements do ‘best to spare” and you’ll never have to buy more than two.

[Cotton]

I don't. I keep my best old tire as a spare. I was raised that way......

[Iowa Dave]

I put mine in rotation and buy 5 at a time. This works if you have a decent set up for jacking up and changing tires, have the time and don’t mind spending it on this kind of maintenance.
Flat concrete area, chocks, hydraulic jack, Jack stands, impact wrench and torque wrench. A few bottles on ice if it’s a hot day for when the job is done. I like an 8,000 mile interval. So when the trip
Meter is at 40,000 miles they all have 32,000 on them and are down to about 4/32 inches of tread.
Iowa Dave

[jon carpenter]

Dave, you have 5 tires to move around. Lot's of us only have 3 tires to move so that leaves more time for us to empty a few more of those cold ones.

[Iowa Dave]

My daughter has a 74 boler but they don’t use it a lot I doubt 2,000 miles a year.
I checked his bearings a while back. They were fine. It has a replacement axle so has the easy lube but wasn’t abused. Same with my utility trailer and boat trailer not many miles per year.
Iowa Dave

[LindaandPat]

Originally Posted by Lisle

My tires look fine and still have tread, however, they were made 2-1-17, which means they are 5 1/2 years old. I'm thinking I'd better replace them just to be safe. Question is, do I also need to replace the spare? On the "yes" side, the spare doesn't ever get used, which means it has been sitting there under its cover for 5+ years, quietly aging. I've been told it is the time the tires are not being driven which causes the most harm. On the "no" side, it is just a spare and I'd only use it for a short distance until I could get my camper tire fixed or a new replacement tire. What do you all think? Even at Walmart, they are $123 each.

Hi I was faced with the same problem . Our trailer is now 8 years old . We just purchased our second set of tires . Yes the prices really went up . They claim oil and transportation costs . So nothing you can do . Reason we replaced hated first tires getting flats etc, bought Maxxis D ‘s instead of C’s . Loved them but they were sitting for 2 years and had lost 20 lbs of pressure so replaced , not good and the sideways . Damage is maybe unseen . Tires were over 5 years . Bought Maxxis again but 33/3 more money . We are getting ready to go somewhere and don’t want any trouble . Cheaper to replace tires then fixing our trailer . As for the spare bought home 2 of the tires that were on the shade side and can see the inside of tire and the same as we replaced with . Our spare has been on trailer since 2013 when it was new . Didn’t want to buy a new for spare so that is what we will do .Hope this helps . Pat

[Jon in AZ]

I was assuming all three current tires are original equipment, and that the spare has a cover. Therefore it would be the best of the lot, and I’d leave it.

When the new tires are replaced in another 5-6 years, the spare will now be over 10 years old. Use the better of the road tires as the spare and continue.

You could replace all three and rotate the spare in, but (1) that’s a lot of trouble, and (2) to make it pay off, you’d have to extend your tire replacement interval by 50% to 8-9 years. That’s a pretty long time.

Keeping the spare for now, then sending the best old tire to the spare at each future replacement seems like the best compromise of safety, cost, and environmental impact.

[Lisle]

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Lisle

My tires look fine and still have tread, however, they were made 2-1-17, which means they are 5 1/2 years old. I'm thinking I'd better replace them just to be safe. Question is, do I also need to replace the spare? On the "yes" side, the spare doesn't ever get used, which means it has been sitting there under its cover for 5+ years, quietly aging. I've been told it is the time the tires are not being driven which causes the most harm. On the "no" side, it is just a spare and I'd only use it for a short distance until I could get my camper tire fixed or a new replacement tire. What do you all think? Even at Walmart, they are $123 each.

Your tires won't be 5 years old until 2-1-22. Depending on how you store your trailer you are ok for now. Keep wood under the tires if outside in dirt or if on concrete use wood or a rubber backed carpet piece under them. This helps with drying out. Keep the outside of the tires covered to keep the sun off of them. We didn't change out our spare until we put the 2nd set of tires on the trailer and then it was the best of the ones we took off.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Jann Todd

Your tires won't be 5 years old until 2-1-22. Depending on how you store your trailer you are ok for now. Keep wood under the tires if outside in dirt or if on concrete use wood or a rubber backed carpet piece under them. This helps with drying out. Keep the outside of the tires covered to keep the sun off of them. We didn't change out our spare until we put the 2nd set of tires on the trailer and then it was the best of the ones we took off.

Good catch on the math! I’m a math teacher and embarrassed to say I didn’t catch that.

With prices of everything so high right now, it probably wouldn’t hurt to postpone the purchase. For me it would depend in part on whether the original tires are a high quality brand, as well as how they have been treated and stored over the last 4 years. 10 months, and 2 weeks.

But now that I’m thinking about it, there is no way in the world the OP could have known the tire was manufactured on the exact date 2/1/17. I’m wondering now if the date code is 2117, which would mean it was made in the 21st week of 2017, making it closer to 4 years and 6 months old.

And this: tires in protected, climate-controlled storage don't age like tires in use. When were the tires put into service?

[redbarron55]

I think it would depend on how the spare is stored.
On my Scamp it is on the rear and covered by a genuine Scamp Spare Tire cover and protected from the sun and to a large extent from the degrading ozone.
As this spare is a genuine Chinese Road Master or some such I consider it to be only a short term thing to get us to a tire store to have tires replaced or repaired.
Since the tires and wheels on my Scamp were replaced when I replaced the axle with 5 lug 14" tires they are some what higher rated than the originals.
I keep a pretty good watch on the tires and in my opinion the main cause of worry might well be "road Hazard" damage.
When the installed US made Carlisle tires are replaced I will probably take the best one and replace the "Roadmaster" genuine Chinese spare with it.

[Jon in AZ]

Carlisle tires are also made in China. AFAIK the Goodyear Endurance is the one-and-only US-made ST tire, and they don’t make a 13” size.

That said, quality of Chinese-made tires depends on the standards set by the company contracting the factory. By most accounts, Carlisle is among the best 13” ST tires available. I've been very happy with ours.

[COMSULT]

[QUOTE=Jon in AZ;831564]Carlisle tires are also made in China. AFAIK the Goodyear Endurance is the one-and-only US-made ST tire, and they don’t make a 13” size.

Above is the reason that I had to change up to a 14” Goodyear set.
After a little bit of modification, the trailer still rides well and I’m a little bit more comfortable having it ride on Goodyears rather than take a chance on the stuff coming out of China. Some brands may be good, but it’s the quality control that scares me.

[billeldon]

I for one would not even temporarily want to use an elderly spare. I have a Casita, so three tires. I rotate all three so they’re evenly worn and aged and will replace them as a trio.

[COMSULT]

I agree, replacing them as a trio is the best bet.

[Jon in AZ]

To me replacing the spare at every tire replacement is only justified if you tow a lot of miles, enough to essentially wear out all three tires. Otherwise you’re adding a lot of unnecessary rubber to the waste stream.

I understand safety is important, but perhaps the money might be better spent on a tire pressure monitoring system.

Maybe if you (or a friend or local contractor) has a utility trailer that takes the same size, you could rotate them into service there for the remainder of their useful lifespan.

[Iowa Dave]

In our upper Midwest country you only have to make about three little notices offering free used trailer tires with the size. Pin the notes up to the community bulletin boards in the hardware store, the farm store and a popular rural cafe. Go home. The phone will ring before long.

When I worked, I had a shop where there were about 10 seasonal employees making a little over minimum wage. When I got new tires I took my old ones to the shop. This worked well for years until two of the employees got into an argument over who got the tires. My foreman was very good and settled it very quickly, two tires each. Genius. I never went near the tire machine when someone was mounting tires. Didn’t want to know.
Iowa Dave

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

In our upper Midwest country you only have to make about three little notices offering free used trailer tires with the size. Pin the notes up to the community bulletin boards in the hardware store, the farm store and a popular rural cafe. Go home. The phone will ring before long.

Great suggestion. I believe the OP has 15” tires, so there should be a good market for those. Lots of contractors use that size.

I couldn’t give away the 13” tires from our Scamp, and I tried. The used tire vendor said there’s zero market locally for 13” trailer tires. Eventually I’d like to have the same size on the Scamp and our utility trailer.

[Chiefwinemaker]

Originally Posted by Lisle

My tires look fine and still have tread, however, they were made 2-1-17, which means they are 5 1/2 years old. I'm thinking I'd better replace them just to be safe. Question is, do I also need to replace the spare? On the "yes" side, the spare doesn't ever get used, which means it has been sitting there under its cover for 5+ years, quietly aging. I've been told it is the time the tires are not being driven which causes the most harm. On the "no" side, it is just a spare and I'd only use it for a short distance until I could get my camper tire fixed or a new replacement tire. What do you all think? Even at Walmart, they are $123 each.

First off they are not even 5 years old yet. Besides age the other factors to consider are climate, mileage and usage. Do you have good quality tires with a high weight rating in the north east with limited mileage and sun exposure? Perhaps you have cheap load range C tires that you drive at 70+ mph and store uncovered in the southwest. Regardless of your situation I can't see purchasing a new tire for a spare, I concur with the "best to spare" strategy, buy the best 2 that you can find.