Should I trust this old spare set on my pre-owned taco?

Hey, finally got a tool set from Amazon to lower my spare wheel on my pre-owned 2015 PreRunner, and saw the condition of my spare...
I'm thinking I should chuck it?

New questions come to mind, like can a sell it to a recycling area, but more importantly is If I should buy a fifth wheel and tire to match my current BF Goodrich tires (so I can rotate it in every 5k or 10k miles) or just a get a cheaper spare

 

Tough to read the date code in the picture, but I think it gives a production year of 2016. If so, that's an 8 year old tire and you should get it recycled. Any tire shop will recycle it for you for a couple bucks.

Buy yourself a fully matched spare to what's on the car (wheel and tire), then do a 5 tire rotation every 5,000 miles.

 

+1 on new tire if it's more than 6 years old.

Now you can justify purchasing a full size 5th wheel spare to do your 5 wheel rotation.

 

If it’s been under the truck and out of sun light I wouldn’t be scared of an 8yr old spare just because the date code says 8 years old. I mean, inspect it. If it’s not cracked or rotted, just change the valve stem and stick it back under there.

 

Noticed that there are paired cracks in in a triangular pattern (not sure what caused it), so will do as @Cetacean Sensation stated.

 

Agreed. To an extent. As much as it's good advice, 99% of drivers out there NEVER replace their spare tire and are fine like that.

Kinda depends on the OP's use. I wouldn't worry about an OLD spare tire (that doesn't look cracked or compromised and is properly inflated) so long as you're using it as an emergency, short term, spare. Like if the truck is your daily driver and all you drive is freeways and city streets - basically places where even if your spare failed you're just an easy tow from home or to a tire shop.

However, if you regularly take your truck out into the woods or places where having a disabled truck would be a BIG inconvenience, then I'd be much more cautious. Personally, it's not worth the risk getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere when I'm camping or exploring the back roads. So for me it was a no brainer to get a matching wheel/tire for my spare and now I just do 5 tire rotations.

 

Agreed. I looked at prices of buying new matching Vision wheel, BFGoodrich TA tire and tpms sensor and it already costs a LOT.
Considering my specific needs (family roadtrips mostly through highways, light camping, 80% city driving) I don't see much chance of being in an emergency situation.

I would actually just settle for a good $300 spare tire and use that for long family road trips.

 

When I buy new tires I always have one of the 4 old tires mounted on the spare rim and dispose of the old spare with the other 3.

 

One thing to consider is that if you replace your spare you pay money for a tire you will probably never use or at most use only for a few miles. Then, after a period of time you'll again need to replace that spare once it gets old. Of course, it's worth it for the insurance factor.

On the other side, you can pay more to get yourself setup with 5 matching wheels/tires and if you do 5 tire rotations you will actually USE thee spare. Sure, 5 tires will cost you 25% more than 4 tires - but you'll also get 25% more miles so you'll be replacing tires less often.

Lastly, you don't NEED a TPMS sensor for your spare. In fact, adding one kinda complicates things. If you're one to rely on TPMS warning lights then you'll need too have the computer reprogramed every time you do a tire rotation. Your computer can only hold 4 codes at once so when you rotate your tires you'd need to have a tire tech update the codes - which will cost you money at every tire rotation. Not worth it, IMO. But I'm also one who doesn't care for TPMS. My spare doesn't have one and currently my "spare" is in use with one of my TPMS equipped wheels being mounted under the truck. The truck doesn't know the difference and doesn't care where the sensors are.

 

Hmmm, I almost feel all my 'money-saving' mentors whispering in my ear about the "Long Term" savings!

Cost of getting a new 'emergency spare' =

• $300~$400

Cost of getting me a 5th wheel =

• $215 wheel (I think I have Vision, not sure about offset on my PreRunner at the moment)
• $241 tire (BFGoodrich Trail TerrainTA)
• $88 tire installation at PepBoys (unless I can do it myself??)

Total is about $600, BUT It seems that I would get to have these tires for 25% longer... and that will pay for itself in the lifespan of 4 new tire replacements (my PreRunner would be at 300k miles by then),,,
So in a way the Math DOES add up!

I guess I'll definitely look into this right before my next tire rotation (4k more miles before I'm due).

 

I don't worry about date codes much, I look for dry rot, especially for a spare tire which will only be used in a emergency for a limited time, if a tire is leaking I will plug and inflate it(spend $50 and get a cheepo plug kit and inflator on Amazon, use it once and its paid for itself).
If I was going on a serious offroad trip or a long road trip through the middle of no where sure I would have one or two new spares but I am in the city 95% of the time.
Hell about 5-6 years ago the dealer I worked for was throwing out 6 new but old(2011 I think) BF tires cause they were to old to sell, I grabbed them and haven't had an issue, still got 2 backups if I need them. I will probably replace them in 2025 since they now have very slight dry rot.

 

Not gonna make a huge difference but $88 for mount/balance is highway robbery. Especially because you'd be bringing in a loose wheel and loose tire rather than wheels which were on the vehicle still. Shop around, you can find better deals. Recently Discount Tire quoted me $22 for mount/balance.

 

Ditto (& w/ a new valve stem).

OP, just check the 3rd gen for sale section. Might be able to get a spare from a late model for cheap. Those guys always replace perfectly good stuff for Instagram points lol