Just noticed I still have my 24 year old spare tire still underneath.

I have no intentions of ever using that tire. I haven't needed a spare in 24 years/414,000 miles so doubt I will ever need one. Got a set of good Cooper A/T3s on it. Besides, drive my '18 TRD Sport most of the time now.

 

tires manufactured in the 90s must have been of much better quality!?

 

I'd assume it is just a better understanding of how rubber breaks down and 10 years is a general agreed upon time frame as to what is considered safe. The whole Firestone/Explorer as well as the GoodYear G159 really caused tire manufactures to err on the side of safety and put in place a industry wide recommendation.

 

do you also have a high concentration of salty air in southern TX?

 

Oh yeah. It really doesn't affect the bottom side of things as much as the top though. It settles because it's in the air.

 

Your truck looks great!

 

I still have my original spare tire too on my 1997.
Never had a flat too with this truck at 620,000 miles.
My spare looks like it has bad spots on the side walls tho

 

I wish I had that kind of luck! I’ve probably had 4 or 5 flats in 175,000 on my ‘04 only thrown the spare on two of those times though.

 

Great seeing you guys with the mega miles on your trucks! Hope to follow in your footsteps.

 

Mine is probably that old also. Might as well remove it, I already have a tire pump and flat repair stick thing. Only thing it can't fix is if my tires explode.. XD