is 11 y/o original spare still a spare?

burlmart - I would second what ron.dittmer stated above. What are the chances you will have to use your spare? There is a small chance. Since your spare is covered, that is a big plus. Tire aging is usually caused by sunlight evaporating the oils in the tire.

My spare is now 15 years old and looks like new. I would drive slower until I had a chance to replace the problem tire. Then the spare goes back into storage for the next time. :)

burlmart, you do what feels right for you. But as for me, considering the size (lighter weight) of the rig and that the spare tire has been covered, I would not hesitate to keep it as a spare, not to be used permanently....just until the other tire gets repaired or replaced.

The guys at my regular tire store (I seem to buy a lot of tires) take care of me. When I replace the truck tires (now on set #6)they treat me to a fairly decent take-off orphan, no charge. Same deal on the fiver. I always have reasonably new, certainly functional spares.

I was thinking the same with our spare from 04. Still looks great as it was stored under the bed, General something or other. I was primarily going to just use it to get to the next tire store. I do have 2 others from 08 that I'm going to wrap up and put on top of the grey tank for long trips.

I may be wrong but think that tires on an RV sitting parked for months at a time don't get the "lubricants" in the rubber circulated plus the sun attacks the rubber starting sidewall cracks. The ten year old original spare, or one taken off the rig after 5 years as a spare, should be OK to get you to the tire store but keep your speed down and listen for any thumping sounds that may signal tire coming apart.

Well, your spare tire is probably not as bad as "The Old Man's" spare tires in The Christmas Story movie. "My old man's spare tires were only tires in the academic sense. They were round, they had once been made of rubber."
https://youtu.be/JwF4qieecEM?t=37

all good answers.

we mostly stay close to home. new 6 michelin are LT225/75/R16 LTX M/S2 115R RBL

i am kinda leaning to replace it as a matter of peace of mind and convenience.

convenience wise, after roadside puts spare on, i need to have it taken back off and replace w/ new or patched flat (can they even do that on these hi pressure tires?) but if i had a spare that matches other 6 michelins, i only need to take flat tire in our car to be made into new spare, and then bolt it onto rear of RV.

If you are going on a cross country venture I would definitely replace. Call it peace of mind. If you are staying local I (me) would roll the dice. But that's just me

If it wasn't exposed to the elements for those 11 years, I would continue to use it as a spare.

-Michael

JNorton wrote:
In 2010 my 98 Gulf Stream 22' blew a tire outside of Joplin Mo. Used the original spare to drive the 170 miles to my sisters in Ozark Ak. Then replaced the tire. If a spare is used just in a pinch I don't see the problem. I definitely would not use a 12 year old tire in normal service. It was a covered spare on the back bumper with no signs of cracks.

My feelings as well. A spare is a spare. Some people don't even have a spare!