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when your 4 main tires are due for change, what do you do with your spare tire? Keep as it is (Do nothing)? Will the spare tires quality degrad as the years passes?

Hello everyone, For people with full size spare tires, please check your spare tire's pressure periodically, say every six months. I checked mine earlier this week, the pressure has dropped to an unusable 150 kPa (1.5 bar or 21.8 psi); I only pumped it to 250 kPa about a year ago. Further, mine was already more than five years old; while it has never been mounted on the car before, I decided to change it this morning, as it would have suffered from rubber deterioration. Unless one has X-rays' eyes like Superman to inspect the tire's internal structure, one would not know if the steel radial cords and the rubber have lost their bonding and the tire's structural integrity is compromised and therefore unusable. A five year old tire should not be put in service, regardless of tread wear and usage pattern. Some may think it is a waste of money to change your spare tire which one hardly use; if you just drive in Singapore and distances are very short (50 - 100 km), I think it is OK to use your old spare tire and drive to your usual tire shop for repair and replacement. However, if you travel to Malaysia sometimes, I think a functional spare tire (full size spare or temporary spare) or tire repair kit is important, so that your mobility and safety are not compromised. Drive safely, regularly maintain your vehicle and you would enjoy many years of safe motoring.