spare tires

[tegu69]

We just returned from our trip to Alaska to our home in Florida.
My tires on the MH were about five years old and the fronts had some abnormal wear,even though they only had about 20,000 miles on them, I bought two new ones for the trip. I kept the old tires and took them with us, just in case. I have a small "doughnut" tire in the toad and I was going to get another full size rim and tire to take with us, but didn't get around to it. I thought, wrongly,that it shouldn't be hard to find a car tire.
We didn't have any problems with the MH, but had two flats on the toad. One of the flats was into the sidewall and I put the small spare on and drove back to the CG in Stewart BC.
The tire guy came out to the campground, took the flat tire and rim to find another tire. He returned with a tire that was a size larger than the other and he said it would be $160 for the tire and another 20 for him. He agreed to take one of my MH tires for $50 off the price. When he returned with the mounted tire, the total was $150. I didn't argue and he charged my cc and left the tire on the ground. After he left, I put the "new" tire on the car and discovered that it was 10 1/2 years old!

[tegu69]

Well, I have to add that the tire made it all the way home, with a little side trip to Washington and Oregon, so it wasn't all that bad. The $150 charge turned out to be about $120 American money. When I look at it as a $100 service call and a $20 old tire, it looks better. The car now has 4 new tires, a brake job and new serpentine belt. Now it just needs a good cleaning and replace one of the door handles that rattled loose.

[midnightsadie]

bumpy is right on the money. but tires start to age the day there made. I,d get rid of it. and take the hit. and carry the unmounted spare . we put ours in a vinyl bag mounted on the roof carrier.

[Bumpyroad]

exactly why I would carry at least an unmounted spare tire. you are at their mercy.
bumpy

[azrving]

LOL. It'll be fine. My FW had the original tires. 14 years old and like the previous owner lady told me, well..... we've never had any trouble with them. They were marathons and they were excellent tires.