Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hi
I was thinking about how useful my spare tyre would be in the event that I might actually use it. Mine (like a lot of other people I imagine is the origininal one), it has never been used, but its coming up to 21 years old.
Advice from the tyre trade say 6 years is about the life of a tyre. I have been thinking about replacing it, but I don't see them being freely available, obviously Ebay would be a waste of time as I would be just buying another old one.

What do other owners do, or is there a place that sells T105 70R14 tyres?

Any input would be appreciated.

All the best Carl
Black 480ES with 'VOL' in the registration

Personally I'd just make sure it's inflated, holding its pressure and also perform a visual inspection on it-- looking for cracks and bulges (both very unlikely-- chuck it if bulged, consider finding a second hand spare is cracked).

I've driven hundreds of miles on a 1986 480s spare tyre when I had my only ever blow out when I was away from home for a funeral, far, far away. My alloy was knackered so I had to just keep going and there was no issues.

Also, I've driven hundreds of miles on my 1984 Citroen BXs 30 year old spare. The previous owner swapped it over just before I bought it. This was particularly hairy as they were hard and bald!

In the back of a 480, your spare is kept away from the sun and that's what would be most likely to make it crack.

Remember you shouldn't exceed 50mph on the spare and drive accordingly, considering that you have a wheel that's only just over half the width of what you should have. Hence why Newcastle, Morecombe, Cambridge took me for ever on the spare-- and the bloody speedo under-read more than I thought).

Thanks for the info, the tyre is like new, it still has the blue stripes on the tread, so I will keep it and just be careful if I do have to use it.

I suppose the advice from a company that sells tyres would be slightly bias towards buying new ones on a regular basis, lol.

Regards

Carl

Being that the space saver has been tucked away out of the elements it's probably fine. Inspected for cracks etc. It's only ever meant to be a 'get you to a repair shop' tyre so longevity in use isn't a huge factor. Pack a can of mousse in the car just in case you need to reinflate the full size road wheel.

UV is what kills the rubber so as long as it has been covered it should be ok. Just check it for any signs of cracking.

I had to use mine several months ago to get to the workshop because of a flat tyre. I hadn't checked pressure for long time and it was enough to cover the 2 miles, but at the workshop first thing I did was inflate it .
In a serious event I would have the car recovered by the road service. From 2015 on the replacement car subscription is compulsory. They only take the extra money to pay high wages to the board by the way.