which tire is safer - patched or stored for 1.5yrs?

Which tire is safer, one that has been patched after a nail puncture or one that has been stored uninflated for 1.5 years?

Back in Jan'02, I had a nail puncture in a front tire. Tire store tried to patch it but failed, so I got 2 new tires in front just for symmetry on the axle and stored the good original front tire for the future. Yesterday I had a nail puncture in a rear tire; tire store successfully patched it.

Should I leave this patched rear tire on, or replace it with the OEM tire that's been sitting in my garage for 1.5 years?

BTW, the car is a 99 Dodge Caravan, 23k miles. The rear tires have

23k on them, the fronts 8k, and the one sitting in my garage has 23-8 = 15k on it.

Thanks.

Reply to
Rachel Smith
Loading thread data ...

If the original poster's vehicle has a compact spare and has space to store a full size spare, she may want to have the extra tire mounted on an inexpensive steel wheel for use as a full size spare. That can be handy on a long trip where one does not want to be limited to 50 miles at 50mph (or whatever the limit on the compact spare is) after changing a flat tire 100 miles from the nearest tire store.

Reply to
Timothy J. Lee

I've never had trouble with a patched tire. People say that it's better to have it patched from the inside. I've never had a problem either way.

My snow tires typically sit > Which tire is safer, one that has been patched after a nail puncture

Reply to
kgold

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.