I have an original spare tire on my 2010 MDX. which has 176,000 miles. It is a temporary tire and the the DOT code on the tire indicates it was manufactured in 2010. The sidewalls have some cracking.

I change my regular tires no matter the mileage after 8-9 years as the rubber is no longer reliable at that time period.

I would be interested in hearing what the Forum members do about their old, spare tires.

 

I changed out my donut spare on my 11 MDX in 2014 with a full size spare at around 35,000 miles. The donut should have the exact same 7-10 year time limitations as a regular tire. Hanging a donut or full size spare under the MDX makes it worse because of rust and corrosion around the lugs/tire seams issue. My 11 MDX was my main traveling vehicle and I didn't like having the donut 50 mph max speed with 70 miles max range living out west with 4-8 hours between major cities at 70-80 mph. Zero issues with a full size spare under my 11 MDX. I sold the 11 MDX to my nephew back in 2023 and he has +210,000 miles today.

Wrapped in a tire bag and added a vinyl cover to help protect the full size spare (no TPMS). Set PSI to 45 so I only needed to check 1-2 a year.



I added a full size spare when I purchased my 19 MDX with the same covers. I added TPMS to the spare and do a 5 tire rotation to ensure all tires have the same tread depth at all times.

 

mrgold35: Those are great ideas. I didn't realize a full size spare would fit underneath. And the cover solves the problem I dealt with today. I wire brushed, sanded, and metal prepped both sides of the wheel, and then primed with zinc rich primer and sprayed some top coat. That may last me another 5 years.

I like the cover idea better.

Based on your comment, I think it's a good idea to replace the tire soon, either with a temporary or full size, as there are many sidewall cracks.

Thanks for your reply.

 

I just had the black vinyl cover for my 11 MDX at first. The inside of the tire in contact to the bottom of the MDX had a nasty dirty ring half way around the tire that was uncovered. The rim surface still got dirty and the inside bottom of the vinyl cover was full of dust/dirt. Zero issues once I added the bag (had an extra Discount Tire bag). The only issue I can think of is if you have an aftermarket hitch on your MDX? The factory OEM hitch is wide enough for a full size spare. Many 2nd Gen MDX owner's had a problem adding a full size spare with aftermarket hitches that are too narrow for a full size spare.

Here is a better pic of my 19 MDX with a full size spare wrapped in the tire bag the exact same way as my 11 MDX. I tucked the extra bag material inside the center cap. I rotate the valve stem to the rear of the MDX and rip a small hole in the bag to check the PSI.



Tire Bag:

Vinyl Tire cover:

 

I'm finding very few compact spares in the T165/80D17 104M size.

The Tire Rack has a Yokohama for $141.64.

Any suggestions on any other suppliers?