Tires: Miichkin tire shelf life, lincoln town car, michelin tire

Question
I have a 1999 Lincoln Town Car with an original MIchelin
tire on the right rear that was the spare and new.  Does
the tire have a shelf life and should be replaced?
Thanks, Fred

Answer
Fred,

Recent bulletins from the tire industry indicate that tires degrade simply due to time.  The age of a tire is important even if the tire is unused.  There some disagreement over how to best express this age limitation, but my take is:

If you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) then the limit is six years.  If you live in a cold climate (MN, ND, WI, MT, etc), then the limit is 10 years.  States in between are  ..... ah ........ in between.

So a spare from a 10 year old car, is at least 10 years old.  I would return it to the spare position and buy a new tire for the right rear - and you should consider that tires should be "paired", meaning the same brand, model, and state of wear on an axle.  That may mean buying 2 tires.