Wood screw at corner of tread/wall and plugged -- drive it, or replace?

[drano38]

Memorial Day weekend road trip had me putting the spare on.
Picked up a wood screw, entering at a shallow angle into the sidewall -- bad place for a screw.
Small town independent repair shop said its not patchable (I knew he'd say that because of the sidewall).
I told him I'd plug it so I could use it as a spare for the rest of my trip --unless he'd be nice enough to do it for a fee. So he did -- used rubber cement, and even used a butane torch to melt the plug a bit -- he said it helps seal the plug.
And he recommended driving my plugged tire rather than the spare for the rest of my weekend trip since the spare is rated for 50 mph. So I put the plugged tire back on (drivers rear).
I put about 700 miles on the plugged tire over the rest of the weekend, with a lot of it 75-80 mph Interstate highway driving.
I still have the stock tires on my XLT Sport, 5/32" to 6/32" tread, 40,000 miles. 255/65R17 Bridgestone Dueler A/T
The repair guy recommended I buy a used OEM tire off ebay, and run that until I need a new set--gets more use out of the other 3.
I don't tow, or haul loads.
Should I:
1. Run the plugged tire for another 5,000ish miles until the stock tires are wore out
2. Buy a used OEM with ~ 6/32 tread to finish the life of the stock tires
3. Buy 4 new now
Here's some pics (the red fuzz on the plug is from the Tommy's drive-thru car wash yesterday)
Thanks in advance.

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[CO2Ranger]

Memorial Day weekend road trip had me putting the spare on.
Picked up a wood screw, entering at a shallow angle into the sidewall -- bad place for a screw.
Small town independent repair shop said its not patchable (I knew he'd say that because of the sidewall).
I told him I'd plug it so I could use it as a spare for the rest of my trip --unless he'd be nice enough to do it for a fee. So he did -- used rubber cement, and even used a butane torch to melt the plug a bit -- he said it helps seal the plug.
And he recommended driving my plugged tire rather than the spare for the rest of my weekend trip since the spare is rated for 50 mph. So I put the plugged tire back on (drivers rear).
I put about 700 miles on the plugged tire over the rest of the weekend, with a lot of it 75-80 mph Interstate highway driving.
I still have the stock tires on my XLT Sport, 5/32" to 6/32" tread, 40,000 miles. 255/65R17 Bridgestone Dueler A/T
The repair guy recommended I buy a used OEM tire off ebay, and run that until I need a new set--gets more use out of the other 3.
I don't tow, or haul loads.
Should I:
1. Run the plugged tire for another 5,000ish miles until the stock tires are wore out
2. Buy a used OEM with ~ 6/32 tread to finish the life of the stock tires
3. Buy 4 new now
Here's some pics (the red fuzz on the plug is from the Tommy's drive-thru car wash yesterday)
Thanks in advance.

Looks F'd to me. I'd replace it. Not what you wanted to hear but it's not worth the risk.

 

[Radioman]

Bad luck there.

I am NOT a tire expert but I would replace that tire, either just that one or a new set.

 

[Bob902]

I would buy the new tires I have been wanting?

 

[myothercarizahearse]

I had those horrible tires. I can't believe you drove in the South Dakota snow with them and survived. get a better set time for an UPGRADE. may I suggest Cooper AT3 they worked great for the March road trip out to Montana this year. They stuck to the ice sheet known as I94 through Wisconsin with 28 cars in the ditch

 

[BassRanger]

That's way out of the "safe repairable" zone.

 

[Langwilliams]

If you buy 4 new ones you might get a few bucks for the three good ones on Market place. I couldn't wait to get rid of the stock bridgestones on my ranger. They had under 23K an looked like they only had about 5K of life left an winter was coming fast. You got much better life than I did. Must be the tune lol. FYI a quick ebay search shows used ones for around $50-60

 

[Msfitoy]

What kinda spare do you have that's only rated to 50mph?

 

[Langwilliams]

What kinda spare do you have that's only rated to 50mph?

I didn't think about that. I thought rangers had a regular tire. I have a 16" spare with a taller ratio.

 

[Msfitoy]

I didn't think about that. I thought rangers had a regular tire. I have a 16" spare with a taller ratio.

Not sure about all Rangers but I'd figure they'd all have full size spares...at least my FX4 does...

 

[dapakattack]

Wayne, you may want to look for the same wheel on ebay as your 4 others. When it comes time to get new tires you could get 5 and do a 5 tire rotation.

 

[Chris M]

What kinda spare do you have that's only rated to 50mph?

Probably all of them, and it's not so much the tire as the wheel itself, as I was once told by a tire shop.
There is probably a little sticker on the wheel (go look-you know you have to now!) that's yellow, if I recall, stating a max speed of 50 mph.

 

[Msfitoy]

Probably all of them, and it's not so much the tire as the wheel itself, as I was once told by a tire shop.
There is probably a little sticker on the wheel (go look-you know you have to now!) that's yellow, if I recall, stating a max speed of 50 mph.

hmmmm...I've never lowered mine to check...I'd figure it would be same aluminum wheel/tire as the rest of the set...

 

[BassRanger]

My understanding is that the spare is mph "limited" for safety/liability reasons. That spare can sit under your truck for years before you actually need it. So it's not in your best interest to slap it on and go about at 75mph for extended distances, especially considering the chances of it being underinflated are high, and depending on it's age so are the chances of dry rot.

 

[Danager]

Probably all of them, and it's not so much the tire as the wheel itself, as I was once told by a tire shop.
There is probably a little sticker on the wheel (go look-you know you have to now!) that's yellow, if I recall, stating a max speed of 50 mph.

Well, I’ll be…. From the manual:

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