Dry Rotting Tires

[GaryBDavis]

I once counted all the tires I have. Between the cars, truck, trailers, ATVs and farm implements, I have over 100 tires. Ugh!

Most of my tires dry rot after a few years and by 10 years, they are pretty much shot. Not worn out, but dry rotted. I have a few really old tires on farm implements that seem to last forever. Someone told me the old nylon tires won't dry rot nearly as fast as the new ones.

I can't ever seem to wear out tires unless they are on my car or truck. The other ones just fall apart before they are worn out. For my farm implement and light duty trailer tires, my criteria is ones that won't dry rot very fast.

Any suggestions or are today's tires just not made to last past a few years?

[Builder]

Originally Posted by GaryBDavis

I once counted all the tires I have. Between the cars, truck, trailers, ATVs and farm implements, I have over 100 tires. Ugh!

Most of my tires dry rot after a few years and by 10 years, they are pretty much shot. Not worn out, but dry rotted. I have a few really old tires on farm implements that seem to last forever. Someone told me the old nylon tires won't dry rot nearly as fast as the new ones.

I can't ever seem to wear out tires unless they are on my car or truck. The other ones just fall apart before they are worn out. For my farm implement and light duty trailer tires, my criteria is ones that won't dry rot very fast.

Any suggestions or are today's tires just not made to last past a few years?

Parking my stuff in garages or barns or out of direct sun seems to help my tires from checking & dry rotting more than anything.

[PILOON]

I agree, the UV is what does it.

However is there any product that can 'rejuvenate' or fill in those weather checks?

Being that modern tires are generally nylon or other synthetic cords it would seem that a product might exist to fill or re-seal the weather checks.

The old tires were cotton cords which, naturally would rot with time. Nylon will resist rot so it stands to reason that a tire's life might be extended if 'checks' could be filled.

I know the basic answer--like on motor homes and RV's, one should drape a tarp or other cover over the tire to block the UV, but who remembers to do that after a day in the saddle.

[GaryBDavis]

As far as dry rot goes, tractor tires last a lot longer out in the weather than auto tires. They must be made from something different.

[Builder]

don't know if it's true, but I've heard armor-all helps.

[jinman]

Originally Posted by GaryBDavis

As far as dry rot goes, tractor tires last a lot longer out in the weather than auto tires. They must be made from something different.

Gary, I think tractor tires would likely shed rubber and come apart if we ran them down the road at 70+ mph. However, the rubber seems to be much thicker than the average load range D or E tire. I have a trailer with 10 yr old tires that were new in 1998. My neighbor borrowed the trailer to haul his lightweight tractor to his deer lease. Halfway there, one tire shed it's tread and when he came back, another tire's sidewall let go. He didn't haul the tractor but about 5 miles before the tires let go. I think I'd have to cover them with a skirt to keep UV from ruining the tires.

[CurlyDave]

How fast a tire rots depends on how much antioxidant was compounded into the rubber.

One of the best things you can do for a tire is to use it every few weeks. The antioxidant tends to become depleted at the surface, and getting the tire warm and flexing redistributes the remaining antioxidant inside the rubber, replenishing that on the surface.

UV shielding is good, but ozone also eats tires and you can't shield that.

There is nothing that will "fill the cracks" and regenerate old tires. The best thing is prevention.

jinman's experience should be a lesson to all of us. It sounds like the only bad result was the loss of two tires, but I hate to think of the potential consequences if I were to lose a tire on a heavy trailer at high speed.

[EddieWalker]

I was told one of the characteristics of trailer tires over automobile tires is that they are designed for sitting in the sun for extended periods of time without drying out and cracking. I can't say for sure if this is true or not, but the trailer tires that I bought for my trailers are still looking very good after four to five years of having them.

RV's have covers that they put over their tires to protect them from the sun. Basically, just a material of some kind that drapes over the tires. I don't know how effective they are, or if they are even needed since most RV Tires are similar to big rig tires and super expensive. I've never seen the ones my parents have develop rot or cracks and they never cover their tires.

Are the tires with the problems on trailers, tractors or vehicles?

Eddie

[GaryBDavis]

The problem is with the trailer and implement tires. The cars and trucks wear the out before they can dry rot.

[Builder]

Originally Posted by EddieWalker

Are the tires with the problems on trailers, tractors or vehicles?

Eddie

At my big tire dealer, he has piles of dry rotted big truck tires with tons of tread left on them in the back of his shop.

There's a set of 6 matching Goodyear 12R 22.5's in his back lot with full tread on them. I asked him if he could sell me one as a spare. He said they wouldn't last much longer because they were starting to rot. I was shocked to see that they were in fact starting to rot a little, but the tread was at least 95%.

He told me they were on a fire engine that saw almost no use. The tires were replaced with a new set. Another example of your tax dollars hard at work.

I have a spare dumptruck tire with 1" of tread left that has started weather checking because (luckily) I've never had to use it.

I have noticed that certain tire dealers up my way have warehouses with unusual lighting in them. I wonder if they have certain lights that don't cause the rubber to break down.