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Smudge1
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Western Alberta Canada
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 Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:15 am Post subject: Another Cooked Spare Tire |
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Same thing happened about three years ago.
While on holidays on Vancouver Island, I checked the spare and it was flat. It was all cracked on the top side. I bought what appeared to be a good used spare (passenger tire) , got it mounted and put it up in the clamshell.
To day I dropped the clamshell to inspect my spare and low and behold - this one is all cracked also.
Could this be a heat related issue - hot hot air exiting from rad frying the spare - anybody experience this before - or did I just buy a crappy used tire. |
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williamM
Samba Member
Joined: August 07, 2008
Posts: 4333
Location: southwest Arizona
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:24 am Post subject: |
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our new tires (from China) last about a year here in SW Az. Some old american tires last longer than the new tires now. Price of fame.
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 7757
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:32 am Post subject: |
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What's the date code on that sucker?
http://www.roadhaus.com/tires/tire_age.html
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campism
Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2007
Posts: 4492
Location: Richmond VA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:25 am Post subject: |
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My '87 came with then-recent tires and an old Michelin spare that I finally had to use in June about a thousand miles from home. The Michelin looks great, but it's even older than the other four so will be replaced. One thing I learned about my 12-year-old tires is that no matter how good they may appear to be you cannot be certain that they won't let go suddenly, like in 90 degree rush hour Miami traffic.
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Merian
Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2014
Posts: 5212
Location: Orygun
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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the question is whether you want to take the risk of having a spare older than 6 years
OTOH, it a spare and likely will not be used for fast driving or a for a long time
Tires age over time as the rubber continues to "self-vulcanize" even while in use - IIRC this involves the sulphur atoms bonding
The process will occur even if the tires are stored in a cool dark area with no oxygen present (like in an argon or nitrogen atmosphere) - it gets worse if any of those 3 factors (O2, heat, light) are present.
Ozone will greatly accelerate the process, and this air pollutant is high in areas with precursor pollutants and lots of sunshine, like L.A., Arizona urban areas, etc. |
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syncrodoka
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 12006
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:23 pm Post subject: |
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| I like having a new spare that is used in a 5 tire rotation so I know what condition that it is in. A used tire is always a gamble. |
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levi
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2005
Posts: 5522
Location: Las Vegas
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: Another Cooked Spare Tire |
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| Smudge1 wrote: |
Could this be a heat related issue - hot hot air exiting from rad frying the spare - anybody experience this before - or did I just buy a crappy used tire. |
I don't think it's caused by heat only.
I live in Vegas, a place that could be used as a heat-related testing area, and I have never had any cracks in my tire mounted in the stock spare tire location.
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chojinchef
Samba Member
Joined: February 17, 2011
Posts: 1539
Location: Central Massachusetts
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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| syncrodoka wrote: |
| I like having a new spare that is used in a 5 tire rotation so I know what condition that it is in. A used tire is always a gamble. |
X2
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Tbob
Samba Member
Joined: May 26, 2007
Posts: 417
Location: Pensacola, Fl.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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Does anyone have any knowledge about changes in rubber chemistry/mixture in the last 10 or so years? I have several vans, and lots of tires new and old. I have a set of 40 year old Sears Guardsman tires that have absolutely no cracking,(I no longer drive on those tires, and I but them on one of my parts vans) and I just had to replace the tires on my 86 tintop(Summit Brand) because they developed hugh cranks in between the tread area. I installed them in 2006. I also replaced the tires on one of my BMW motorcycles because at 6 years old, and approximately 2000 miles, they developed large cracks in the sidewalls. However, another BMW that I have, which is garaged right next to the motorcycle with the cracked tires, is showing no signs of cracking. Although I am not religious about checking tire pressure, I do check them fairly often. A chemical engineer told me that I have to use the vehicle ocassionally as the rubber needs occasional flexing to help it have a long life. My empirical data suggests other reasons. Any data out there?
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Gnarlodious 
Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2013
Posts: 2323
Location: Adobe Jungle USA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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I would also suggest that areas high in ozone see faster degradation of all rubber. In general there is more ozone floating around than there was 30 years ago, and some areas have more than others. The decay of atomic bonds is especially accelerated by heat. In addition, you may see increased ozone levels downstream of well-worn electric motors. So if your radiator fan is blowing hot ozone...
One solution is to use one of the many “rubber conditioner” chemicals out there on your sensitive rubber. It works by offering up sacrificial molecules to the ozone thereby preserving actual rubber. I have always used an expendable tire as the spare, but your report will make me take a closer look.
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Merian
Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2014
Posts: 5212
Location: Orygun
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Tbob wrote: |
I just had to replace the tires on my 86 tintop(Summit Brand) because they developed hugh cranks in between the tread area. I installed them in 2006.
I also replaced the tires on one of my BMW motorcycles because at 6 years old, and approximately 2000 miles, they developed large cracks in the sidewalls. |
the lifetime is 6 years no matter what the mileage - you got 6 in each case |
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Wildthings
Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005
Posts: 50351
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| Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Merian wrote: |
| Tbob wrote: |
I just had to replace the tires on my 86 tintop(Summit Brand) because they developed hugh cranks in between the tread area. I installed them in 2006.
I also replaced the tires on one of my BMW motorcycles because at 6 years old, and approximately 2000 miles, they developed large cracks in the sidewalls. |
the lifetime is 6 years no matter what the mileage - you got 6 in each case |
There is no official pull date for tires, just manufacturers recommendations that run up to 10 years.
I have scrapped tires that were only 3 or 4 years old because I didn't like the way they are aging, while the ones on my low use pickup truck have no visible cracks and a lot more than 10 years on them. |
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bluebus86
Banned
Joined: September 02, 2010
Posts: 11075
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 6:38 am Post subject: Re: Another Cooked Spare Tire |
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| Smudge1 wrote: |
Same thing happened about three years ago.
While on holidays on Vancouver Island, I checked the spare and it was flat. It was all cracked on the top side. I bought what appeared to be a good used spare (passenger tire) , got it mounted and put it up in the clamshell.
To day I dropped the clamshell to inspect my spare and low and behold - this one is all cracked also.
Could this be a heat related issue - hot hot air exiting from rad frying the spare - anybody experience this before - or did I just buy a crappy used tire. |
You say you have a spare passenger tire, do you also have a spare driver tire? are you running directional tires on the van?
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 7757
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:31 am Post subject: |
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^^^ I took that to mean his spare was a passenger car tire - perhaps underrated for van specs...?
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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Smudge1
Samba Member
Joined: July 15, 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Western Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:07 am Post subject: |
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| dhaavers wrote: |
| ^^^ I took that to mean his spare was a passenger car tire - perhaps underrated for van specs...? |
Correct - it was a passenger car load rated tire that I bought used while on the road. The spare it replaced was load rated and cracked also. |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32625
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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Merian
Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2014
Posts: 5212
Location: Orygun
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:17 am Post subject: |
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| Wildthings wrote: |
There is no official pull date for tires, just manufacturers recommendations that run up to 10 years.
I have scrapped tires that were only 3 or 4 years old because I didn't like the way they are aging, while the ones on my low use pickup truck have no visible cracks and a lot more than 10 years on them. |
I have never see on over 6, but my main interest is in high quality tires for sports cars.
Low use doesn't matter - speed of operation does.
US DOT needs to address this, not just require a date code that most owners are clueless about. |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32625
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:32 am Post subject: |
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| Merian wrote: |
| Wildthings wrote: |
There is no official pull date for tires, just manufacturers recommendations that run up to 10 years.
I have scrapped tires that were only 3 or 4 years old because I didn't like the way they are aging, while the ones on my low use pickup truck have no visible cracks and a lot more than 10 years on them. |
I have never see on over 6, but my main interest is in high quality tires for sports cars.
Low use doesn't matter - speed of operation does.
US DOT needs to address this, not just require a date code that most owners are clueless about. |
No, we don't need more government rules over us,
What we need is to, as a group of purchasers, stop buying garbage and accepting the CRAP being sold to us as quality merchandise!
Why? WHY do we accept crummy tires, inferior bearings, bad brake cylinders, short lived brake rotors and such?
What kind of people are we that we accept this poor quality stuff without complaint?
Are we THAT cheap that we will accept ANYTHING at a low price?
If so........l
We as a society will soon degrade into a mere glimmer of the World leader we once were.
Dave
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Merian
Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2014
Posts: 5212
Location: Orygun
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:34 am Post subject: |
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I disagree. Govt. needs to create regs. for public safety. The regs would not be "over us" unless you manf. tires, or maybe sell them.
Not everyone shares your or our interest in the minutia of vehicular operation & maintenance. Yet those people can easily kill and maim others.
So, I disagree strongly. |
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Gnarlodious
Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2013
Posts: 2323
Location: Adobe Jungle USA
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| Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:46 am Post subject: |
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| djkeev wrote: |
we don't need more government rules over us,
What we need is to, as a group of purchasers, stop buying garbage and accepting the CRAP being sold to us as quality merchandise!
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Both of your statements are totally contradictory. The reason American industry has fled to low-wage countries is LACK of regulation masquerading as “Free Trade”. “Free” being a euphemism for “unregulated”, which means foreign factories are not obligated to quality control, fair wages or even care about pollution.
I agree that we don’t need more laws over “us”, but we DO need more laws to control multinational corporations.
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