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obus Samba Member
Joined: March 08, 2001 Posts: 11065 Location: just off Garden State Parkway Exit 81
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Matt Wilson Samba Member
Joined: November 14, 2005 Posts: 2408 Location: Colorado
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 2:32 pm Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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One thing I do notice here is that the tires are pretty old. I think they stopped making that design in 2016...? How old are they?
https://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/how-old-an...n%20issue.
The rubber is likely hard and crumbly. I'm running into this issue myself, and just ordered a new set of tires. Not cheap for BFG All Terrains... _________________ 1972 Standard Beetle
1969 Baja Beetle |
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Wildthings Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50334
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 6:56 pm Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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The rubber on tires gets hard and brittle over time, especially if you live in an area with lots of ozone. It looks like your tire likely spun against some kind of sharp edge that cut into the rubber, this would not necessarily be uncommon if you have driven off road a bit, but could happen just spinning the tire in the grass of your yard is there is an old piece of steel half buried there.
In general if the tire holds air well then it is probably still serviceable, whereas if you need to add air frequently as in 3-5 psi every month or two the rubber INSIDE the tire is breaking down and the tire near failure. A tire like on a Thing that has comparatively low air pressure will likely age slower than the same tire being used with a high pressure as it is the oxygen being forced through the rubber that degrades it. This is where filling your tire with nitrogen can help as the nitrogen will not degrade the rubber like oxygen does.
An uninstalled tire will age very slowly when sitting on a rack out of the sun, but install it on a wheel and put pressure in it and the clock is going to tick faster. In days gone by I have had several tires where the tread began to separate (these tires were not even particularly old), but its been decades since this last happened at this point, but I still watch my tires carefully for signs of potential failure.
YMMV |
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dlicious Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2006 Posts: 245 Location: Spring(pronounced Sprang), TX
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 7:28 pm Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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Just a guess here...What about too much toe in on that one tire? It almost looks like you rode the curb ....
I have those tires on my bus and on my wife's Thing. I love them. _________________ '63 Caravelle Camper
dLk |
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74 Thing Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2004 Posts: 7389
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:38 am Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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What is the month and year of manufacturing on that tire? There is a 4 digit code on the sidewall somewhere.
Once tires get to be 5 yrs old it is time for replacement. |
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wbailey2112 Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2015 Posts: 483 Location: Grove City, OH
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:08 am Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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I was happily driving on very old tires for the past five years until two weeks ago when I had a tire disintegrate on me while driving home one afternoon.
From the looks of it you need new tires. The rubber looks brittle and crumbly. If you cannot find date codes on your tires then you really need new tires. _________________ '74 Thing
'83 Westfalia |
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Wildthings Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50334
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:16 am Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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wbailey2112 wrote: |
I was happily driving on very old tires for the past five years until two weeks ago when I had a tire disintegrate on me while driving home one afternoon.
From the looks of it you need new tires. The rubber looks brittle and crumbly. If you cannot find date codes on your tires then you really need new tires. |
It would really help if you said how old your tires actually were. Other specific like how old the tires were when mounted would be nice as well. Did the tire give any kind of warning before letting go? |
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wbailey2112 Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2015 Posts: 483 Location: Grove City, OH
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2020 6:04 am Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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My tires were at least 10 years old however I did not check the date code on them when they were removed. My spare was so old it did not even carry a date code. There was no warning at all, no leaks, no oblivious cracking. Just a left rear blow out on a busy 2 lane highway. _________________ '74 Thing
'83 Westfalia |
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mondshine Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2006 Posts: 2769 Location: The World's Motor Capital
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2020 3:00 pm Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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I take lots of road trips in my Thing, so I am a big proponent of having current tires; properly inflated and in good condition.
Hard to believe now, but from 1983 - 2008, I was driving around with my original spare tire that had never been used; so basically I was driving around with no spare tire. I was lucky enough (in 2008) to trade it to some guy from Louisville for a Thing wheel, so now, I have a useable spare tire in my trunk.
One less thing to think about when I am all alone in the MON, hundreds if miles from home.
New tires are a good thing. |
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Rev. Scott Samba Member
Joined: June 04, 2006 Posts: 770 Location: Philo, Ca.
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:21 am Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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"Stick on weights" are common. Balancing a wide five wheel is problematic. There is an adapter available (I bought one some years ago) that will allow your tire person to mount it correctly to current balancing equipment...my tire people love me when I hand them the right tool...if you don't, they just lie and said they did. Look in the "wheels and tires" sticky, and punch in "balance" (or something like that) in the search...I forget the brand. There is a tutorial on how to make your own, with a used brake drum...I just spent the money. It's aluminum, so I tell the tire people to not fuck it up. Hope that helps. Beep Beep! _________________ "I haven't seen one of those since I was shootin' at 'em!" |
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mondshine Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2006 Posts: 2769 Location: The World's Motor Capital
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:33 am Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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Here's a statue of my UPS man delivering my wheel balance adapter:
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obus Samba Member
Joined: March 08, 2001 Posts: 11065 Location: just off Garden State Parkway Exit 81
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Buggeee Samba Member
Joined: December 22, 2016 Posts: 4406 Location: Stuck in Ohio
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69 GVert Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2014 Posts: 61 Location: San Jose, CA
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:24 pm Post subject: Re: Chopped up tire |
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165R15's are still available, any other size will most likely make the speedometer run fast or slow.
Used to run Michelin XZX 165SR15's on my Type 3 and loved the handling, those are still available from Coker Tire, at a price... _________________ Aircooled? Drive one a day, that's all I ask! |
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