Old Tires

Indycars

Indycars

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Wondering what's been the experience of others with older tires. The tires on my tow vehicle (2008 Navigator) were made in 2012, so they are now 10 years old and have between 3/32" and 4/32" on all 4 tires. I took a pic of the worst sidewall cracking and couple of overall condition of the tires.

FP04_TireAgeOnNavigator_03439.jpg
FP04_TireAgeOnNavigator_03440.jpg
FP04_TireAgeOnNavigator_03441.jpg
 
its too late now, but I have a similar issue with tractor tires, so I looked into how to protect them from UV and oxygen damage
there are a few tire protectant sprays that actually do protect rubber
(most just leave a good looking dark black shiny wax coat that does very little to protect rubber.)

 
Yeah, those tires are completely shot. At the Petterson Car Museum they swear by the use of petroleum jelly on the inner and out sidewalls. Say that‘s the only true rubber preservetive. I have used it for 30 plus years. You can remove most of the goo with paper towels and it leaves a dull black finish.
 
I just replaced a set of B.F. Goodrich T/A Radials that were 11 years since new yet you couldn’t find any cracks and they had maybe 50 miles. Anybody coming to look at the car would complain about the need to replace and negotiate me down 3 times what they’re worth from the price.
 
Grumpy said:
... so I looked into how to protect them from UV and oxygen damage
Click to expand...
That's an interesting point.
In the last 2-3 years I noticed something interesting. Colors that lasted for 50+ years (let's say on an old oil drum) suddenly start to fade within a short time.
Not all, but some seem to be prone to fast fading now (within a year or two).

Frank
 
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