There will be. Even now my dad is looking at replacing the existing set. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I acquired a set of pickup tires and wheels that had never been on the ground, brand new. They had been stored inside since new. Didn’t know how old they were. Put them on my trailer, behind my motorhome. My wife said those tires are going to blow, you don’t know how old they are. I said their just on the trailer, easy duty, no problem! North Dakota, middle of the day, middle of nowhere, two month later...... BOOM! Still hearing about that. Crow is not to bad with some Tabasco sauce! Lol Bones
Radial tires have steel belts. Steel and rubber (nylon) do not want to stick together. No matter how good they look, as radial tires age, they will come apart at some point in time. Sometimes while just sitting parked.
Do you have any more details on this it does resonate a bit more with on topic subject matter. Lesser driven perhaps lower mileage radials with years. 6 year replace zone as eluded earlier? Hopefully all are okay...Just curious. Thanks @Marty Strode
One thing about steel belts.. (going from memory)>Ford determined when some F350s were blowing a tire and causing litigation due to rollover crashes...they found that these tires at some point, hit a sharp edged pothole or whatever object laying on the road, which bent the steel wires on one area. On each revolution of that tire, the bent wire tries to twist on the flat road. Then, it could take months or weeks before the wires then separate from the bonded rubber from that twisting, causing a blowout. *this was long after the "bad tire fiasco" on the early Ford Explores, that had defects in the tires right from new. .
Stogy, The outer shell of rubber came off of the right rear, the truck careened off the road and rolled. My friend was beat up pretty good, and in his mid-70's, very lucky !
You bring up a great point @F&J hazards and **** road surfaces in general are perhaps internally devastating to tires and we ***** curse and swear when it happens perhaps not realizing something may have changed within...age is a big factor but what we run over may be as well. I am sure they are put through all kinds of impact testing at internal company facilities. As tires age though impact resiliance lessens.
I wonder how many radial tire failures are caused by using 'bias ply' thinking when deciding on inflation pressure? Bias ply tires IMO were more tolerant of varying tire pressure. Because the carc*** was 'homogenous', ride, handling, and wear could all be 'adjusted' by varying pressure. Wearing in the middle? Too much air. Edges only? Not enough... If pressure was right, they wore evenly and all 'flexing' was distributed evenly through the whole tire. Radials, with their stiff belts, generally don't show those wear patterns or handling issues unless grossly over-or-under inflated. Most flexing is in the tire sidewall, by design. But ride quality could still be adjusted by pressure; that was one of the main issues in the Explorer/Firestone deal. Ford recommended a low pressure for ride quality (in the low 20s IIRC) and that was a major factor in the tire failures. Ford made the tire part of the suspension system, and the excess sidewall flex helped kill the tires. You don't see those low pressures in OEM applications any more, and I suspect that guys running oversize tires are reducing pressures to help with ride quality... and possibly leading to premature tire failure.
Good point. It may not be 'age' per se but that the tire ac***ulates too many bumps and bruises over time. Same as comparing two identical cars; one that's driven sanely and well maintained versus one that gets poor maintenance and gets the hell beat out it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one will probably break down first...
Probably more just plain lack of maintaining correct pressure which you did suggest a**** other things earlier as most people except the vintage crowd don't even know what the heck Bias plys are. But trying to improve ride in older cars with radials by lowering pressure may expose the hacksaw like effect of the steel belting and may even allow more impact damage as well. Once the damage is done the inner deterioration is happening proper inflation or not. Of course through aging things get dicier.
Ok that is logical wire doesn't bend easily. My old TD 14 A bulldozer has a cable blade. That 5/8 cable doesn't bend easy. and no matter how much or how little you use it after about 5 years That cable becomes brittle and will break. Usually where the wedge holds it at the sheave on the front. I can shorten it and use it some more but it will keep breaking.
It was posted earlier in this thread recommended life of tire (radial) is 6 years max in some areas...so perhaps if you were to look up for your jurisdictions recommended time to renew it may in fact be that...not 7...in my area it seems to be 6 to 10 max. Of course no ones holding anyone to that...gambling seems to be the status quo with many, some just have no awareness...it can happen anytime.
Also good to take note of, is that car tires ARE NOT RECOMMENDED for use on trailers, because the side walls are not strong enough, even if they are brand new! Don't ask me how I know.
] I had a BF Goodrich TA Radial blow a section of thread at 70MPH, in our 36 Chev PU, while towing a teardrop trailer. When I got it stopped and to the side of the road, I jumped out and thought that something had happened to the trailer. After checking out the trailer, I noticed the damage to the front fender. I drove it another mile to a rest stop, where another street rodder had a hacksaw and I was able to cut off the foot long flap that was beating the hell out of the fender. After removing the flap, I was able to drive it into town to get another tire at 30MPH. Then while at the tire shop, they noticed a bulge in the other front tire; which I was going to replaced because of the other side anyway. But I thought that the right tire would be good enough for a roller, but not so.
Any idea of age of these tires that failed and glad you only ended up with repairable damage and not injury.
Again, that six year recommendation was for Phoenix Arizona, home of the highest average temps of any urban area in the US. Phoenix was chosen because it represented the 'worst case', although I suppose if you live in Death Valley, you may want to shorten that up some. I'm not aware of any US jurisdiction that has adopted this as 'required', particularly because not even the manufacturers have a consensus on what to recommend. Some say six years, some say ten years, some haven't said anything. It's really been the tire retailers that are pushing this, and I somehow doubt our safety is foremost in their minds; they see an opportunity to sell more tires. I have yet to hear of a tire store actually doing an 'inspection' on a 'aged' tire beyond checking it's date, contrary to the tire manufacturers instructions. Personally, I think this is driven more by greed than anything else. I'll note that when this first got on the radar, Dunlop decided to reduce the period to only three years for their motorcycle tires, but after backlash from customers and particularly the howls from their wholesale distributors (who would be forced to eat slow selling sizes), they went back to six years. Quite frankly, I pray the government doesn't legislate this into a mandatory requirement. That a bunch of supposed 'hot rodders' would buy into this nanny-state mentality is mind-boggling. If this gets in, how long before someone decides our 'old cars' aren't safe (and let's face it, many aren't compared to modern cars) and puts further restrictions on their use?
My car had a set of brand new Coopers on it when I bought it but it had set for 4 or 5 years low on air without being moved. I chanced driving them for a while til one developed a large tumor. I replaced it and drove it on weekends for about another year and two more failed. I think its the time as well as sitting low on air too. After that, I bought a c-10 with brand new 8 year old tires and they looked great but replaced them within a month of the purchase.
Well I guess for now we check the DOT and do inspect at the oil changes and be wary of the feel at varied speeds. At ten years you've more than got your money's worth.
I ran a big rig for a couple of years. The trucks were always leased. Nice rigs, big caterpillars in them. But the lease outfit insisted on recapped drive tires. Happened at least three times. Running at 75 or so, hot desert day, long flat road ahead of me. "BOOOOOMMM!!!" a recap would explode. Not let go. Explode. Take out the quarter fender, mud flaps, tire shreds flying everywhere. One time it even lifted the whole truck like 6 inches on that side. Always scared the **** out of me.
And anyone else around you......its okay though you were only carrying Caterpillers......it was job I guess and yours and everyone else's safety really wasn't the bottom line.
Exactly. Its not just a heat or UV light issue these days, its as much to do with the materials used in modern times in manufacture to reduce costs, that reduce the life of the tyre regardless of tread wear. Tyre manufacture dates are checked in the EU during roadworthy inspection tests, and in some countries the vehicle will fail inspection if any tyre is more than 10 years old, less in some EU countries IIRC.
I think you are absolutely right about the main motivation behind this being the selling of more tires. Here in Phoenix, no standard retail tire shop will mount any tire that is more than 6 years old, radial or bias ply. Because of this, I often come across good deals on new, still in the wrapper Coker bias ply tires that are more than 6 years old. Usually they were bought for projects and for whatever reason, (project stalled, project changed direction) they never got mounted on wheels. I have to go to the Mexican tire shop down the street to get them mounted, where they don't bother about the 6 year rule.
And all this means that the 'traditionally correct' recapped piecrust slicks are now off the table.... or at least have drastically shortened lives...
Montana1, I am aware of that recommendation, but have run car tires, usually my take offs, on trailers successfully for years. The big deal is not to run “ trailer tires” on cars, they even print “ trailers only” on the tires. Mine are the smaller utilitiy trailers. My larger Gooseneck trailers always get new “ trailer “ tires. I watch my pressures regularly. Always run the max the tire allows, to prevent flex and heat build up. Seem to have about the same luck with car tires on trailers as I do with “ trailer” tires on trailers. My 16 foot trailer, was used for ten years in my business, has been to Colorado 5 times, South Dakota, 6 times, Florida 2 times, so it’s seen it share of tires over the twenty five years I’ve owned it. Right now its in the back with 4 worn out “ trailer” tires on it. The trailer I mentioned was a 10 ft two wheel trailer with a Harley on it. Big 15 inch pick up tires. Probably carrying 700 lbs each max.... thought they would go to the end of the world. Learned to listen to the wife. Lol Bones
Yeah, I had to replace my 10 year old Michelin radials off my truck, no local tire company would rebalance & rotate them. They looked great, after removal I was surprised to see the tread WAS beginning to separate. I had just driven 35 miles up the freeway to town on them. Thank God I made it & was aware something wasn't right with my tires to begin with. Thank you Discount Tire.
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