Just to stir the tire pot....

[Larry Dill]

Hi John,
I am writing to add to the many suggestions that you are receiving... I was in
the boat, that you are in now... When I bought my coach it was stored indoors,
in a heated garage for the ten years that the PO has had it... When I purchased
it, it had ten year old tires on it that looked like they were installed the
day before I looked at it... checking through the paper work that was in the
coach, as the widow did not know anything about the coach, I found that the PO
had purchased the tires 4 years prior to putting them on the coach, and being
that they are only garanteed by the manufacturer from the time they are
installed. I figureed I had at least another 2 to 3 years use in them... With
this thinking I went to Delray Beach, FL, and back, then went to Key West, FL
and back on the 10 YO tires, I thought I was doing great, when twenty miles from
my storage facility I had a blow out on the left front, luckily the blow out did
not do any damage to the
bus, except knocking off some foam insulation... I calle road service, they
came and replaced the tire and wook the tire... Then went the following week to
get 6 new BFG's for the bus, which they gave me $50 each for the 5 remaining
tires...
The tires, even the one that blew out did not have any signs of deterioration,
nothing visible...
I will never make that mistake again, thinking that because they look good that
they are OK...
Also, I always check the air and fill them up if they were low... Also stop in
road stops and thump the tires also, now I have an infrared temp tester...
I do not think that you have to justify the purchase of the new tires because
they still look good...
Tires are like books, you can't tell them by the cover!!!
HTH

Sea Ya
Larry
NYC
84 35FCSB



----- Original Message ----
From: bubblerboy64
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:42:38 AM
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Just to stir the tire pot....

Lots of good information there Dave. Trying to think about this
logically is the issue. Some of these tires that I am replacing on
my bus look brand new and that is my hang up. They are ten years old
and I can't be certain as to how they were treated or used. Must have
been handled fairly well or there would be obvious signs. My
decision was finally made thinking this way: The tires look new but
are not and there could be and likely is some deterioration. Over the
period of time that I own the coach I will certainly have to change
out the tires. It may may as well be sooner then later and then I can
put that to rest. There is a "bell" curve in this with factors that
push the tire to the left or right under the curve. Even though ten
year old tires may have been shifted to the left due to proper care
and use the fact that they are ten years old shifts them firmly to
the right. Another fact is that because they look perfect today they
certainly may not look good or even acceptable in a year. Best to
just getter done.

John Heckman
central Pa
1973 FC
>
> Folks,
>
> With permission from Neil, I'm cross posting this post Neil
> wrote for the DieselRvs group:
>
> ------------ --------- ---cut here-------- --------- --------- ------
>
> ------------ --------- -----cut here-------- --------- --------- ----
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Neil & Pat [mailto:undoone@ ...]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 8:43 AM
> To: Diesel-RVs@yahoogro ups.com
> Subject: RE: [Diesel-RVs] Tires
>
>
>
> For all of those following this very important forum thread re:
tire ageing
> I offer the following from the perspective of a 36 year tire
design/product
> support engineer, an RV Safety author and a 32 year active RVer.
>
> Tires are made primarily of rubber, and we intuitively know rubber
ages and
> deteriorates over time. It follows that TIRES DO NOT LAST FOREVER!
The life
> expectancy of a tire in RV service is not easily predicted. In this
case we
> are speaking of the casing life as opposed to the tread life. The
difficulty
> of this is that the life of a tire carcass depends to a great
degree on how
> the tires are utilized and maintained. For instance, a tire exposed
to the
> rays of the sun for extended periods of time, or stored in the
presence of
> high levels of ozone, may have a relatively short life. Similarly,
a tire
> operated near, at, or over its rating may also have a relatively
short life.
> Recalling that under-inflation is the same as overloading, poor
maintenance
> practices will also adversely affect the tire life.
>
> Rubber products are cured during the manufacturing process using a
process
> called "vulcanization" , this process is promoted by both a chemical
reaction
> and heat. During this process the rubber changes state from a tacky
soft
> material to the pliable yet strong material we are used to seeing
in our
> tires. When the tires are removed from the heat and mold the
chemical
> action continues; therefore, the curing continues throughout the
life of the
> tire. This accounts for some of the ongoing deterioration we
observe in our
> RV tires.
>
> In fact tires operated on a regular basis will generally enjoy a
longer
> carcass life then tires which sit statically for a high percentage
of the
> time. This is because tires contain compounds that keep the rubber
supple -
> tire flexing and internal heat activates these compounds. If the
tire is not
> used regularly (flexed), it dries out quickly! Visit an automobile
museum to
> see this principle in action. Many of the automobiles there were
restored
> using new tires. After several years in a fully protected
environment the
> tires are deteriorated and cracked. The infrequent usage of RV's
somewhat
> parallels this action.
>
> RVers commonly use chemicals to polish the sidewall of tires to
enhance
> their appearance. Often this causes or accelerates damage because
of harmful
> components contained in the "tire dressing." The tire manufacturers
suggest
> using nothing but mild soap and water .. (They go on to
specifically state)
> that product(s) that contains petroleum products, silicon or
alcohol should
> not be used." ... Even with an acceptable "tire dressing" you may
be wasting
> your time and money because you cannot coat all areas of the tires
inside,
> outside and in the tread grooves that are acted on by ozone and
ultraviolet.
> Meanwhile, the vulcanization process continues.
>
> ...storing our RVs for long periods...hurts tires two ways: first,
the tire
> is not flexed regularly activating the chemicals in the rubber
placed there
> to retard deterioration; and second, we often park our RVs
on ...asphalt or
> concrete. These materials will leech those same chemicals from the
tires
> with the effect of shortening its life. (Use a barrier or wood or
plastic.)
>
> So how long will a tire last?...most tire manufacturers agree that
five to
> seven years of age is the norm for RV service ...should (you) panic
and
> immediately throw away your tires when they reach the five year
age? No.
> What a knowledgeable RVer should do at this point is to become more
diligent
> and watchful of the tires on his/her RV. That means that you should
be
> especially observant of the sidewall (both sides) looking for
deterioration
> or cracks, which might expose the carcass material (cords) to the
> atmosphere. Do not forget the bottom of the tread grooves, and look
for
> blisters or bulging on the sidewalls, watch air pressure closely
because an
> unexplained or recurring air pressure loss could be deterioration
of the
> inner liner of the tire.
>
> If any tires fails ... (or) when any of these signs of
deterioration begin
> to show, that is the time to go shopping (to replaces all tires of
the same
> age). Hopefully, this pro-active approach will afford you the
opportunity to
> shop for tires in a more convenient manner and avoid the very
costly and
> dangerous potential of failing tires on at a time while on the road.
>
> Neil LeKander
>






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