<VV> Tire deterioration

[Bill Elliott]

We're off the Corvair subject a bit... but I think it's a more serious problem than you'd think at first blush. But not for the seldom-driven cars... for the daily 
drivers.

And it's a fairly recent problem... tire treadwear was so bad in the "good old days" that I was only getting about 15-20k out of a set of tires... that's a year to 
two years of daily driving.

Now tires are good for 60k, 70k, 80k+ miles! Suddenly we have 5 and 6 year old tires with good tread. Add in lack of owner maintenance and top-heavy 
SUV's and BAM... you have the Firestone/Explorer problem.

But even on seldom-driven cars, you do get problems. Dad had a trailer tire (about 8 years old) come apart on his camper, doing several hundred dollars 
worth of damage even he was able to keep the trailer on the road.) Drive a Corvair with "new" 7 or 8 year old tires and tires that are actually new and there 
is a world of difference in both handling and braking.

I've discarded more tires for simply being old (and/or slipping a belt) in the past decade than I have because they were worn out.

So while I think it's a VERY good idea to drive on tires that are under 5 years old, I certainly don't want Government making new rules for us... and driving 
up the price of tires even more.

Bill Elliott
Urbana, MD


On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 12:52:09 EST, NicolCS@aol.com wrote:

>Here's what I've read: The Feds are thinking about stamping an expiration 
>date of about 5 years on tires.  You can imagine the ruckus this would cause, but 
>here's the theory:  The curing stage of manufacture vulcanizes all the pieces 
>of a tire together.  The heat of vulcanization isn't the end of curing and 
>tires continue to cure over time, with or without use.  The rubber gets harder 
>and harder and bonds between the components weaken.  So, in their infinite 
>wisdom they think that an expiration date is the answer. You might think the tire 
>makers are all for this, but they're not.  As tires sit in their warehouse, 
>the value decreases as they age. Would you want a tire that only has four (or 
>three) years left? No! You would want the freshest ones. The warehouse thing is 
>a nightmare for them. Though tire sales might increase, so would scrappage and 
>gradual loss of inventory value.  Imagine the pricing - it would be as nutty 
>as airline tickets!  "Sale Michelin XYZs regular $115; 2-year date only 
>$43.99!" Plus, they would have to increase factory capacity yadda, yadda, yadda.
>While this whole concept might make sense for 6-ton motorhomes where the 
>tires are loaded to the max, bake in the sun 11.5 months at a time, and are driven 
>by old guys wearing bifocals and pacemakers, I sure don't see it as a big 
>problem in regular car use.
>Craig (shopping for bifocals and a pacemaker) Nicol
> _______________________________________________
>T