I thought some of you might be interested to see what 8+ years of desert climate does to tyres. This vehicle has been garaged on and off or parked in at least partial shade at home. At work it gets baked.

The crack in the left front shown in the next post is most instructive. The truck is pretty much grounded until the new boots arrive from Amazon.

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That left front.

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But it is a DRY heat!

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Recycled Bricklayer

Move to Western PA where no tire driven more than 10K a year will make it more than four years. Cheese grater concrete roads and "oil" tar and chips over just about everything else. Very rare to see tires die of old age/atmospheric exposure.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

Steve, it's way to late now, but did you ever use Armor-all or a product like it?

Here is an interesting read from the Tire Rack.

According to this I would say your tires did pretty good.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=138

No. I've never been convinced that the tyre dress up products really help. How have they worked for you?

Yeah, I think I got my money's worth.

As I understand the argument, they aren't just "dress up" products. They reapply some of the compounds that keep the tire pliable. Of course if you only use them on the side facing out, it does little good.

I kind of don't believe the link above saying how long the tires should last. Remember to throw out all your ammo that reaches 10 years, too. Just like milk or cheese. Helps the economy. The spare on my Jeep was put there in 2002. Never been on the ground. Looks pretty good, no cracks or anything. Sure, it spends 11 months a year in the garage with the door slammed shut. The other 4 weeks it goes on vacation. I sure wish I knew how to figure out the date from the stuff molded in the sidewalls. I know some of the information is the plant where its made, and then the day and shift.

I've been with friends when they've bought old jeeps a scrap. Some 20 to 30 years old. If not the original tires, they sure looked like it (same old mud and snows). Who knows if the makers are suggesting they be replaced for safety, ride quality, or revenue enhancement. Ever been to a working farm? Seen the excuses for tires on old hay wagons? Guess those folks don't read the suggestions. They're too busy scratching out a living to blow money they don't have on new tires.

The OP lives in the desert. I've got to assume 100+ degree heat for 100 plus days a year would take a toll, just like it does on seals around the doors and windows. Part of the cost of living there includes early replacement of things that can dry out. 10% relative humidity might make a difference when compared with 90% for others of us. Manufacturers want to make one rule for the entire country, and you can bet it benefits them, not us.

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Dick Burg

You sure did and then some

That last statement is key. Some manufacturers do better than others. My tyre shop will sell you Michelins if you insist, but they will NEVER recommend them. The guys have told me that they have had too many customers return with cracked Michelins far sooner than compared with other makes. They just do not take the heat, be they truck or car tyres.

If it does that to tires (or tyres), what does it do to wipers? Window and door seals? Or, for that matter, the inhibitions?

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Oh well, what the hell.

Wipers rarely last more than a year. Door seals do better because they are not directly out in the sun. The outer seals on most windows seem to be a hardish material to start with. As for inhibitions, I plead the Fifth.

Hmmmm....those tyres appear a different colour than normal tyres. Those appear grey not the normal black.

(Okay, I'm done kidding you. I couldn't resist.)

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Un-Reconstructed Southerner

I've been waiting for somebody to ask since I posted the pictures. It is a combo of ingrained desert dirt and a little overexposure on the part of the camera.

I live in So texas and I treat my tires with 303aerospace protectant from wally world. I have never had tires do that when using it and it is 10x better than armor all which I refuse to use on anything.
I treat all the plastic/rubber and vinyl items on all my cars and trucks keeps it all supple and from dry rotting. No I dont use it on wiper blades. Those you generally replace with each rain fall since around here it is generally that long between uses.

Armor All is junk, especially on interior vinyl.

UV (sunlight) is the killer. Any "dress up" product needs to contain a UV blocker.

You can alternate which side of the car faces the sun as well.

I always get one of those carpet dash covers to keep the sun off and use a reflective shield.

Maguiers products seem to work well, especially the gold class wax.

Yes sir:

How Old Are the Tires I Buy? - Hunter's Ramblings about Performance wheels & tire | Tire Rack

"How do I know when my tire was produced? Every tire has the date of manufacture branded onto the sidewall as part of the DOT code. The last four digits on tires manufactured since 2000 indicates the week and year the tire was produced. The image above has the last four digits of 5107. This translates to the 51st week of 2007. Prior to 2000, the tire industry assumed that a tire would not be in service longer than ten years. As such, the date code consists of only three digits, two for the week and one for the year. "

Concur 1000%.

I've had good success with Aerospace 303:

Amazon.com: 303 Products 30350 Aerospace Protectant - 32 oz.: Automotive@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CW2yYWDEL.@@AMEPARAM@@41CW2yYWDEL

When I saw toasted tyres (or even tires) I thought of this guy.

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Well....

You need to see 'The Worlds Fastest Indian'. Ol' Burt could fix them tyres with some black boot paste, and set a land speed record on them.

And that's a fact....

"Dress-up products" are supposed to HURT, not help because they draw the plasticizer out of the tire and make it MORE prone to cracking, or so I have read.

LVSteve: You should buy a better grade of tire. IMHO. the "Rugged Trail" line of B.F.Goodrich is Bridgestone's cheapened effort to capitalize on the good reputation the B.F.Goodrich All-Terrain Baha line built up around here with the off-road crowd. Come over to my house and I will show you a set of the Bahas that are 7 years old, have never been garaged and still look great. You only pay for quality once. :-) ......... Big Cholla

So ole Dick goes out to the garage for a look-see. And I immediately get confused by what I'm seeing. I did OK on Momma's car, the new tires I just bought for her are "2313" so I guess that means they were made in June of this year. Not bad, her car is over 6 years old and she just wanted new tires because the jerk at the dealer wanted to oversell her his stuff. I'm good because she's now quiet on the subject.

So I head over to my jeep. I got it 11 years ago, give or take a few weeks. And sure enough, the spare that hasn't ever done any work has a code of "3802", which looks like September of 2002. They humped it pretty good to get them to the jeep plant in time.

The pile of Buckshot Maxxis Mudders have a code of "0504". Not so good since they've only been to Utah one time. I can't even remember when it was I won them.

And now for the bad news, the formula doesn't work. On the ground are 4 beautiful Goodyear MTRs, the new style. The code on them is "PJYU 45IV and then a blank. As in no number molded in. There is a little area, kind of an oval where the numbers should be, but nothing, nada, blank.

I don't blame the poster who provided the formula. Not his fault they forgot to put the code on. Just kind of unexpected.

Not all a loss, I did find my jumper cables. See the Sigforum for that thread. I'd have gotten them out and measured them if the old woman hadn't crash landed it like a drunk on a Saturday night. Lucky she didn't hit my drill press or the generator on that side. Too close to drag it all out. Go figure.

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Dick Burg

There are plenty of more aggressive off road tyres like the Baha series but I don't want to go that hardcore. I have excellent hearing and I cannot abide droning exhausts or tyres, and I'm betting those Bahas are pretty loud on the highway.

You would think that, but I found that they are almost as quiet as street treads. I'm running them on my Wrangler JK now and have run them on 3/4 ton pickups with great success. I'm with you on protecting ones hearing. ................. Big Cholla

Our small town of less than 6000 residents operates on a 1/4% added on to our City's sales tax, That's it.
we are fortunate to have a Wal Mart store here, and buy almost everything from them.
Their Automotive Service is wonderful and thorough.
I get great mileage from their tires on both Sedan and Pick-up.
No need for me to go anywhere else!

Many tyre dressings contain petroleum products which are not good for the tyre.
I use Aero 303 on mine and other rubber goods as well. It’s even okay to wipe down the front of your car or truck with it to keep the bigs from sticking, they’ll wash right off.
Stuff was designed for Aircraft....Aero

I live in SE Texas and the original tires that came with my Sportage looked similar to that after 5 years. I use a tire shine product regularly but not as a preservative, just to make them look better. I replace tires at 5 years regardless of the mileage. I always see dry rot by then.

Just curious, but how many ply are those tires? If they are truck tires with 4 or more plies in the sidewalls they very well might run a long ways yet. If the surface checking doesn't go very deep. Especially if you don't drive it at freeway speeds.

I knew a guy that kept his Mini under a parachute. I don't know how this would work every day, but something made of reflective material with the little holes like a sport shirt might be a good thing. Wouldn't hurt the paint job either.

PS: Painting of cars nowadays is about 1000% better than those back in the 60's or before.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"