Tire covers worth it?

[mel s]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

I assume that tire technology has progressed, but how far is not known. I advise covering your tires, and hope your thread can come back on topic. Tire maker bashing is not on topic, IMHO.

CampDaven
Sorry
Since the topic is: "Tire covers worth it?", I thought that the FACT that my 8 and 7 year old Goodyear tires did not crack, although they were never covered... and that my now 3 year old Michenins, (also never covered), have thousands of sidewall cracks, was pretty much ON TOPIC.
??
Mel
'96 Safari, 134k miles
.

[Gary RVRoamer]

The covers will measurably reduce the amount of ultraviolet that reaches the tire - that's a fact. Whether that reduction will result in a measurable difference in tire life is an entirely different question. Tires are subject to a wide variety of factors that affect its useful life and degradation due to excess ultraviolet light is just one of many and probably a small one at that. Modern rubber compounds have plenty of built-in protection against UV and other environmental effects, but most tires get worn out long before factors like that can do much. RV tires, however, often get used lightly and so have longer exposure than typical car & truck tires.

I don't cover mine and our coach is always outdoors. We live in sunny Florida too, though the coach is nearly always elsewhere in the peak summer months. Never covered any previous RV tires either and have never had a problem that could be attributed to UV weakened rubber in the tire. All our tires have lasted at least 7 years unless a road hazard damaged one.

Make your own call...

[jwmaustin]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

The covers will measurably reduce the amount of ultraviolet that reaches the tire - that's a fact. Whether that reduction will result in a measurable difference in tire life is an entirely different question. Tires are subject to a wide variety of factors that affect its useful life and degradation due to excess ultraviolet light is just one of many and probably a small one at that. Modern rubber compounds have plenty of built-in protection against UV and other environmental effects, but most tires get worn out long before factors like that can do much. RV tires, however, often get used lightly and so have longer exposure than typical car & truck tires.

I don't cover mine and our coach is always outdoors. We live in sunny Florida too, though the coach is nearly always elsewhere in the peak summer months. Never covered any previous RV tires either and have never had a problem that could be attributed to UV weakened rubber in the tire. All our tires have lasted at least 7 years unless a road hazard damaged one.

Make your own call...

I agree. I like this forum but occasionally I do see topics like this where there seems to be a need for a scientific approach to things. Tire pressure and tire covers seem to both need that. So is there data that shows how long you can keep a tire exposed to heat, UV, moisture without "flexing it" (driving) where the life of the tire is affected? Seems like that's the issue.

To the one who said they used the covers for the appearance I'd say that's fair. But as far as protection I can only agree with the above poster and the millions of cars on the road that don't use covers. Yes, I see that tires sitting around not used can be damaged more. And I can see where the whole RV sitting around can be damaged from similar things. I guess it's a painless and relatively inexpensive thing to use tire covers but it seems to me only if you are parked for months. Otherwise driving periodically would seem to put the RV tires back into a mode similar to cars and trucks.

Like the above poster and what I said earlier. My experience has been that tires haven't gone bad from years of sitting around....but that's my experience and the best data I have.

Does someone have data showing tires in general (and not a specific brand only) have gone bad from normal storage and use?

[cwit]

I was a school bus mechanic for 20 years and in all that time we never changed a tire because it was weather checked to the point it was illegal. N.Y. Dot says 10 years on tires. We had tires we changed in 10 years. We had 52 busses when I retired. So no on covering my tires. I do think heat and low tire pressureis the biggest factor on tire checking.

[manitou]

were there high winds the day of theft
been there done that

[UsualSuspect]

Originally Posted by cwit

I was a school bus mechanic for 20 years and in all that time we never changed a tire because it was weather checked to the point it was illegal. N.Y. Dot says 10 years on tires. We had tires we changed in 10 years. We had 52 busses when I retired. So no on covering my tires. I do think heat and low tire pressureis the biggest factor on tire checking.

After reading your post, and the others, I think my tire guy may have the reason why some do, and some do not. My tire guy told me that if I let my rig sit and do not put many miles on it, the elements will rot my tires. He said the key is driving on them and not to let the rig sit to long. I drive mine every month, even if I am not going somewhere, usually around 50-75 miles. My last set of tires were dated 06 and there was not any weathering on them at all, I never covered them, and it sits with the sun beating on them all day long.

[csrrsr]

I use my tire covers on the south side tires if we are going to be sitting for any length of time. Are they saving my tires?? Who knows?? Do I cover the Michelins on our other cars and truck?...no. Do they weather check?.....no. But, The Michelins on our other vehicles, though expensive, are not near the cost of the ones on the coach. So......I keep them covered. Almost 25,000 miles on these tires and you can see they are over 5 years old (0609)....no weather checking.

[Dutch Star Don]

Something that was completely missed in this post is the protection provided to the wheels. If you have aluminum rims and keep them covered, you can reduce polishing by about 75%.

There are very few items made that would not benefit from being covered vs being left out in the elements.

[jwmaustin]

Ok. So I don't violently disagree with the last posters. There may be good reasons if your tire covers keep your wheels clean or if you sit for a LONG time or if you just like to use tire covers

But as some others have said they aren't always NECESSARY and my only point is to say that people should use them if they like to....not because they have to. I just hate to see people making decisions for the wrong reasons. And this forum helps with all of us being more informed.

[CampDaven]

Daily driver tires last more miles but less years. I put over 15K/YR on my Wrangler tires, so they are done about year 4. They cost about $800.
Tires that dont sit still wear out. Sedentary tires age out.
My MH tires were about $6K for 8 of them. Dang right they get covered!

[NadaThing]

I'm with the tire covers. Less than $50 and cover all 4 is worth it, especially over the life of the tire.

Camco 45332 Vinyl Wheel & Tire Protector, 2 pack (27"-29" Diameter, Beige)

[dvkiel]

That may be true to a degree but at 300-500 a piece for tires, the covers are a cheap investment in my book. They were the first thing I purchased after I bought our DP.

[Peacekeeper6]

I think they're worth it.

Anytime you prevent the damaging rays of the sun from accelerating the aging process of the tires (yes, rubber does NOT do well when the heat of the sun is continually beating down on them), is worth it.

$50 and 10 minutes of my time ?? What's the big deal ????

Unless you're Mr. Moneybags and can throw out $3000 like chump change, well, it wouldn't be worth it for you.

[cimplexsound]

I will reassert that I love my tire covers. Yes they do protect your tires from dry wrought. I had the hot sun pounding down on my tires on summer. No issues with dry wrought ever. Except for when I'm driving, polishing the tires or there is a bad storm that will blow them away, I have them on all the time. I have fairly new tires on my Dodge. So it's worth it to protect the investment. Tire covers do work.