Old New Tires

[Spdracr39]

So I bought my coach with the understanding it needed 4 new rear tires. I went with the Toyo's and picked them up before taking delivery of the coach so I put them in storage until time to mount them. That time came today. When I rolled the tires out the date codes were 0416, 0417, 0517, 0817. UM no that won't work. I called the selling dealer ( local tire shop) and they are now ordering me 4 tires from the factory not the warehouse. Moral of the story is take nothing for granted put your eyes on everything.

[Ray,IN]

Under usual conditions those date codes are OK for trucks and bus's, but MH's seldom wear out tire tread to the wear bar indicators, they are normally replaced due to age. As consumers it is our responsibility to insure we are buying what we want. Since tires made off-shore take longer to reach U.S.A. consumers, the most recent tire mfgr. date will usually be 4-6 months old.
I really doubt those tires will present a problem, but tire age can be cause for concern in another 7 years instead of 10.

[Spdracr39]

Agreed, I figure anything inside of 6 months is acceptable.

[ret60sp]

I'm more than certain that you guys know about 303 Aerospace Protectant spray. Many years ago I came across this stuff and we started using it in the military to preserve virtually everything. I lost track of it over the years and when my SCAG commercial ZTR liked to eat a drive belts at a rate of about one-a-year starting when I purchased it in 2005, I started looking for better belts. Then I remembered 303 protectant and in 2012 I saw a youtube video where some guy gave the pitch that it'll prevent belt cracking and deteriorating, something I apready knew. So I ordered some from Amazon and proceeded to spray everything made of rubber or plastic that I owned. My SCAG belt consumption dropped drastically, now needing one every 3 years. Today I spray every serpentine or ribbed belt with it before I install them, to ionclude the belts on the motorhome as well as the tires (inner side as well as the outside) I'm not saying that it'll prevent a tire failure but if the rubber on your tires is protected from ozone, UV and infrared, the rubber will last much longer and the probability of a blowout due to dry-rot or rubber separation is reduced enough for me to reapply it to the tires at least twice a year.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by ret60sp

I'm more than certain that you guys know about 303 Aerospace Protectant spray. Many years ago I came across this stuff and we started using it in the military to preserve virtually everything. I lost track of it over the years and when my SCAG commercial ZTR liked to eat a drive belts at a rate of about one-a-year starting when I purchased it in 2005, I started looking for better belts. Then I remembered 303 protectant and in 2012 I saw a youtube video where some guy gave the pitch that it'll prevent belt cracking and deteriorating, something I apready knew. So I ordered some from Amazon and proceeded to spray everything made of rubber or plastic that I owned. My SCAG belt consumption dropped drastically, now needing one every 3 years. Today I spray every serpentine or ribbed belt with it before I install them, to ionclude the belts on the motorhome as well as the tires (inner side as well as the outside) I'm not saying that it'll prevent a tire failure but if the rubber on your tires is protected from ozone, UV and infrared, the rubber will last much longer and the probability of a blowout due to dry-rot or rubber separation is reduced enough for me to reapply it to the tires at least twice a year.

Tires break down internally. Spraying something on the outer cover isn't going to make that stop.

You will have the best looking, cord seperated or failed tires, in the scrap heap.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Tires break down internally. Spraying something on the outer cover isn't going to make that stop.

You will have the best looking, cord seperated or failed tires, in the scrap heap.

Are you implying that UV is not a factor?
And that inside storage / shading tires does nothing?
I was under the impression that tire mfgrs add compounds that migrate to the surface w use & heat to protect the tire... is that not true?

[Mr_D]

When I needed tires I had to order them. Took a couple months to come in and were made in the US. They were all 3 WEEKS old. They don't make all sizes of some tires all year so I had to wait for their production to start and the Michelin 315/80's and 365/70's are made in the US.

[ret60sp]

You might be right about internal failures and things looking pretty and still failing at a set age, but The US military had long term storage in Europe called POMCUS stocks. This storage system included rubber tires and all sorts of rubber products. Tires properly prepared for long term storage would be good for decades if they were kept away from ozone generating devices, UV, IR and heat. The preservation products used included a number of different products, one being quite similar to the smell of 303 protectant, just thicker. So when I discovered 303 protectant commercially available in the late 1990's I started using it. I had my 1968 mustang restored in 1989. The interior was sprayed with 303 protectant in 1999 and today it still looks like it did in 1999. There is something to say about that. You can sit in the seats and the stitching doesn't fail, the vinyl seats are not hard and cracking, the dash hasn't shrank and developed cracks, and it still has the same tires on it. So I figure if this stuff works that well for 20 years on my 1968 Mustang, it certainly won't hurt anything to spray it on anything exposed to direct sunlight, ozone generating devices, IR or UV. No I don't work for the company, but everywhere I've used it seems to end the need for continual replacement - to include the radiator surge tank that is made out of plastic.

[Milford 47]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Tires break down internally. Spraying something on the outer cover isn't going to make that stop.

You will have the best looking, cord seperated or failed tires, in the scrap heap.

303 Sure does make them look nice and it truly is a very useful product for many uses and priced reasonably as compared to some of the other wanabes.

I use it to detail almost everything including the tires and yep, they truly look great. It could possible help a bit with sidewall cracking from UV rays but I do it for the looks and use it on the entire coach. Great for detailing the boat, ATV and so on.

eBay tends to have it for around 40 bucks per gallon

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Winemaker2

Are you implying that UV is not a factor?
And that inside storage / shading tires does nothing?
I was under the impression that tire mfgrs add compounds that migrate to the surface w use & heat to protect the tire... is that not true?

UV may be a factor after 10 years or so, but the tires should be replaced anyway.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by twinboat

UV may be a factor after 10 years or so, but the tires should be replaced anyway.

Agree w that but still dont understand what would cause internal degradation any faster other than a road hazard?