Don:
FYI, ozone attacks the rubber, and embrittles it. Short of storing
your car in a nitrogen filled bubble, your tires will begin to deteriorate
from the moment they come out of the mold.
The FTC is looking at requiring expiration dates on tires, after which
they cannot be sold due to this very problem. The tire manufacturers are
resisting this idea, of course, because it means that they will need to
write off the value of any old inventories.
Surprisingly, the tire manufacturers know of this problem and
incorporate
some inhibitors in the rubber. These inhibitors are activated by heat, so
if you put very few miles on your tires, they degrade faster if they are
not driven, since they do not get hot enough to activate the inhibitors.
The news item I saw cited the case of a guy from Chicago, returning
from a British field meet in his Sunbeam Alpine. The tread came off a tire
and the car rolled, leaving his girlfriend disfigured and brain damaged. The
tires were 11 years old with less than 4,000 miles on them. The cause was
determined to be failure of the rubber due to 'old age'.
I have a set of Michelin X redlines on my six; They will be coming off
the car ASAP as they are very old, although the tread is in great shape. No
brain damage for this guy... well, no more than I already have, anyway.
Cheers,
Vance
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Don Malling
Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 7:14 AM
To: 6-Pack; triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Coker Classic Red Lines vs Michelin X Red Line (Coker)
Thanks to all who responded.
I'm pretty sure I bought these tires in '82 or so. From everything
you've sent me it sounds like I'm 10 or 15 years over the maximum safe
life time of these tires. Too bad -- probably not 1000 miles on them.
They "look" so nice.
I'll call Coker Monday about the "Michelins", and post what they tell me.
Thanks for the info.
Don Malling
Don Malling wrote:
>
> I bought a set of 4 Michelin X Red Lines in the early 80's. I doubt they
> have 1000 miles on them. They have seen almost no UV, and looked
> perfect, but now that they are off the car, I noticed some fine cracking
> near the bead on the INSIDE of the tires, and then some larger cracks in
> the bottom of the treads -- on both outside rows. Not sure what to
> think. I had thought that the UV exposure was the problem, but there was
> no UV exposure where these are cracked.
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