Storing tyres for longer life ? myth or fact ?

My 2 bobs worth, yep I always try to "let them cure" for at least a year before using them, and yes this comes from many years of doing the "fit and drive" and "store and drive". Tyres do cure or harden. It amuses me when I read stories about not using tyres more than 5 or 6 years old.
But hey opinions are like armpits.

Cheers
Pop

myth

if you want hard tyres just buy them. harder the tyre the less grip it will have

Tyre Ageing Mechanism
There are three main mechanisms of tyre ageing. The first involves rubber becoming more brittle. Sulphur is used to link rubber molecules together during vulcanisation with the application of heat and pressure, giving the rubber its useful elastic properties and strength. As the tyre absorbs energy in the form of light, heat or movement the tyre continues to vulcanise. This ongoing vulcanisation causes the rubber to become stiffer and more brittle.

The second mechanism of tyre ageing is oxidation involving oxygen and ozone from the air compromising the strength and elasticity of the rubber and the integrity of the rubber to steel bond. Basically heat and oxygen cause cross linking between polymer chains (causing the rubber to harden) and scission of polymer chains (leading to reduced elasticity).

Thirdly, breakdown of the rubber to steel-belt bond will occur due to water permeating through a tyre and bonding with the brass plate coating on steel belts. This causes the steel to rubber bond to weaken leading to reduced tyre strength and reduced heat resistance. If compressed air used for inflation is not completely dry, tyre strength will be affected over time. Even unused tyres will become more brittle, weaker and less elastic with exposure to water, air, heat and sunlight.

from my experience with aged hardened tyres the more they harden the less grip in the wet and eventually you end up driving like miss daisy in the wet because they become almost dangerous. When driving on them as they harden I usually find they become ultra slippery around the 80-100K mark but if they are hard you can get serious milages if you rotate most i ever had was 140K out of Kumho ventures

Begaboy,
I inherited a 1993 Mitsi Lancer from my old man when he passed on. At the time, the car was 11 years old and had only travelled 18,000kms (mostly done by me when my car was off the road for various reasons).

Anyway...The car has now done 105,000kms, but the originals tyres weren't replaced until the 88,000km mark. Now these tyres weren't anything special and I sure as hell didn't drive the car like my old man used to either. So I guess there is merit in what you are saying.

HOWEVER.... the tyres would squeal like a pig going around corners in the dry, handled like a shopping trolley in the wet, became noisy and the tread did start to delaminate (even on the spare which had never seen the bitumen). They still had a fair bit of tread on them when I replaced them, but they were unsafe. Imagine causing a head-on after having a blow out at 100kmph.

MORAL of the story. Yes, they'll last longer, but safety will be compromisised.

If you want to increase tyre life without compromising safety...look at buying harder compound tyres or Light Truck tyres. Modify your driving style to suit and at least they won't delaminate at speed.

Fab.

Stay well clear of tyres 5/6 years old plus. Check on the facts mate.
It's not only false economy but can stuff up a holiday - big time.
A blow-out on your 4X4, caravan or boat trailer at freeway speeds is more dramatic than a Bandag chucking a tread with 30 odd wheels as back-up.

Cheers

Seakarvan

We can not wear the Cooper ATrs on the back of SWMBO jack out but are very dicy on roundabouts. Complained to local Cooper dealer and he showed me how to check the age. Turned out they where 6 years old. They where on the vehicle when we brought it three years ago and still have 5mm of thread.
Cheers Pete

Thanks for the replies everybody - some valuable information in all replies - The reason i have asked is that i live rural and as a result i have a lot of dirt roads to travel - i do about 60 KM of dirt to /from work - i have coopers on my Patrol and so far these have lasted the longest - ( put on xmas last year and a little past half worn now ) , but on average i get about 1 year out of tyres or less than 30 000 Km which is VERY short of the claimed 80 k coopers say - i am very mindful when i drive - ie gentle into and out of corners - I am getting even wear - so balance/ alignment is good and always checked anyway

Guess i just have to factor in $1500 a year for tyres on top of the $1.60 Pl diesel

could be worse though --- i could be driving a Prius LOL

Mate if i only got 30k out of a set of tyres i think i d jump off a cliff. I bought a set of Maxxis AT which are cheap as. 65k ago and they are stil going strong

a mate of mine his dad is a owner driver and he does it for semi and has for years must work