Cracks in tires: How bad is that?

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e9999

e9999

Gotta get out there...
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as we all know, after a tire gets old, it may develop some fine cracks in the rubber. Age, probably sun too.
Now, obviously, the easy lawyery answer is that as soon as one little crack develop you should replace the tire. Fine. But now for real life: how bad are these little cracks? Are they just surface affairs that have no impact on safety and durability? Or once you got a bunch, are they a serious indicator that it's time to replace the tire altogethe? Do they go deep in there?
Probably many tires out there have them, most likely unnoticed by the driver.
So, what can happen in real life? Nothing? Explosive blowups?
Anybody knows of real instances where a "fine crack" tire actually failed because of them?
 
Well, you prolly coulda guessed coming from me but I would (and have actually) replace/d tires as soon as signs of cracking come out. HTH. :cheers:
 
When I was young dumb and poor I bought used tires, I would push them until they showed more than one belt or they failed, ushually at highway speeds. It did not take long until I avoided those dry rotted tires even if they had a lot of tread left as I never got through the remainng tread before the exploded.

The cracks will grow and evenutally the tire will have a blow out at highway speeds.

If the cracks have just showed you have "a wile" it is up to you as to how long you want to push it but keep in mind a shreded tire can really mess up a fender.

I would keep an eye out for a sale on your next set.
 
Cracks in tires

Simple, quick but not final answer, use a liberal amount of brake fluid, apply as you would armor all and rub it in, it will help seal off non devistating cracks. Needless toi say if these cracks are more than surfacee tension cracks, replace the tires.
 
Rubiconcruiser said:
Simple, quick but not final answer, use a liberal amount of brake fluid, apply as you would armor all and rub it in, it will help seal off non devistating cracks. Needless toi say if these cracks are more than surfacee tension cracks, replace the tires.
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yes, but that's the question. How do we know if the cracks are more than just surface or not...
 
Cracks are a sign of the rubber drying and rotting. When they crack they tend to heat up more as they flex while rotating, which (you guessed it) destroys them even quicker. Once you see the cracks you know you are sliding down the slope, but I don't think there is a good way to know when danger is imminent short of x-raying the tires... use good silicone on them for the life to keep them hydrated and conditioned and you should be able to stave off the cracks for their whole life.
 
Dry rot/weather checking has to get really really bad before the tire becomes unsafe. The tire usually starts leaking well before sidwall failure is a concern. I have run tires with weather checking for quite a while. I have old tires that we keep around for trail spares that have been showing cracks for years. Still hold air just fine. I have run tubes in tires that have minor leaking from cracks. I'm not recommending this, but I've done it for long term use with no problems.

I had one tire which was cracked very badly.It eventually started leaking and had to be discarded. Didn't even think about tubing that one (It was pretty much worn out anyway).

Cracks in the tread area have never concerned me. Cracks in the sidewall are more impotant. But there really is no cut and dry answer as to how much can be ignored, how much can be dealy with and at what point you need to discard the tire.


Mark...
 
i got an E250 work van from my old man 4 years ago. it had duellers on it that he had run for a while... i just changed my tires about 6 months ago. cracks everywhere, looked like total trash. i just waited for a blowout... kept waiting and waiting and waiting. they looked like crap for 2 years (AT LEAST). finally they got so bald i had to replace, but in 1.5 years of gambling i had no issues.

it's the work truck. i put money in it when it's absolutely required. when it dies, i'll bury it.

jp
 
Down in OBX I let my air down to 12psi and I guess It was to much for my sidewalls with cracks.

DSC02397.jpg
 
e9999 said:
yes, but that's the question. How do we know if the cracks are more than just surface or not...
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The surface ones grow and turn into larger ones over time.
 
This is a good question, as I wonder the same thing on my military trailer. Mine was built is 1992 and has the original tires. Tread is good, but the little cracks concern me. I don't want to learn a hard lesson in the middle of nowhere, even with a spare...
 
well, had a look at some older and not so old tires (Michelin LTX) I have around. Seems like the sun may be a more critical issue than age... Clearly, there are some cracks in the outside sidewall but not on the inside one. Also some tires that were used were cracked more on the sidewall than one that was stored for many years as spares (no side cracks on that one, but quite a few in main the longitudinal grooves). Some cracked ones were only out in the sun for 3 or 4 years. Maybe the Michelin is particularly prone to this kinda cracking?

Tires are just amazing nowadays, though. To think about the kind of stresses that they endure for so long is mind-boggling...
 
Never use any silicone on your tires. It will accelerate the drying. Ask any tire pro or long time RV owner ( RV'ers get it drilled into their heads about 'tired' tires) Remember that the cracks you see may only be half the existing problem, as their can be as many or more INSIDE the tire. Most of the drying is from UV, but a decent amt is from non-use. The tire that sees infrequent use, overheating, or ran at lower than street pressure (sound like anything Mudders might experience) will accelerate the cracking. The latter two seem obvious, but the infrequent use accelerating cracking is due to the tire's natural "oils" not getting forced to the surface through regular use.
 
CruisinGA said:
I feel this might have been directed at a certain young, dumb and poor poster :flipoff2:
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Well I guess there are diffrent states of young, dumb & poor, when I was your age I was drivng a chevy with cracked tires, you were driving a Land Cruiser with cracked tires. that has to be progress. ;)

Any likeness to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental, unless otherwise noted. :flipoff2:
 
e9999,

Replace them. Period. I work in local government and we had a lawyer come give a several hour class on vehicle safety with the majority of emphasis on tire wear and cracks. Tire cracks allow moisture to get to the belts. As the belts oxidize and rust they separate the tread. When the tread separates you have a catastrophic failure of the tire. Our city replaces tires every few years as preventative maintenance. The question you have to ask is it safe enough to risk your family in the event of a blow out and rollover? Google the firestone tire failures.

'While most drivers will log many hundreds and probably thousands of miles without so much as an air leak, tire failures can and do occur regularly. While not all tire failures result in a serious accident, the sudden failure of a tire can cause a vehicle to lose control and either roll over or collide with other vehicles. Tire failures are particularly dangerous when the vehicle is traveling at highway speeds. Tire failures are also more likely to lead to rollovers when they occur on a vehicle with a high center of gravity, such as many popular sport utility vehicles.'

Just my 2 cents, Mike.
 
all the tires I grew up with were bias ply we used em on all off road situations in Jeeps & dune buggies sidewall damage was from scraping the curb! there were actually mounted tires at a salvage yard with a wood spoke wheel, outside and some cracking near the tread was real. I was younger then. and now radial type tires fall apart if they sit in the sun. I ran Michelin X and XAS tires on cars, 40,000 miles on a tire was a big deal. This is bad rubber compound for sure! they seem to be built to not last! they used to kow how to build a tire to last. in 60s & 70s Look what we have now? lots of sidewall cracks with good tread. check out tracter tires & heavy equipment tires as they sit out a lot! many of the tires of today, cannot handle sun and wind, well they used to! Olddirtrracer
 
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