wives' tale? Or...

[Don Jordan]

I'm afraid I am rather gullible and tend to believe some weird things.

Perhaps someone can tell me if this one is true:

I have a truck that's been sitting outside for about 10 years. I worry that the tires are going to rot before I get a chance to get it on the road. I was told that if I rub brake fluid on the tires it will keep the rubber soft. I haven't done it yet I just thought I'd check before I do something stupid.

For a while I took the tires off and kept them in the bed covered but I need to move the frame around so they are back out in the environment. It would be nice if this (brake fluid) would protect the tires.

any comments - ideas?

[greg g]

After 10 years of sitting, I wouldn't trust them on the road. Some folks cover their RV tires to protect them from IV damage but I doubt brake fluid will help with damage and aging that has already happened. Guess you're gonna need to bite the bullet whe it gets time for road worthyness.

[BobT-47P15]

Will wait for other answers on that question.

But then you would have 10 year old tires with brake fluid on

them. May soften them up some, but not a real cure.

If you're not driving it, the age of the tires won't make

much difference. If going to take it on the road, I think I would

prefer to get some new tires.

[Frank Elder]

Bust open your wallet instead of your head. Those tires are no good you could hurt yourself, or another driver.

[Young Ed]

If you are just working on it and moving it around the garage go ahead and keep them. I wouldn't do anything to them. When you are close be being done and getting it on the road then buy some new ones.

[Don Jordan]

These tires don't look so bad.

the frame does of course.

[Norm's Coupe]

Like the other said, I wouldn't worry about replacing the tires just to move it around the yard, or drive it around the block a few times once it's running. The only thing that will probably make a dry rotted tire blow out is heat buildup when driving down the road. Plus, even if one did blow while just sitting, it's not going to hurt anything. Then you can just replace that one tire until you get the going again.

That said, BobT was correct. Brake fluid would soften the rubber and probably make most of the cracking disappear. However, it will also make the tire weaker when it softens up the tire. So........I would not put brake fluid on my tires on purpose.

[Young Ed]

Sure about that Norm? A just sitting bike tire blew up right by my head once and scared the you know what out of me

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

That's why I said "probably" won't blow. Under certain conditions they will blow when just sitting still. I remember as a kid when my older brother got his first car. Don't remember the exact year of the car but was a 46 - 48 Plymouth more door. He's two years older than I so it must have been about 1958. Was a warm day. While we were eating dinner, he had two tires blow out with the car just sitting in the driveway. He had been out running around in the car not long before that though. That made us jump at the dinner table too.

The trick to having one not as likely to blow is to not fill it with air all the way, when the tire is dry rotted.

[Tim Frank]

The trick to having one not as likely to blow is to not fill it with air all the way' date=' when the tire is dry rotted.[/quote']

Yes, just put air in the lower half of the tire; there is no weight on the top part anyway....

[billwillard]

do you have to use the heavy green air for this?

[Merle Coggins]

Speaking of air in tires... As we enter into the summer season, don't forget to change out your winter air for summer air. Or maybe y'all still have your summer air in there from last year?

[Norm's Coupe]

Yes, just put air in the lower half of the tire; there is no weight on the top part anyway....

Actually, if the tire is flat on the bottom, just turn it so the rounded part is at the bottom.

[TodFitch]

Do tires "dry rot" the same way now as back in the old days?

It used to be that the cords were cotton which definitely ages and becomes weaker with time. And, I think, cords are what keep the tire strong enough to resist blowing out. So in the old days an old tire was not safe even if it had good looking rubber and plenty of tread.

But all automobile tires that I know of make in the last few decades have cords made of materials like polyester and aramids. Do those materials, when embedded in rubber, have similar problems with aging?

I still have an aversion to using an old tire on a car I am traveling at speed in. But I wonder how much of that is memory left over from problems with older tire technology. . .

[Norm's Coupe]

Do tires "dry rot" the same way now as back in the old days?

It used to be that the cords were cotton which definitely ages and becomes weaker with time. And, I think, cords are what keep the tire strong enough to resist blowing out. So in the old days an old tire was not safe even if it had good looking rubber and plenty of tread.

But all automobile tires that I know of make in the last few decades have cords made of materials like polyester and aramids. Do those materials, when embedded in rubber, have similar problems with aging?

I still have an aversion to using an old tire on a car I am traveling at speed in. But I wonder how much of that is memory left over from problems with older tire technology. . .

Yes they do. My wife's car is an 02 model year. I check her tires on a regular basis and they were not all that worn. However, I did notice slight crack marks in them a couple of years ago, but not bad enough to worry about. However, last spring her car was parked in the driveway instead of the garage. I really wasn't doing anything with her car just walking by it to do something else. That's when I spotted a bulge in the left front tire side wall. The tires had dry rotted enough so that when she hit a pot hole it evidently caused the bulge. But.........otherwise the tire still had a lot of life to go in the tread wear. So........I stopped what I was doing and took the car to Firestone and had all four replaced. So.........as mentioned, they do dry rot. The newer type cording is only there for support of the rubber, not to keep it from dry rotting.