Best tires that won't dry crack
 

I don't want to spend an arm and a leg but I have to replace the dry cracked 10 year old tires on my truck. They haven't seen more than a few hundred miles on them and that's about average driving miles I do with it.

I'm looking for some suggestions on a brand that's better at resisting dry cracking in this hot Texas heat or maybe some suggestions at preventing the cracking.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

To help prevent the cracking of tires, I park all my trucks in my air conditioned shop......:chevy:

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

They changed the formula in tires, so now they "weather" faster for lack of a better term. Replace after 6 years.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

Might look at surplus military tires. Some of them used to be formulated to have higher UV resistance. Be sure to double check top speeds. A lot of military tires have a never exceed of 70 mph or so.

The six year thing is partly the tire mfgs doing CYA as lawsuits over failures on older tires with nearly full tread were getting costly. Remember when the warranties were for 80,000 miles? If you only drove 5k a year, the tire wouldn't 'wear out' until it was 16 years old.

To make the situation worse for the end consumer, the 6 year clock starts the day the tire is made, not when it is installed. So if your tire was in the warehouse for a year, your tire clock only has 5 years on it.

As was mentioned, keeping them in the shade helps a lot.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

Can't help much but here is some good reading about causes and prevention.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=30

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

I read something about rubber in general is now much lower quality because they were refining oil better. Most products made from the by products, such as tires were failing sooner because of the lower quality. Used to rarely replace windshield wipers now it seems it is at least once a year.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

Re. formula change in tire rubber. I had a small boat trailer made in the 1970's with original tires that were about 20 years old and not one crack on them. I guess tires, and probably all rubber products, are made to deteriorate for environmental purposes I suppose. I know plastic containers are.

According to the url sites posted above I need to drive it more. As little as I drive the truck, I think that's one reason they crack. I'm also thinking of buying RV tire covers to keep the sun off them and neighborhood dogs from marking them.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

I just checked the air on my 86 which barely goes anywhere and noticed they had a 2008 date code on them and still look like new, maybe have like 1000 miles on them. Still looks like new but the truck is garaged

Goodyear wrangler silent armor


https://i.imgur.com/Vi4IFA1l.jpg

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

Keep them out of the sun, and armor all helps to protect them. The elements is the biggest thing, keep em inside if possible....

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

I agree that the sun has a lot to do with dry rot. The 100 plus degree weather in the summer here in Texas is not good on plastics and rubber these days and I plan to get some tire covers to at least buy some time for the new tires.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

I use a protectant and shiner called 303. It can be hard to find sometimes, but can be ordered on the internet too.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

somewhat regular use keeps the tires flexible and rearranges the 'sitting' forces that focus on small parts of the tire that create stress and cracks..

keeping the sun off the tires stops the uv exposure as well as lowering the temperature which softens and promotes cracks..

tire covers are cheap and easy way if parked outside.. they can be found online or most rv parts stores..

not a fan of tire dressings, can't stand the sticky brown gunk that builds up.. I use westley's bleche wite to clean tires and leave them naturally clean..

I'll let y'all google your own preferred dressing brands, but some are reported to be more detrimental to your tires due to the chemicals..

or just plan and budget tire replacements as a fixed expense like oil changes, belt and hose replacements, etc..

good luck y'all!

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

68gmsee, you asked about brands and I know there's nothing magical about any one brand, but I've had a set of Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armors on my truck since 2013 and they still look really really good. Little to no dry cracking at all. These replaced a set of BFG all terrains which were about 7 years old at the time and I replaced them due to the dry cracking. I like the BFGs but mine cracked bad, so I have nothing but great things to say about Goodyears. In my experience they outperform every other tire I've ever owned.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

In Arizona you learn there is nothing you can do to stop dry cracking.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

yup good stuff

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

Yep. Same here. We don't get the continuous triple digits y'all get in Arizona but the 3 months 95 to 110 degrees we get in the summer will dry them out eventually. In my garage the temp can climb upwards of 120 degrees unless I leave the doors open.

After double checking the faded numbers on my tires, they were closer to 15 yrs old. However, they've been dry cracked for about 4-5 years so I guess the ten year rule still applies. I'm purchasing some tire covers and hopefully that will help the new tires along with keeping neighborhood dogs off them.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

I always warm up my tires when I drive and I've never had a problem with them dry rotting.

Re: Best tires that won't dry crack
 

brad_man_72 that's good advice and the coolest pic I've seen in a while.:metal: