Tire Safety: How Old Is Too Old?
When thinking about tire safety, it is important to consider two things: age and use. Vehicles driven daily are typically driven 15,000 miles a year. But there are situations where cars put on even fewer miles. This includes: being driven only on the weekends, never driving in the rain, show cars, and cars that are stored for extended periods of time. So, some tires on these types of cars put on less than 100,000. But it doesn t mean that they are safe tires. Tires deteriorate over time and can age out wear out before they wear out. In a statement from the British Rubber Manufacturers Association (BRMA) issued on June 5, 2001 regarding the age of tires they state, “BRMA members strongly recommend that unused tires should not be put into service if they are over 6 years old and that all tires should be replaced 10 years from the date of their manufacture.” Tire age can be accelerated by a variety of environmental factors, such as sunlight exposure and coastal climates. Poor storage and infrequent use of your vehicle are other things that can accelerate tire age. If you keep your tires in ideal conditions, the tire age can go as high as 10 years from its manufacture date. But ideal conditions are the exception rather than the rule. And the worst part is that you cannot tell the safety of an old tire just by looking at it since there are no conclusive tests for the safety of tires without destroying the tire itself! Due to this, some European car manufacturers of high performance sports cars, coupes and sedans have hedged their bets, stating in their owners manuals that the tire age should reach no higher than 6 years. How Better Rubber Makes Tires That Are Safe There have been a lot of changes in rubber compounds since Charles Goodyear discovered how to cure rubber when he baked a combination of natural rubber and sulfur on his family s kitchen stove. Thus, he would convert an unappreciated raw material into many useful products. Goodyear cross-linked sulfur with polymers that, when exposed to heat, would help make rubber durable and at the same time maintain its elasticity. The main focus of new research has been finding tire age inhibitors. Sulfur molecules are one such tire age inhibitor that is reactivated every time they are exposed to heat, making the rubber harder. Nowadays, rubber in tires has oil in it that tends to migrate into the tires under tread/casing and evaporate into the air. In the process of this, the tire compound releases oil and gets harder. If you can t quite visualize this, go into any tire store and take a big whiff. You ll smell the oil there. Before curing, most tires are coated with a mold release agent that is makes it easier to remove from their mold after curing. If it s a little hard to visualize, think about spraying Pam on a fry pan before pouring on the batter for pancakes. This increases the safety of tires because some of the mold release agent gets cooked onto the surface of the cured tire, which prevents all the oil from evaporating. What Is The Right Tire Age? In most cases, most street tires are good for 6-8 years if maintained properly. Don t forget though that this includes the time the tires spent from the manufacturer s plant to the dealer to you. So, keep this in mind when you are determining tire age. Most tires get to you anywhere between 3-6 months. Some stay longer with the tire manufacturer, but generally all tires that go on your car are less than a year old. So, you should not get an old tire from any tire manufacturer. Which Tires Last Longest? If you want to buy a tire based on how long it will last, you have to consider thread compound. The more aggressive its compound the shorter tire life. Below is a list of tires from longest-lasting to shortest-lasting: Max Performance Ultra High Performance tires DOT-legal competition tires Bottom line: if you want to avoid safe tire issues go with tires that last long and properly maintain them.Bob Martin says Don t buy any new tires until you take a serious look at this today http://www.discount-tires-online.com/TireRatings/tire-rating-guide.htm This article is a copyrighted work and does not come with reprint or resale rights and may not be altered or changed in any way including the resource box. The site owner acknowledges that by using this article they accept this condition. The only exception being to bold the appropriate copy i.e. headlines and subhead text.
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Vehicle Extended Warranty - Protect Your Purchase
A couple weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I was running late. My morning coffee didn?t wake me up like it should have, and I was dragging. As a result, I was going to be late for church, and as a teacher, that wasn?t going to be good! I finally got my stuff together and ran outside to my car. It was raining. As I put the key in the ignition, I knew something wasn?t right. I turned the key?nothing. The car wouldn?t start. I hoped the problem was only with the battery, so I rolled the car onto the street, pulled my wife?s car out, and jumped the battery. It worked! After church was over, I took my car to a garage, where I found out the problem was the battery, and I replaced it. But what if the problem wasn?t the battery? What if it was some kind of engine failure? The car was only five years old, but there could be an engine problem at any time. Before I found out definitively what the problem was, the only thing that ran through my mind was dollar signs?what would this cost me if it was an engine problem? It turns out I didn?t have to worried at all. When I bought the car, I could have bought a vehicle extended warranty that would have covered engine repairs (and some other things), but I was too cheap to do it. I decided to gamble on the car working properly until I wanted to get rid of it, and I got lucky that something major didn?t happen to it. What about you? Have you considered getting a vehicle extended warranty? For the small monthly cost, it would certainly give you peace-of mind. Knowing that your car was covered for repairs even that much longer will help you feel better when your car overheats in the fourth year of your vehicle extended warranty?especially if your original warranty expired after three years. Many insurance companies and dealers will offer a vehicle extended warranty. You should look into it, and get several free quotes to compare. Then, you can make the best decision you can to get a vehicle extended warranty. R. Palkra has spent over 40 years in the automotive industry. Now retired, his mission is to spread his <a href="http://www.extendedwarrantyreviews.com/blog/">vehicle extended warranty</a> knowledge.
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