How long on the ground

[bobtater]

How long can you let your tires (proper inflation) on your travel manor (empty weight) sit on the ground in storage before you have to worry about belt deformity? I have the tires sitting on actual earth.

[br2_wdc]

How long can you let your tires (proper inflation) on your travel manor (empty weight) sit on the ground in storage before you have to worry about belt deformity? I have the tires sitting on actual earth.

It's a fair question but most of the time the answer ends up being "it depends". In general, the guidelines say you should replace trailer tires, regardless of number of miles traveled, after 4-6 years.

There is a 2-part article on Tire Aging from the Tire Rack which provides more detail to possibly answer your question:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=138

[Bill]

Bob -

I am certainly no expert on tires, but on various tire manufacturers' web sites, I have read a couple things that may be relevant.

1. Tire deformity was a problem many years ago. The phrase I recall was "nylon thump", and a Google search still generates many hits on this phrase. It referred to the propensity of early nylon tires to develop a flat spot, sometimes as quickly as overnight. It didn't cause any damage, but was annoying for a few minutes as the tire rounded out again. I think that tire manufacturers have largely (though not entirely) overcome deformity problems. Since the days of "nylon thump", I've never experienced it even after months of storage.

2. Tires should not be allowed to stand for long periods of time on dirt, asphalt, or concrete, regardless of whether they are under full load or unweighted. The reason is that these materials tend to draw oils out of the rubber, drying the tire prematurely. Roll the vehicle up onto a board instead.

Take it for what it is worth.

Bill

[Shane826]

2. Tires should not be allowed to stand for long periods of time on dirt, asphalt, or concrete, regardless of whether they are under full load or unweighted. The reason is that these materials tend to draw oils out of the rubber, drying the tire prematurely. Roll the vehicle up onto a board instead.


I've never heard that before. I've always seen camper in the neighborhood rolled up on boards, never knew why. Is that what sucks the black out of the tires? I always assumed it was the sun.

[Bill]

Shane -

As I said, I'm no expert. Aside from the idea that sun exposure would "dry out" sidewall rubber, and ground exposure would "dry out" tread rubber, the mechanism might be the same. Fortunately, both are easy to prevent.

Bill