Stored Tire Life

Kevin Harvey · **Posted:** Thu Aug 07, 2008 1:04 pm

So I am reading on Sports Illustrated (and I watched it on TV) about NASCAR using rain tires in the Nationwide Montreal race. Excellent for them, a great way to come back from the Indy debacle the week before.

Anyway, the article mentions that Goodyear has been carrying around rain tires for six years.

"As rain started falling during the Nationwide Series race in Montreal, Goodyear officials brought out rain tires that they had been carting around for the last six or so years."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/w ... index.html

Those things had to have been as hard as a rock, right? I have stored tires in my garage before for a year or two and they all seem to have gotten harder with age. What are your experiences? How long will a tire last (or rather, stay soft) when stored? Just curious on others experiences. Especially when I just found a helluva deal on Hoosiers and I am picking up two sets of this seasons scrubs.

Matthew Fortner · **Joined:** Sun Mar 21, 2004 12:21 am **Posts:** 384

Maybe it depends on storage technique?

Charlie Guthrie · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 8:14 pm **Posts:** 832

Some of us cheapskates have used last year's tires more often than we'd care to admit. Last year's tires are never as sticky as new tires. Grassroots Motorsports Magazine did an article on old race tires and did come to the conclusion that Traction Formula-V did, in fact, improve the grip of older tires.
The link below is an ABC news article regarding aging tires and strongly advocate trashing tires that are 6 years old. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897
Charlie Guthrie

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:23 pm

When I spoke to Chris Harvey of the Tire Rack about build dates of tires, he said not to even think about it. Apparently Michelin paid the Tire Rack to do a study on their Pilot Sport Cup tires. They took tires that they had built within a few weeks of the test and tires that were stored for 3 years in a temperature controlled environment (around 65 degrees).

They ran laps on them as well as an autocross test. The testers couldn't tell the difference between the two ages, and the times proved it, which were all within statistical insignificance.

Chris said if you can, store your tires inside your home, but realizes that likely isn't feasible. - AB

Sean O'Connell · **Posted:** Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:43 pm

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Chris said if you can, store your tires inside your home, but realizes that likely isn't feasible. - AB

you mean you guys don't have a 6' stack of tires where your washer and dryer is supposed to go? i guess I'm just weird.

Dustin Fredrickson · **Posted:** Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:10 pm

Sean O'Connell wrote:

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Chris said if you can, store your tires inside your home, but realizes that likely isn't feasible. - AB

you mean you guys don't have a 6' stack of tires where your washer and dryer is supposed to go? i guess I'm just weird.

Nope, perfectly normal. When we were in transition between houses a few years back, we filled a 10x20 storage shed FULL of furniture and other less important items, and had 2 sets of hoosiers set up as the bases to our sofa tables in our 500sf 1BR apartment. Gotta have priorities

Arthur McDonald · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 1:54 am **Posts:** 2052

I have a set of RA-1s in the corner of an upstairs bedroom. Need to upgrade to dual zone A/C as I suspect it gets a little too warm up there in the summer

If you have a crawlspace, that's about ideal for tire storage year-round.

Kevin Harvey · **Posted:** Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:09 am

And I thought having a 6' stack of tires in the garage was bad..... some of you guys crack me up.

I didn't consider the crawl space, but I have a feeling that it gets colder than my garage.

Knowing a set of tires will not be used until the following year or so, has anyone tried having them shrink wrapped? Like people have their boats wrapped and stored? Wonder if it is even worth it? Probably not for my level of skill, I would think if a tire gets slightly harder that just teaches me more car control (kinda like going back to street tires).

Frank Catena · **Joined:** Wed Aug 27, 2003 1:08 pm **Posts:** 418

Toyo recommendations for RA1s include:

2. Always store these tires indoors at temperatures above 32°F (0°C).

3. Before mounting or dismounting, store these tires for at least 24 hours in a temperature-controlled environment of 68°F (20°C) or warmer.

4. Remove these tires from the vehicle and deflate to half the normal air pressure during prolonged periods of non-use or storage.

Apparently they can crack ... crawl space seems like a good bet.

Frank

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Fri Aug 08, 2008 1:09 pm

Frank Catena wrote:

Toyo recommendations for RA1s include:

2. Always store these tires indoors at temperatures above 32°F (0°C).

3. Before mounting or dismounting, store these tires for at least 24 hours in a temperature-controlled environment of 68°F (20°C) or warmer.

4. Remove these tires from the vehicle and deflate to half the normal air pressure during prolonged periods of non-use or storage.

Apparently they can crack ... crawl space seems like a good bet.

Frank

http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/TireStorage.pdf

clinehall · **Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:13 pm

Sean O'Connell wrote:

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Chris said if you can, store your tires inside your home, but realizes that likely isn't feasible. - AB

you mean you guys don't have a 6' stack of tires where your washer and dryer is supposed to go? i guess I'm just weird.

That's why I have a big office, my clients just think the stack of Hoosiers are part of the Garage Decor!

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:19 pm

clinehall wrote:

That's why I have a big office, my clients just think the stack of Hoosiers are part of the Garage Decor!

WHAT? I thought the world would quit rotating if you ran Hoosiers!

clinehall · **Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:49 pm

Ryan Holton wrote:

clinehall wrote:

That's why I have a big office, my clients just think the stack of Hoosiers are part of the Garage Decor!

WHAT? I thought the world would quit rotating if you ran Hoosiers!

Hey, I live dangerously, what can I say?

Stacy King · **Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:40 pm

Maybe they aren't the SAME rain tires they've had the the last six years... just that they have been bringing sets of rain tires for six years

Kevin Harvey · **Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:14 pm

Good point, Stacy. I was taking it literally as it was printed but you may be right.

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