 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / May 2008my tires are hard!
I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure to elements, ozone, whatever causes the rubber in car tires to get hard? I was whining and crying like a little girl about the Goodyear tires on my company car and how unsafe they were in the wet, they had no traction whatsoever. Eventually they wore out enough to the point that I got the fleet people to authorize replacement. I remember even posting about how much better the new tires were than the old Goodyears. Well, today it was raining while I was driving to work and again I have no traction whatsoever! Trying to accelerate from a stop sign or light at anything more than a snail's pace results in massive wheelspin, and uphill - fugettaboutit. I don't think it's oil on the roads, as it's rained within the last week, just not during any time that I had to drive the car. I don't think it's my foot, either, although I am not the slowest driver on the road. Can anyone think of an explanation as to why I seem to be having such issues with completely unacceptable wet-weather traction, when my tires are barely worn? nate > I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure to elements, > ozone, whatever causes the rubber in car tires to get hard? Ozone will attack the rubber, over time, and cause it to deteriorate, crack, etc but over the short haul, I have never heard ozone blamed for loss of traction. What brand and series of tires did you replace the Goody's with? Dear N8N: > I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure > to elements, ozone, whatever causes the rubber in > car tires to get hard? Yes. This is very true. Ozone is applied (with or without humidty control) in heated chambers to speed the "natural aging process". The results are hardening, then cracks because a given displacement breaks intermolecular bonds (due to the stiffening). > I was whining and crying like a little girl about > the Goodyear tires on my company car and how [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > unacceptable wet-weather traction, when my tires > are barely worn? OK, you raise several points: 1) It is your foot. Everyone should be "calmer" with water on the road. 2) ozone and corona (not the beer) are used to treat polymer films to improve "wetting" characteristics. Will likely affect either the rubber's ability to "reject" water or oil on the road. 3) drag racers pour (or used to pour) bleach in the tires / track to do what?... soften the tires and increase traction. 4) the grooves in your tires are designed *when new* to pump ungodly amounts of water. As wear occurs, these passages become narrower / shallower, requiring more pressure to get the same amount of flow. Ozone will make your tires harder, the sidewalls will stiffen up, changing the contact area some. Areas affected by ozone for "wetting" are abraided by driving, so this might be an effect, but it should be small. But most of all, wear decreases the grooves in the tires. Or so I'd guess... David A. Smith > I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure to elements, > ozone, whatever causes the rubber in car tires to get hard? I was [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > nate With a fleet car you won't have much choice what kind of rubber to put on. For the timeframe the average set of tires are in service, the elements won't have much effect. Some tires will work better in the rain/wet than others and the rubber compound and tread pattern will make a difference. You can try www.tirerack.com and read the reviews, but there is no such thing as a perfect tire for all types of weather. Depending on your tire size, I used to have Bridgestone Potenza RE950s and they were excellent in the rain/dry, but there was much to be desired for snow... Back to your post, when you start from a stop sign or light, there is often the pedestrian strips which can make the wheels spin easier. Also more oil from vehicles may tend to build up at traffic lights and stop signs... -Dave > I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure to elements, > ozone, whatever causes the rubber in car tires to get hard? I was [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > nate Ozone and sunlight (UV) and general de-volatilization, but it takes years. How old are those tires? >> I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure to elements, >> ozone, whatever causes the rubber in car tires to get hard? I was [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Ozone and sunlight (UV) and general de-volatilization, but it takes years. > How old are those tires? That's the thing, they're about 6 months old, give or take (if I looked up my old posts, I could get them within a couple days.) They're Uniroyal Tiger Paws, and I do remember remarking that they were significantly better than the old Goodyear whatever the heck they were tires that they replaced. And no, I didn't notice any of my neighbors or coworkers pouring transmission fluid on my front tires, or any excessive amounts of smoke. I also don't notice any significant tread wear, so what I'm experiencing is either extroardinarily slick roads or else a physical change in the physical properties of the tire. I haven't been through a car wash in a while, either, so I guess that rules out enthusiastic applications of inappropriate tire dressing. It doesn't help, of course, that when accelerating from a non-zero speed that one can press the accelerator down a small distance where nothing happens other than the engine gets really loud, and then you press a little more and the trans drops two gears and suddenly you have actual torque being presented to the front tires. Would be a heck of a lot easier to drive smoothly if it had a manual transmission, but I guess that is not a popular option among Impala buyers. nate  Signaturereplace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel >That's the thing, they're about 6 months old, give or take (if I looked >up my old posts, I could get them within a couple days.) They're [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >haven't been through a car wash in a while, either, so I guess that >rules out enthusiastic applications of inappropriate tire dressing. Check your tire pressure. Of course, it's possible that they are better than the previous tires, but still not very good. I will put in a good word for the Michelin Hydroedge tires as far as wet pavement handling goes. As good as the old Goodyear Aquatreads, but more stable on grooved pavement. --scott Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." >>> I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure to elements, >>> ozone, whatever causes the rubber in car tires to get hard? I was [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > torque being presented to the front tires. >>snip<< Hey, Nate, I think you pointed out *A* problem right there. Next time that engine roars yet you get no response, rather than pressing the accel. down further to bring about a 2-gear drop, simply pull the gear lever down 1 notch so as to bring about a 1-gear drop. Actually, pull it back BEFORE you know it's gonna make the eng. moan! Much less jerky-torque all of a sudden--rather a smooth increase. HTH, s I saw a show (Market Place) comparing "winter" tires to "all season". Apparently there is no such thing as an "all season" tire. The winter tires are to be used in a certain temperature range. I think they said below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use them above 50 degrees, but they wear out real fast. Winter tires are a softer rubber. I think you would get good traction with winter tires in the rain. Just keep an extra set of tires and look out in the morning and if its raining put the winter tires on. That's what I do. Some provinces require by law that cars use winter tires in certain months of the year because the traction is significantly better. I hope that helps. >I'm just curious, is there any evidence that exposure to elements, >ozone, whatever causes the rubber in car tires to get hard? I was [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >nate Are you running factory recommended pressure or do you have them run up to sidewall pressure? Steve B. I have nothing but opinions on tires....no proof. I use Michelins. Occasionally I will use other brands under some circumstances. Not all Michelins are top notch either. I stopped buying Firestones years ago when they couldnt keep the belts straight. US Royals (Uniroyals) used to be a POS. If you have had those Tiger Paws for only 6 months, ozone is not your problem, in my humble opinion. so what is the date of manufacture of the tires as per the stamp on the tires. Maybe they sold you some old tires. see my post, tires over 6 years old can kill you. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.tech/browse_frm/thread/008ddf11f48b1a6a# |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.