Hi Mark great to catch up again.

 Went up to Cape York, Normanton, Burketown, Mt Isa, down to Melbourne, Adelaide last yr. 30 thousand klms. The tyres just didnt seem to be wearing much at all. I have also heard that they get hard with age, and wear better.

 Regards Brandt.

Hi Guys, that looks like it was a very close call. trust that you will be able to get what you need to get back on the road. It has been one of those years that I'm sure that you would rather forget or at least learn from. Take care and travel safe.

Brian and Cheryl

Kiwi-as wrote:

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I had not reduced the tyre pressures from the 49 psi that they usually are. The van is close to 3 tone with 200 kg on the tow ball.

 Allso the present set of Wranglers were on the cruiser when i bought it early last yr. and i suspect they are quite a number of yrs old.

 I have heard it said that tyres lose their elasticty or whatever after 4 or 5 yrs or so.

-- Edited by Kiwi-as on Monday 17th of June 2013 11:32:38 PM

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Hi Kiwi-as
Your absolutley correct, after five, maybe six years, the old tyres degrade a bit and are more suseptical to puncture etc due to as you say, loss of elesticity.  It's a very good thing for anybody to check, I've heard it so many time "but I've only done ??? Km's" time also plays a very important part in the longevity of life of vehicle components.  It's the same as oil changes, SO many people go by mileage and don't take into account the age of the oil. 
Sorry for you troubles, hope you get it sorted out okay. 
Mark

OOHHHHHH NO! not again, BUGGER. & I do know the feeling.

Maybe some of these;

JC.

I realised that the Spare on our Avan had never been on the ground.  The van was 5 years old when I bought it,   and probably the  tyre was a bit older maybe. 

Oxidation is a problem with rubber especially when it is not flexing, like happens when it is on the hub on the road.

A year after I bought the Avan  I was doing maintenance and rotated the wheels, the spare was "as new"  when I put it on the hub.  All the moulding tags and dags still on the tread.

 It did the journey across Oz from Perth to Noosa and blew for no apparent reason as we were going into Noosa. I had checked all the tyres and pressures just  30 minutes before, as we left our last campsite.   I was lucky not to lose the rim as I had nowhere to pull off for about three hundred metres.  Down hill on a narrow road.   My tyre was in a worse state than the one in the picture.   I inspected the tread for nails or wire but it was in very good nick. The walls were like a bundle of rags.

Have a read of this below or go to the website.

http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/what-happens-aging-car-tires

As tires get older, they suffer the wear and tear of use. The weight of the car forces oxygen against the inside of the tire and friction from driving creates heat; the combination causes thermo-oxidative aging. The tread usually gives out before the tire, but oxidation also can happen when the tire just sits on a rim, like the spare tire in your trunk. In a case like this, oxidation might destroy your tire before driving does. It's important to know this, because aged tires are dangerous. Worn tread and improper air pressure contribute to tire failure, but so does tire aging, which is not necessarily the same as wear. Tires that are older than about five or six years are more prone to separation and blow-out because they are dry and some of their materials disintegrate [source: Cowley]. As many as 400 people may die a year in the U.S. because of tire failures [source: SafeCar.gov].

Of course, every situation is different and tires age and wear depending on many factors. One of these is climate. If you live in a sunny, warmer or coastal climate, the rubber in your tires ages faster than in it would in cooler climates. And as mentioned above -- you can't assume that the spare in your trunk or the tires on your seldom-used recreational vehicle are immune to aging. Lack of use actually speeds up the process, as do heavy loads, poor maintenance and hot temperatures [source: SafeCar.gov].

A study from North Carolina State University showed that only about 4 percent of participants reported that aged tires could lead to tire failure [source: Cowley].  This was partly because drivers failed to read their car owners' manuals and also because many manuals did not include good information on the danger of aged tires, at least not until the mid-2000s after the matter received increased attention.

A tire that's unsafe and about to fail because of aging may not show any visible signs, so waiting until your tires look dry or cracked is a bad idea. The best way to prevent failure from aged tires is to have them checked after five years and if they're still OK, every year after that until replacing them.

Kiwi-as wrote:

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Hi Mark great to catch up again.

 Went up to Cape York, Normanton, Burketown, Mt Isa, down to Melbourne, Adelaide last yr. 30 thousand klms. The tyres just didnt seem to be wearing much at all. I have also heard that they get hard with age, and wear better.

 Regards Brandt.

-- Edited by Kiwi-as on Tuesday 18th of June 2013 12:16:10 AM

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Hi kiwi-as

MMMmmm, not heard that train of thought before, but I do know that tyres take on a shape.  

My tool trailer was left in the garage for 2 years and never turned a wheel, (lazy period of time!!) took it out to do a job for a friend and there was a thump every few meters, turns out the tyres had got flat spots where they had been sat on the ground.  We heated the tyres and inflated them to the absolute max and left them warm for a few days and they returned to shape.  Since then I make sure that if I'm not using the trailers or the boat etc, the wheels are off the ground, fortunately everything is in a dark storage unit so they are not subjected to the sun, but I dare say that in a few years I'll have to change them once we stop travelling and settle back into a house again.  

Glad you got it all sorted though, as I often say, there are gonna be bad day's, take them as they come and think of all the good days that you have had.

TTFN

Mark

This was captured at the Roper Bar in 2011!  OOOPPS sorry that should read 1911!!!!!!

Hi kiwi-as

MMMmmm, not heard that train of thought before, but I do know that tyres take on a shape.  

My tool trailer was left in the garage for 2 years and never turned a wheel, (lazy period of time!!) took it out to do a job for a friend and there was a thump every few meters, turns out the tyres had got flat spots where they had been sat on the ground.  We heated the tyres and inflated them to the absolute max and left them warm for a few days and they returned to shape.  Since then I make sure that if I'm not using the trailers or the boat etc, the wheels are off the ground, fortunately everything is in a dark storage unit so they are not subjected to the sun, but I dare say that in a few years I'll have to change them once we stop travelling and settle back into a house again.  

Glad you got it all sorted though, as I often say, there are gonna be bad day's, take them as they come and think of all the good days that you have had.

TTFN

M 

   Mark   

My boat at home is in a shed up on blocks for that reason, and the batteries are hooked up to a charger which my son turns on once a month.