Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
The blowouts seem like bad luck... I've run 30 year old tires on a motorcycle to the cords without an issue, and also 30 year old tires on a Buick Riviera. I've only once had a blowout, and that was from going airborne in a VW Bug and landing sidways, ripping the bead from the rim. My last flat was from someone shooting a 9mm bullet into the tread of my Jeep Liberty, and it still held air for 6hrs before going flat.
I'm not taking liability for people running older tires, but I am saying that it's unlikely to suffer a blowout due to tire age and no other abuse, such as under-inflation or previous severe internal damage from impact. Even a new tire is likely to blow out in this case.
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Probably climate differences. 110* heat indexes (which do not include the surface temperature of asphalt) and 90%+ humidity days are the norm in Arkansas, where hayden and I both live, for about 1/3 of the year. Our interstates pile up with tire tread, literally. An old, weakened tire is far more likely to experience tread separation in extreme heat. BTW, a "blowout" is not the only form of tire failure.
Tires as old as those you describe were made differently and especially in the case of bias ply construction, were much more durable. New rubber compounds, those with high silica content especially, degrade more and lose more elasticity with age.