I put new tires on Vette June 2019 and they should be fine, been parked in garage when not out driving, will check later today in sun light.

September 2019 bought 4 new tires on my PT Cruiser and while topping them off yesterday with tire inflator, noticed sidewall degradation small little cracks on all 4 tires, how could newer tires do this, unless it’s from being parked outside all the time?

 

I can't think of anything typically absorbed sunlight doesn't destroy. It ruins solar panels, concrete, bacteria, viruses, even plant materials. Leaves electron transport chain need it for energy but the leaves are constantly being maintained and replaced as needed.

That said I don't think typical sunlight exposure can ruin a tire in 2 or 3 years. Maybe a poor tire. I would think more temperature changes, like if the ground goes wet or cold to very hot day after day would probably be more likely to do some damage like cracking- perhaps the presence of sunlight isn't helping either. Especially if the tires are sitting and don't get used often enough, I think that has something to do with the flexibility of the materials. Maybe its that they aren't getting heat cycled often enough. I consider the covalent bonds in the material and as with any materials the constant expansion and contraction due to temp seems like a rapid bond breaking cycle, perhaps with pressure going up and down as well due to temp , without natural flexibility maintenance derived from use. I'm not a tire expert but if you want to keep yours tires in good shape it seems practical to keep them from rapidly changing temp cycles and keep them out of the sun, and use them often, What else can we really do? They go bad anyways eventually so try to use em before its too late.

 

Yes, this is true. If you are getting cracks, I think your tires are at fault. What brand? I just bought a 04 and swapped out a set of Firestone Firehawks that had 600 miles on them but they were 14 years old. They still looked brand new, but at 14 years old.......yesh.

 

Have you checked the date codes on the tires? Just because you bought them in 2019 doesn't mean they were made in 2019. What kind of mileage have you put on the PT cruiser since installing those tires?

 

yes, yes it does.
usually not enough to be a problem. The vast majority of cars out there sit out all day and never have any treatment applied to the tires. The tires will die from use, not sunlight.
I like to treat mine with Aerospace 303 every month or so. it helps.

 

I'm in the camp that believes the sun is a great destroyer. Probably a good barometer would be to inspect tires with damage...do the inboard sidewalls show the same deterioration?

 

Here is an article on Tire aging. Interesting.

The Science of Tire Aging

 

They don't address the difference between nitrogen filled tires vs the older methods of inflation. Maybe slows down the process somewhat?

 

Normal air is mostly nitrogen. Oxygen is pretty harsh but thats always going to be outside the tire.

 

UV rays will damage tires, eventually, but it normally takes a while, especially if the car does not sit in the sun all the time.

 

Interesting post. Thanks all for the information.

 

Cheap Walmart brand Douglas, supposedly Goodyear or Kelly Springfield, I’m not mad but surprised even cheap tires could do this, all 4 tires were made in 2019.

Have not had a chance to look at insides yet, guessing less than 10k miles.

The sun also took off the paint on the top of car and hood, but it’s just a PT Cruiser and it sits outside all year so the C5 can be garaged.

I’ll give updates on it, has anyone else ever put Douglas tires on a beater car?

The C5 currently has Firestone, but has also had Michelin and Goodyear.

I am taking C5 on road trip this summer after finishing a big job, and will look extra close at the tires.

 

I know a corolla with some ~2 year old Douglas tires, an old lady drives it and I change her oil and other maintenance once in a while free. I helped her get those tires from walmart and I wasn't too sure about them for like $39/each or whatever, it was insanely cheap for 14" wheels, but they work great I guess! I recently did the valve cover gasket, plugs, filter and took it on the highway and it drives very smooth, I Was expecting some issue and would have re-balanced them, you know how cheap tires or small tires can frequently get with the balance but nah its good. The tires have maybe 5k or 10k miles only so far I think. The car sits outside all the time and does short trips most of the time. I'll take a closer look when I go back to see the car again, I'm doing a engine bay cleaning soon.

 

Someone here suggested looking at inside, the concrete is very hot so I only took pics of front driver’s side.

I now see the area in between patches of thread looks dry rotted.

 

Just for kicks, another cheap brand called Barum bought for old grand am Jan 2015 at Discount tire, it seems to have less dry rot than the 2019 Douglas tires, and car was always outside.

I called Walmart and told guy about it, he claimed this happens to all cars in Arizona, and his one year old tires on his car has this, I explained I have other vehicles that don’t have this.

Will check girlfriend’s tires ASAP as they are still factory from 2018, and she parks outside.

C5 tires seem fine.

 

Yes.

UV degrades almost everything.

Tires stored indoors will suffer less from age. Tires stored indoors in a temp and humidity managed space (ie, cooled and warmed garage) suffer even less. Despite that, wouldn't recommend finding how long they can last the hard way.

 

Yes, it does. That's why RV owners have those white tire/wheel covers they use when the RV is long term parked.

 

I had one set of off brand tires on an old mini van that all had the type of cracks you describe after only 3 months. Distributor replaced them with different brand because they sold several sets had same issue. My guess is that it was a material or manufacturing problem.