"Paint Your Wagon," Maybe, But Leave the Tires Alone

It's the kind of thing that might appeal to the Imelda Marcos among the RV set: Those nice tires we keep under our trailers, tow vehicles, or motorhomes. Everybody likes those "shoes" to look good. But how do you best do it?

A few days ago we heard about an RVer who was told one of the best ways to keep his rig's tires looking good was to give them a good "paint" of transmission fluid. Whoa! "Oh, yeah, shines 'em right up!" Maybe so, but it's an awful expensive exercise tire "makeup." Tires are pretty peculiar beasts, and like the man says, you've got an awful lot riding on them to be making mistakes. Painting your tires with transmission fluid is a definite way to wind up paying dearly. The oil in tranny fluid will cause them to rapidly deteriorate, with possible disastrous consequences.

OK, how about some of those nice silicon containing spray on potions? Years ago we were in the upholstery repair trade--fixing vinyl seats in restaurants and on car lots. A lot of folks got snookered into spraying "Armor All" on their seats. Made them shiny and slick, and it brought us a lot of business because the stuff dried the material out, and cracks are a result of drying out. Tires are somewhat the same: Tire makers put chemicals into their tires to keep them from drying out. Put oils or other chemicals on them to make 'em look nice, but counteract the internal chemicals, the tire dries out, cracks, and pretty soon they deteriorate.

We attended a training seminar at an Escapee's RV convention a couple of years back. The featured speaker was "retired from the tire industry." His advice? When you're sitting put in one place for a while, COVER the tires to keep the UV rays off them. Don't put ANYTHING on them to "treat them." If you don't like how they look, then wash them with soapy water and rinse them off. His years of insider experience taught the lesson, there's nothing on the market that you can spray on or paint on that will preserve them, and most will actually do harm.

Viking courtesy www.phillipmartin.info

How Old Izzat Tire? And What Does It Matter?

Those expensive 'rubber donuts' we put on our RVs are far too often, neglected. After all, there's not much "attractive" or sensual about tires. Emelda Marcos didn't keep a garage full of them, and tire showrooms are generally noisy places that offer popcorn, not caviar, to shoppers.

We've blogged about keeping a close eye on your tire pressure, but that's not the only concern. Keeping your RV tires "fresh" is just as important--and more easily overlooked. After all, when did you last change out your RV tires? I can't tell you when I did--I only remember it was because we had an alignment problem and scuffed a couple of the poor beggars to death.

The RVIA (Recreational Vehicle Industry Association) warns that RV tires, unlike car "shoes," generally don't wear out--they 'date out.' Because we put so few miles on them, our RV tires are more likely to die of UV radiation poisoning than from road wear. The RVIA says, "Statistics indicate that the average life of an RV tire is five to seven years." After that, you're living on borrowed time and living dangerously.

So how old are your tires? Here's a picture of a tire sidewall stamp:

The so-called "DOT Code" lists the information we need. The last 4 digits, 2104 in this case, tell us the tire was built in the 21st week (21) of 2004 (04). That dates this tire manufacture at sometime in the middle of May 2004--about three years old, plenty of "age" left in it for an RV tire.

But notice too, a bit of "weather checking" on the sidewall near the rim. Caused by heat, age, ozone exposure, and (believe it or not) exposure to petroleum tire dressings, "sidewall weathering" can weaken the tire and your safety. If these cracks are more than 2/32" deep, replace the tire. And lay off the use of "tire dressings." They may make the tire shiny, but they'll eat up your investment.