Was the tire dry rotted?

Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Messages
575
Location
New Hanover, PA
A friends tire went flat yesterday and sat overnight. When he looked in the morning and hoped to pump it back up, he saw several breaks in the sidewall where the tire “folded“ while flat. Is this classic dry rot? I’ve never seen it before, so I throw it out to y’all. I’ll try to get a pic to post. I guess if the tires are all the same age, he should consider changing them all…
 
To me tires are the single most overlooked saftey item on a car. You may have the best brakes, suspesion, airbags, etc on you car but you tires are where all these compnets meet the road (literally). Taking care of your tires and inspecting them for cracks, punctures, and bubbles is often never done, much less reading a build date or checking them for proper inflation. Take a few minutes and check ALL of your tires including your spare. Its summer time, higher temps both ambient and road will cause more issues. Since Covid restrictions are going away many of us are driving more. Nothing will ruin a road trip faster than a flat or a blow out that leads to an accident. If they are old or damaged replace them don't try tosqueeze another X amount of miles out of them, your life isnt worth it.
 
So my friend checked the 3 remaining tires and found 2 much newer tires that are in good shape and the third was the same vintage as the blown tire. Replaced the set and is now roadworthy again. I only know about this whole deal because he called for advice for getting the lugs off to get the spare on there… someone torqued them down really hard and he couldn’t get them to budge. Gave him my breaker bar and cheater pipe, which he was able to successfully use…

He‘s probably looking at all his tires now. I know I would be…
 
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