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Keyword: Tire Failure
Tire Failure
Tire Information World : your friendly
independent source of tire help
 What Causes Tire Failure?
There's been a lot of press attention recently to accidents
supposedly caused by over-age tires, but some of these reports
would have you think that many tire failures would be
eliminated by creating regulations on how long a tire can be
legally sold.
The truth is that most tire failures, even of recently made
tires, are caused by certain conditions which have nothing to
do with age. Let's review these.
First
The largest cause of tire failure is improper
inflation: specifically under-inflation. When a tire is under
inflated it flexes more, which creates heat. This heat softens
the rubber, weakens the tire and increases the temperature of
the air in it, which increases the tire's pressure. Now you
have a weaker tire, which is over inflated and boom! The tire
explodes. This can happen to a new tire as well as an old
one.
When do you check your tire pressure?. When the tire is
cold!
Number 2
Too much weight. Each tire is designed to carry only so much
weight. If you are using a
tire on a vehicle different from they kind it was designed to be used
on, you may be subjecting it to excessive weight.
If you have a trailer, or a cargo vehicle and add weight above that
which the tire is made to support, again you have a potential
problem. Adding weight to a tire, is in effect, the same as lowering
the tire's pressure. You've likely seen heavily loaded vehicles where
the tires seem to bulge out. These tires are being flexed much more,
just as an under-inflated tire.
Even if an under inflated tire or an overloaded tire doesn't
blow out at the moment, that doesn't mean that there's no
damage done to the tire. In fact, if a tire which has been
subjected to this kind of use even for a few minutes or a short trip,
were to be unmounted and inspected, there may be evidence of
damage in the form of ground-up rubber residue inside the tire
as a result of being driven in such a condition.
Number 3
A 3rd major reason tires fail is damage done to the tire
that you can´t see at the time of the damage. We've just
described one situation above. Here's another: have you ever
watched a trailer being backed into a parking slot? If you look
you will see that the tire will squirm, twist and all but come
off of the rim. This is causing damage you can't see but it is
weakening the internal structure of the tire.
Number 4
A 4th reason is an abused tire. This could be a tire that
hits a curb, a speed bump at a high speed, or big rocks or pot
holes. If this impact is on the inside of the wheel, it too,
may be another "unseen" damage. Sometimes misalignment can
cause tread damage, but it is very easy to see miss-worn tread
to identify the cause and in any case, this is not normally the
cause of complete failure, but rather just wearing-out faster
than necessary.
Number 5
A 5th reason is a tire with manufacturing or material
defects. This is most likely to happen with unreliable brands
that are made to be sold cheaply. The reason they can be sold
cheaply is because they cost less to make, either through using
cheaper, less resistant materials, through skimping on
inspection and quality controls.
An example of one reader: He installed four SuperStone
Tradial Track LT235/85R16 tires from Sam´s Club on a
Ford
F-350 Dually loaded with a 10.5 ft. Silver Streak Camper. All
weights were way below maximum allowable for both the truck and
tires and over two years he drove only about 3,700 miles. The
truck was parked and the tires covered. When he planned to take
it on a trip when he pulled the cover off one of the tires the tread
was blown open at the top. This had happened while the
vehicle was parked!
Conclusion
None of the above is intended to say that tires don't age,
they do, but just like people, tires don't become useless, (or
dangerous) just because they pass a certain date. Indeed, most
failed tires are "young" tires which have suffered damages or
conditions such as the ones we've just described and if older
tires are exposed to the same tortures they too are likely to
fail from these.
Inspect your tires regularly. (Register for
Tire Chek to get a monthly email
reminder) and have a professional look them over as often as you can.
Did you know we have a special
place to show-off your favorite wheels?
See the Hot Wheels Show Room
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