Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Virginia Young
Mark N - The couple that did the tire safety class at the National rally last year said that concrete pulls moisture right out of the rubber. I purchased some of those thin, flexible plastic cutting boards and put one under each tire when we are parked at our winter place.
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This old "theory" started with the advent of steel belts in tires. The thought was, that somehow, the tires would "suck" or wick the moisture from the cement up into the tire and cause those belts to rust. Others postulated that the opposite would happen: That the concrete would suck the moisture out of the tires. That made sense to some, because as we all know, tires show signs of drying out (eg. cracking) with age, so it must be the concrete, right?
The science actually shows that neither case is true. Tires start rotting, cracking, and deteriorating from the moment they are manufactured. It's just that it occurs slowly...Very slowly...at first. The 2 things that really, really speed this up are not being used, and UV (the sun) damage. Not turning means they aren't flexing. Flexing is to tires as movement is to muscles: Vital to keeping them from aging quickly and deteriorating.
The UV damage is no different than what happens to any piece of fabric or plastic or even our own skin, or anything else: It simply causes detrimental changes at the molecular level that result in rapid oxidization and rot.
Now then, setting your tires on some form of vapor barrier certainly won't hurt, so if you feel better about it, go for it.
But, if you really want to help keep your tires young, treat them exactly like we should all be treating our bodies: Keep them moving, and keep them away from long exposure to the sun!
I totally understand you can find a hundred sources in quick fashion that will say you should put something under your tires to protect them. Old myths are just like dandelions in my yard: Hard to keep from spreading! As I learned in school, "Half of what you will be taught in your life will be proven wrong. The problem is, we don't know which half."
Think about the issue of saturated fat in your diet: We have all been taught and lectured about the dangers of saturated fat causing heart disease and cancer, right? Turns out that is wrong. Dead wrong. Science has shown us now that it is actually the opposite: Healthy and needed. But, even Dr.s keep warning us about too much saturated fat in our diet.
Same thing with this myth about vapor barriers under tires. Makes sense on the surface, but in reality, there's no justification for it.