Tyre cracking

[SLacKer]

Went to view a car the other day and noted that all four tyres had some form of cracking on the outer tread. They were dated 08 and the car is laid up over the winter outside with a cover on.




Each tyre was affected to varying degrees. Is this because of the 7 months of sitting still? Are these dangerous?

[Munter]

I'm no expert on why that's happened. But as a layman I would not use them for driving on.

[paintman]

That type of cracking is very common on caravans. Miles of tread but have deteriorated due to aging.
Bit of reading for you going into the science of it:
http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care...

[SLacKer]

Makes for interesting reading. I like to be careful with Tyres, brakes and Steering on cars for obvious reasons so would change all four tyres as well. The car has a few other issues which mean I will probably pass on it but useful to know what causes this.

[stevieturbo]

Ive seen dozens of cars like this. Even my own small van, after several months one set of tyres had started cracking.

Some modern rubber is just crap. As to what risks it poses, who knows really.

Yet Ive others that are well over 5 years old and in perfect condition, and get used and abused on track from time to time.

[T1pper]

defo need to get them changed, I have seen some soft compound sport tyres do this when used in cold conditions as the rubber compound is not sutable for sub zero temps, IIRC some toyo tyres come with a warning not to be used below freezing for this problem.