Scarlet 'R' -ugh...tires. Where to buy around here?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

So my car just failed inspection- the scarlet 'R' -  because the tires have little cracks... (not the treads... ;-) Plenty of tread but little cracks along the edges. Seems like a scam to me but what do I know.

Anyway, I've never bought tires - no idea where to go. Is there a reliable + rea$onable place around here (or anywhere...since I have a car)

tx

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Not a scam. Those tiny little cracks in the sidewall are referred to as 'dry rot' and they're what happens when a tire gets really really old and the plasticizers evaporate out of the rubber. A dry-rotted tire is much more prone to a spontaneous blowout, and the rubber compound has also gotten hard with age so that the tire has a lot less grip than it did when new regardless of how much tread is left.

*I'd* like to know how a car tire ends up getting dry-rotted unless the car sat in a barn for something like ten years. Methinks some shop sold you some elderly tires they had lying around. When did you buy them, and what does the date code (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11) on them say? And I sure wouldn't buy tires there anymore.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

thanks - had no idea.

The car is a 2001 golf and the tires came new on it - so they are 6 years old. (the car has @ 27k miles on it)

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

That's just plain weird. That shouldn't happen to car tires that are only six years old. I doubt the VW factory had them lying around for an extended period of time.