Why Are Tire Covers Needed?

Major differences from car tires: Heavy vehicle sitting on tires for extended periods without movement, Summer sun beating on sidewalls, Ozone effects. I have had common Michelin RV tires become cracked and failure prone after 4 1/2 years in Socal sun uncovered.

Generally, RV's don't compare well with cars or even light trucks mostly because they are not driven as frequently. Cooling systems in RV fridges are not like residential fridges, they don't last as long.

My tires on my Class A always aged out (5 years) before they showed any signs of sun damage or cracking. They spent 7 months of each year stored in fall-to-summer Florida sun. I had blowouts on two different sets of tires at 5 years and one l month. No cracks of sun damage on the 1st set - simply blew out the side wall. On the second set the tread unwrapped and the tire totally came apart. No cracking or sun damage on the other 5. The first set were 19.5 Goodyear 159's. The second was Goodyear 670's - allegedly specially formulated RV tires. Both sets had about 50k miles and 2/3 of tread left.

Not sure if this applies to the 16 inch tires found on most Class C's. The Continentals on my Sprinter based Winnie are 6 years old and show no signs of sun damage. I've heard "age-out" is 7 years on this size tire - not sure of the validity of that. I plan on new tires before next season.

The 19.5's were carrying about 3200 pounds per tire at 75 psi while the 16" tires are less than 2000 at 62 psi. I suspect the weight, and resulting heat, is the major difference. The 19.5's usually ran about 130-135 degrees - the 16" tires are running about 10 degrees cooler. I use an IR thermometer at most stops.

I do use tire covers. But not for the sun so much. On our Class C the rain, dew, AC drain water ect runs off the front and drips on the front wheels. It washes the grease out of the calapers and they freeze up. giving braking with just one front disk pad. I had to take them apart and fix them when we got it used. So I just cover them every time we are parked over night. I do use front and rear after being ask why just the front. Decided it was easier to just cover them all. But none of my friends use them. I do make money fixing their front calipers every few years so I think they are right.

Yup, what they said. In I do not claim to be an expert, but as I understand it in layman's terms, daily, or even frequent, use keeps the chemicals in the tire material moving around and keeps them flexible. Sitting static in direct sunlight day after day causes those chemicals to leach out and the tires dry and crack.

I figure that it can't do any harm and might do some good, so why not. I use them on my truck (fiver tires are shaded by the slides) when it is sitting in the AZ sun during the winter.

mrnoyb wrote:
My personal cars spent 38 years parked in open air employee parking lots in Arizona and none ever required covers or protection of any kind. I routinely got 40K miles or more of service out of a set of tires. This included light trucks. This is why I can't understand why tire covers are recommended for RV's.

What's the explanation for tire covers on RVs?

Thanks.

Unless your RV is your dayly driver, you will soon find out how quickly UV will destroy tires.

brirene wrote:
RV tires most likely don't move as much as your vehicle tires, and its the movement that actually protects them. Sun damage is one of the biggest problems as well, so, little movement, lots of sun creates a double whammy of harmful situations. You can eliminate at least one when you cover your tires to keep the sun off of them, especially when they're sitting for extended periods.

X2 Since auto tires are used daily, the rubber is flexed which prevents dry rot and cracking.

RV tires most likely don't move as much as your vehicle tires, and its the movement that actually protects them. Sun damage is one of the biggest problems as well, so, little movement, lots of sun creates a double whammy of harmful situations. You can eliminate at least one when you cover your tires to keep the sun off of them, especially when they're sitting for extended periods.

I happen to agree that they are unnecessary. And they are prone to blowing off on the wind, too.