Tread squirm is for real!

JBarca wrote:
........ Question: What does the mold release do that creates the tire instability when used on a vehicle for the first few thousand miles?

Is the mold release changing the coefficient on friction of the tire to the road and the truck sliding or is this some other effect?

Can the mold release be cleaned off or reduced in some manner to help reduce the problem or the time to have it wear off? (Something the new owner of the tires can do.)

Thanks

John

First I am speculating that that is the cause - but it does fit the facts available. On the other hand, I am aware that wax is part of a tire's rubber compound and I know that those accumulate on the tire surface while in storage. That also fits the available facts.

Second, I am not aware that anyone has tried to sort this out, let alone tried some remedial action.

Like you said, I suspect there is a reduction in the coefficient of friction and making the vehicle act like it is on a low friction surface such as wet pavement.

2 things of interest here: Not all wet pavement is slippery. Some wet surfaces have pretty high coeffients and so long as the speed is low enough not to generate hydroplaning effects, many folks experience little difference from the dry.

But some wet surfaces get close to the coefficent of ice - and those have caught many a driver by surprise. I would think that this issue would act more like that!

Further I would suspect the combination of new tires and wet pavement would be quite bad. So I urge everyone to be especially careful with new tires.

(BTW, I do know of instances involving passenger car tires, so this is not an issue isolated to RV's and tow vehicles, but I do not know if the issue appears on larger trucks. A post above hinted at that.)

Potential fixes? I don't know what the compound actually is. In the back of my mind I recall silicone being mentioned - but silicone ALWAYS causes such severe problems in other parts of the tire making process that I don't think that is true.

So if the mold release compound is dissolvable in some solvent (maybe even water?), I just don't have a clue. If it is the waxes, I know several people have tried to remove those without success - or at least not without damaging the tire in the process.

Maybe someone reading this could try the next time they buy tires? First suggestion - water and a scrub brush.