FastEagle wrote:
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It’s a big country and the aging issue cannot be solved for numerous reasons. Maybe they should start by setting geographical regions and working from there.
FastEagle
Geographical regions sounds reasonable till you have to ask how fine of a measure do you want to consider. As I pointed out in my blog the "aging" process is just chemistry. The rate of change is not linear so it gets even more complex.
I have done extensive research on the "rate of aging" and will give but one example.
When you say Arizona is hot, people generally think of the high numbers we hear about from Phoenix but the reality is that there are large portions of Arizona that are not at all like Phoenix. In fact Flagstaff is colder than Cleveland, Ohio so tires actually "age" faster in Cleveland than Flagstaff if you were to spend 100% of your time in one location or the other and we were considering the heat related history only. I don't have the figures with me but tires in Phoenix 100% of the time "age" about 6 to 8 times as fast as those in Flagstaff as I recall.
The owner has a number of factors in their direct control such as load, speed, inflation, and sun exposure, but to exercise that "control" means having the knowledge and then taking action.
It is well known that getting your RV weighed and confirming you are not overloading or underinflating your tires is good thing to do so why do more that 55% of RV owners run overloaded when they have been told not to?
I have shown the effects in my blog of not having white tire covers when parked. So I have provided the data and knowledge that you should use white covers but just how many people have gone out and bought and started to use covers? I would guess fewer than 15% have or use white covers. Some even make things worse by using black cover because they like the looks.
So looking at my numbers how would you as a tire company give an age limit on an RV owner who spends months at a time parked with one side of the RV South facing without tire covers but is running light load so has a 25% reserve when running the 10,000 miles a year he travels at 55 mph vs another RV owner who always covers his tires but runs 5% overloaded and at 70 mph for his 10,000 miles. Oh ya one lives in Mobile AL and the other in Prescott AZ.
People here in the US would never accept the restrictions or follow the regulations that would need to be imposed to have meaningful tire age limits. We can't even get them to follow the speed rating and load capability guidelines and the mere mention of a Government regulation brings some to the point of violence.
