New life for old tires?

I was given a set of very old BFG R1's in the size I need, but they are really dry. They don't have any cracks or checking, just hard and dry. Could they possibly be used after a long bath in VHT or something like that?

I tried to rehab some with tire claw. I regretted even mounting them up. I would have had more grip by getting a bunch of red rubber bands and wrapping them around the rim.

sachilles wrote: I tried to rehab some with tire claw. I regretted even mounting them up. I would have had more grip by getting a bunch of red rubber bands and wrapping them around the rim.

Everybody knows that the tan rubber bands have way more grip then the red ones!

I am still trying to figure out what to do with an old Kumho Ecsta XS tire that came with a set of wheels I bought. Full tread, but dried out. Wonder what the wife would say if I planted some flowers in it in front of the house.

I've seen hoosiers make excellent tomato planters.

you could start a tire wall going up your driveway.

Save them to burn for heat in the forcoming end of days!

They'd make an awesome tire swing.

BURN. OUTS. duh.

with the info above, I guess they're off to the tire shredder....

Probably not HOA approved for the front lawn:

http://www.wuvie.net/tireplanter.htm

I threw out a set of R1's with the stickers still on them last summer for the same reason.

Put 'em in the microwave for 20 seconds?

I second the burnout answer...

+1 for burnouts

Time to try your hand at drifting?

Loooooong burnouts and video (please)

I've seen people use diesel to rehab old dirt stock car tires. They put it in a garden sprayer and wet the tires every so often, a few days before the races. I had my doubts but it actually seemed to soften them up a bit.

Also maybe try roasting them with a good burnout on the rear and a few good understeers for the fronts. I had a set of old Falkens just like you describe. I originally punched them at 85 cold on the durometer, and after a few autoX laps they now punch at 60 cold.

Aeromoto wrote: I've seen people use diesel to rehab old dirt stock car tires. They put it in a garden sprayer and wet the tires every so often, a few days before the races. I had my doubts but it actually seemed to soften them up a bit.

i use low-odor mineral spirits on a 4" foam roller, but same idea.

My buddy works at a chemical company and makes me this stuff he calls "Tire Scream" I don't know what's in it but the tires I treated were incredible for about 6 autocross runs and then were completely corded. It was a good way to send them off.

I think one of the ingredients was acetone but I wasn't going to give it a good whiff, nor let it get on my skin.

Old tires get hard because the vulcanization process of the rubber molecules linking together never stops. Heat accelerates the process, hence why we count heat cycles. But nevertheless, if the rubber is hard it is because the rubber molecules have kept linking and "hardening up."

Oxygen and light also accelerates the process. This is why tires in storage should be vacuum-sealed in black garbage bags. So you might have some luck scrubbing (or shaving) some rubber off to expose softer rubber underneath.

Chemicals that soften the tires would seem to work by breaking down the chemical bonds between the rubber molecules. I've never done it. But I was winning races on hard, worn-out tires so why bother. I'd also be skeptical of doing track speeds on a tire I had treated to break down the rubber bonds. I suppose it's been done lots of times and the interwebz aren't full of the horrifying results so maybe it's OK.

David

Belt sander. then Formula V.