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Tire Life

Kudos to RevZilla for publishing this production. The same for Ted for sharing here.

In the 70s I worked as a contractor for rural electric associations inspecting utility lines.
This at the time took place every 20 yrs with a manual inspection of every pole in the
lines across the nation.

Therein I would come across tires that were used as wind blowout protectors.
These would trap wind-blown dirt and backfill areas of large dirt erosion that would
threaten downing poles and lines. These tire carcasses were placed on the area around
the poles being then held together with baling wire. Sometimes in multiples of
hundreds or more.

So these tire carcasses were old. Some more than the last inspection. In some cases, there
were only the beltings left as the rubber had long ago succumbed to the elements.
I shared this now for this one observation. All carcasses showed deterioration from
the extreme hostile environmental factors save for one brand.

I would often find Michelin tires of German manufacture that would be baled with
wire to tires that no longer existed save for their internal belts. Would see this often.
It was a very profound and striking revelation out in the field.
I switched to that brand ever after. Surely no brand of any rubber today would last so.

Note also at the D-day museum in NOLA there was once a display of WWII era tires stacked
as to be shipped. They were pristine!

Rubber manufacture is apparently a high art form. Some are better at it than others.
Making long-lasting rubber is just one of many attributes of these artists. If you have
read this far thanks for indulging my sharing of two of life's unique observations.
 
My 15 year old Chevy Express track van is on only its second set of tires at 120,000 miles. It only gets driven for track days and camping trips and shopping for stuff to big to haul on the bikes. 3 months ago I noticed a front worn to the metal on the edge. I put the 15 year old spare on planning to get new tires asap. Well, you know how that goes. I have a couple hundred miles on that old tire now and can't feel or see any issues. I still plan to get new tires but am kinda amazed.
 
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