BF Goodrich AT KOs Dry Rotting

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BF Goodrich AT KOs Dry Rotting

Post by F9K9 »

Exactly as the title says. Last weekend I aired my 33/10.50s way down to lower the tailgate, in an effort to make it a little easier on myself, to load and relocate a large concrete statue in my yard. Once the psi was lowered, numerous small cracks were evident in the side walls. There is plenty of tread left on the tires but, they are 5 years old.

This is not the first time I have had this happen with this style/brand tire. My '97 ZR2 came with 31/10.50 BFG AT KOs. Once, I was pushed for time and had a Firestone dealer rotate and balance my tires to prepare for a long trip the following day. I was working when I got word that I needed to get a hold of the dealer. They advised me that mine were dry rotted and they were only 4 years old, with plenty of tread left. That dealer did tens of thousands of dollars in business with my agency for tires and repairs. They were always good to me and I relayed back to the dealer to get something comparable on it. I had to leave early the next morning to give my niece away.

Now, let me bring up another point. I have read several times about the use of tire black/shine/treatment or whatever you choose to call it, break down the sidewalls but, have never seen a scientific study with it's results. I've used various products on both trucks. I also know about the current shelf life of new tire debates and how an unused spare needs to be replaced after "X" amount" of yrs.

Does anyone have some real life experiences, in this department? My CC is really the wife's and my "go to" rig. Her Grand Cherokee is first up for the 200+ mile round trip for chemo treatments and her doctor because it, gets 20+ mpg and is comfortable but, it has 160K on it. The CC is there as a back up. I just did a quick tire price search and it looks like $800 for just four new tires. I had previously wanted to keep five tires in the rotation but, that apparently was a bad choice when driving what few miles that we do on the CC and this dry rot issue.
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Re: BF Goodrich AT KOs Dry Rotting

Post by HenryJ »

Not to minimize your issue, but how bad are the cracks, really? These have a three ply sidewall. That is pretty substantial.
I really don't think a dry cracking surface would scare me at all. If it goes deep enough to reach the ply, that might give me pause.
Understand that a tire shop is in the business of selling new tires. Anything to get you to replace them. Tires are drying from the day they are made to the day they die. Truck tires will not recap after five years do to the drying. I don't throw them out though.

I have one side of my vehicles that always faces the setting sun. That side gets dried out and does tend to weather fast. You should see my trailer tires! I have had some tires look very poor and still serve me well.

The new man-cave will improve the life of your tires. Less weather and UV :)

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Re: BF Goodrich AT KOs Dry Rotting

Post by F9K9 »

HenryJ wrote:Not to minimize your issue, but how bad are the cracks, really? These have a three ply sidewall. That is pretty substantial............
Exactly my thought process but, I needed a push from someone I respected.
HenryJ wrote:.............Understand that a tire shop is in the business of selling new tires...............
That is why I mentioned our volume of business there. They knew that we could go elsewhere and they treasured our business.
HenryJ wrote:........The new man-cave will improve the life of your tires. Less weather and UV :)
That was the plan but, suddenly "the boss" likes the new "Man-cave"! :lol: Am having to park the CC outside, with the hood open to discourage those freakin' birds. :roflmao: With our current monsoon season, I need to get the heep inside with it's "summer attire".

I'll air the tires back down tomorrow and snap a pic or two to show you. I was kinda thinking that I was being overly cautious but, needed a little reassurance.
:thumb:
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Re: BF Goodrich AT KOs Dry Rotting

Post by HenryJ »

This may sound a bit "risque" , show me you crack and I'll show you mine :)

This is a couple shots of some that , while they are on my mind, I'm still running them
Image Image
They have less than 1/3 the sidewall of the BFG.

"Speed doesn't kill, suddenly becoming stationary does." - Richard Hammond
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Re: BF Goodrich AT KOs Dry Rotting

Post by F9K9 »

Dealt with the HVAC people this evening and forgot to take the photos. At a glance, yours can't hold a candle to my cracks but, I'll get them up and see what you think, Brule. Any ideas on how to show depth using visual aids?
[size=75][b]"For those who have fought for it, [i][color=red]FR[/color][color=white]EE[/color][color=blue]DOM[/color][/i] has a taste that the protected will never know."
[url=http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73349]GUIDE TO SEARCHING. [i] (Some of the forum software is different but, it has helped me a lot.)[/i][/url][/b]
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