Had this tire come apart on the left rear while on my way home from Z-con in Nashville. No loss of air; no signs of problems on the other three. Happened on I-24S. No indication that I ran over anything; just came apart. Anyone ever have this happen, or know maybe why and how it happens? I didn't trust the remaining 3, so I sprung for a new set.

Looks like a simple case of tread separation. How old are the tires?

Stephen is right. I had that happen with an old set on a Z that I bought from the original owner. Might have been the 3rd set of tires on the car. They separated all the way across the tread on one and about an 8" chunk came off, the other one had a huge bulge where the tread was starting to come off the sidewall, but it didn't let go. Weird part was you could barely feel that anything was wrong from inside the car.

tire stamp, I think it is wk/yr, week of manufacture/then year of manufacture. fyi.

The actual age of the tire is probably more important than wear. I've always heard that if they are 5 years old or older they should be replaced regardless of how good the tread looks.

The actual age of the tire is probably more important than wear. I've always heard that if they are 5 years old or older they should be replaced regardless of how good the tread looks.

I've heard the same thing too, Stephen, only I heard 10 years. I can't

understand why that might happen. If they are being used somewhat reg-

ularly, I could see where the beating they take in normal use would have its

effect. But it seems like if they are inactive, especially if raised off the

ground with the car on jackstands, they shouldn't take harm. If they are

on a car which is inside, no water or light (UV?) contact.

So, do you have any insights you could share with us?

Thanks and All Z Best,..................Kathy & Rick

Here's an article about tire age.

http://searchwarp.com/swa59705.htm

Had a tire on my Ram blowout sitting in my yard(65 psi at over 130 degrees).Only a couple years old.Then last week one on the 810 started seperating.Got it replaced before any issues.I've only had tire issues here in Az. with big time heat as a factor.

A tire distributor that I spoke with a couple weeks ago said that over time, as tires are stored [on the car] under pressure, air can make its way from the inner "bladder" through some of the plies and facilitates delamination. While age of any type is not good for tires, storing them at a lower pressure when mounted on the wheel will help to slow this process down.

I've been told that the moisture in the normal compressed that we generally fill our tires with can also contribute to that delamination and that filling your tires with nitrogen can slow down that process. Even using a moitsture filter on your compressor (as I do) will help but, over all, time is the enemy.

...but, over all, time is the enemy.

Oh, the temptation to misquote a really old Rolling Stone's song is unbelievably strong... must resist...

You know that's actually an older song than you think. Jazz musician Kai Winding first recorded it in 1963 and then Irma Thomas recorded it in February 1964 so the Stone's version is actually a cover since it came out in September 1964.