Are Tire Covers Needed When Motorhome is Parked in Shade?

[geraldlanc]

Our new-to-us Beaver motorhome will be parked in a shaded site when not on the road. Does it help protect the tires from exposure to the environment and extend their life by covering them? Gerald

[wolfe10]

Gerald,

Here is an excellent discussion on tire covers: http://community.fmca.com/topic/4815-best-brand-tire-covers/?hl=%2Btire+%2Bcover#entry29835

[five]

I have GY RV tires and they say the tires are treated for protection against damage the sun can cause and covers are not necessary. All that is fine, but I use the covers anyway. Sitting out in the sun can't be good for them and the covers certainly can't hurt.

[sandyhepburn]

We used to own trailers and fifth wheels and for a long time I religiously covered their tires whenever we weren't actually moving. At one point I was doing some maintenance and had to remove the tires from a fifth wheel - although the outside sidewall looked brand new, the inner sidewall had serious cracking. It's not just the sunlight that affects our tires - ozone plays a role as well, and unless you cover the ENTIRE tire you're not really helping much.

[tbutler]

It's not just the sunlight that affects our tires - ozone plays a role as well, and unless you cover the ENTIRE tire you're not really helping much.

Thus the seven year limit for the useful life of a tire. No matter how well the tire is protected it will age due to a number of factors. The time starts when the tire is manufactured and date stamped at the factory and reaches its limit at 7 years old. No matter how much tread is left on the tire, it is no longer dependable after 7 years. For tires that require pressures near 100 psi this is most certainly true.

Knowing this I still use tire covers, not because I expect to get more than 7 years from my tires, but because I believe that anything that retards the aging process makes the tire safer during those seven years.

[tireman9]

Allegiance40x, on 06 Sept 2013 - 7:49 PM, said:

I have GY RV tires and they say the tires are treated for protection against damage the sun can cause and covers are not necessary. All that is fine, but I use the covers anyway. Sitting out in the sun can't be good for them and the covers certainly can't hurt.

I believe in this case Goodyear is talking about Ozone & UV damage. Don't know how they would add chemicals to a tire sidewall that would "protect" it from heat damage.

Remember that UV and Ozone can attack the surface of a tire, but heat can attack the internal structure of your tires.