I've ordered from this particular used racing tire place a number of times now. I want to try out a different size on the BMW and figured I'd buy from them before buying a fresh set. They had a set that were reportedly a little old but only had a couple heat cycles. They showed up today and all of them have some form of this going on.
They swear this is normal and fine to run.
That doesn't seem right to me. I've never had a set of Hoosiers crack like that and I ran my last set for 6 seasons.
Thoughts?
I'd probably defer to the tire guys on that one, though it would be hard to get info that doesn't feel like there is some sort of conflict of interest.
I have no direct experience tracking a tire like that, but I see it all the time on street cars. (Just walk through the parking lot next time you hit the grocery store, you'll see a ton of tires like that).
Can you find a 4 number date stamp on the sidewall. Usually in an oval circle. Not sure its on all race tires. But, if it is the first two numbers are week number, and the last two numbers are year.
I'm not familiar with that tread pattern. Looks like a dirt track tire. But it has obvious build up from coming in hot and picking up rubber bits off the track.
the real soft rubber compounds age faster and tend to crack as they dry out. Could have been stored in a hot place.
A lot depends on whether you are paying a lot of cash to mount and balance. If not you could mount them up, set at race pressure and wait overnight to see if they leak.
I have run old rain tires cracking like that in a pinch, but my car only weighs 900 lbs.
My guess is it won't be a problem, but you may find them "hard". Sometimes a session will work the oils back in the rubber and they come back to life somewhat... but not like "stickers".
You just have to run them hard enough the cracks fill with melted rubber and form a new supercompound.
I'd hit them with a buffer to clear the marbles off and do a heavy application of Track Claw to put some moisture (wrong word) back into the tires and run 'em.
I appreciate the responses, all.
They are 2018 Hoosier Speedsters, it's a vintage tire. I wasn't concerned about the date, really, because my last set were, I think, 2016 but stored correctly and had no signs of dry rot.
I'm not in a pinch and I just can't get myself comfortable with running them. The tire place said no problem and are sending me return shipping labels.
