ALL tire dressings cause dry rot/premature tire failure ???!!!

[Don M]

I have been shopping for tires for the Camaro and have gone a few different places to have them evaluate my current tires to see if they are is as bad of shape as I think. Yesterday, I went to a huge, non-chain tire store and after being asked just how much dressing I used on the tires (I applied a thin layer of Meguiar's Endurance Gel last Sunday and it still looks freshly applied), they told me that ALL tire dressings cause damage, typically dry-rot, prematurely.


Now I know that some of the older dressings from the 70's and 80's have a bad rep, but I thought most modern dressings no longer had that issue, with some working to protect the rubber. I for one can say that I've never had that issue (that I can remember), but then I always wore the tire out before they would get to the point where dry rot started, but now I'm starting to wonder.


So what's the general opinion on modern tire/rubber dressings?




BTW, my current tires ARE severely dry rotted!

[Eldorado2k]

You should've asked him what specifically is in "ALL" tire dressings that cause premature dry rotting.

I can't help but think about how maybe 9/10 people who work there spit out the same general "knowledge" to every single customer they deal with... Whether it's a soccer mom or a young man who just bought a new expensive 4x4 truck.

They probably have something like "Black Magic" or whatever's equivalent to the evil Armor All of before in mind when giving that advice.

Jiffy Lube is especially notorious for giving everyone the most basic and "safe" advice.. But who knows...

BTW, what the heck does "dry rott" even look like? Pics?

[MattPersman]

Eh I doubt it. Could be some random brand with an ingredient that drys them out quicker but i would lean on heavy wheel and tire cleaners and apcs with scrubbing all the time like weekly being harder on them than actually just topping off dressing after a wash

That said I have seen maintained tires have the cracking and and ones that weren’t

No one really seems to have a 100% answer if you do research on it Michelin’s seem to be the most talked about and some times they will replace the set and then the next set starts in just a couple 1000 miles. Could be outside rubber that some companies are using to get tread wear mileage out of the tires


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[DogRescuer]

I would think that keeping a good quality dressing on a tire would help with dry rot, isn't it protecting the tire from the SUN key?

[TTQ B4U]

I have been shopping for tires for the Camaro and have gone a few different places to have them evaluate my current tires to see if they are is as bad of shape as I think. Yesterday, I went to a huge, non-chain tire store and after being asked just how much dressing I used on the tires (I applied a thin layer of Meguiar's Endurance Gel last Sunday and it still looks freshly applied), they told me that ALL tire dressings cause damage, typically dry-rot, prematurely.

Now I know that some of the older dressings from the 70's and 80's have a bad rep, but I thought most modern dressings no longer had that issue, with some working to protect the rubber. I for one can say that I've never had that issue (that I can remember), but then I always wore the tire out before they would get to the point where dry rot started, but now I'm starting to wonder.

So what's the general opinion on modern tire/rubber dressings?

BTW, my current tires ARE severely dry rotted!

I've heard this as well and would say there could be some truth to it but IMO it's likely only on cars that sit and aren't used or wash regularly. I've always had a "toy" that sat and was driven for less than 5k per year and I would avoid storing it with dressing on the tires. Never had an issue. That said, the opposite is true of our daily drivers and even my DD'ers with low miles of 8-12k per year, they almost always have tire dressing applied ever 1-2 weeks and no, they have not had any issues either.

I would be willing to bet the date code on your tires will show they weren't "new" or "fresh" tires. Most tires will dry rot over time as part of their normal breakdown. IIRC 5 years is the estimate. I know the original set on our van showed signs of cracking around the sidewall that has tread when it was time to replace them. Wife gets long life out of her tires and brakes due to her driving like a grandma. IIRC they lasted nearly 65k-70k miles and were old. I don't attribute the cracking to tire dressing though.

[DogRescuer]

Haha I drive like a grandpa.

[Eldorado2k]

Haha I drive like a grandpa.

Same here... Except when there's little to no traffic on the freeway, which is usually only late at night. Then I'm free to let my V8 engine swoope like it does best, anywhere between 80-90mph.

[Desertnate]

I've used a few tire dressings over many years and I've never seen one cause dry rot on my tires. I've seen them accelerate the browning or even turn the tire a strange red color, but never caused them to "dry rot".

I've only seen what I'd describe as dry rot on one set of tires...ever. They were a set of four Yokohama's which were pushing over four years old. The sidewalls looked good, but the the outside edge of the outer tread blocks started getting spiderweb cracks and there were faint cracks starting to show up in the grooves between the tread block rows. The car was lightly driven at the time and sat out 24/7.

[Don M]

BTW, what the heck does "dry rott" even look like? Pics?

I will try to post a pic tonight after work

[DogRescuer]

My wife complains that I drive to slow, but when I need to get in a hurry I can, but no v8 here.

Same here... Except when there's little to no traffic on the freeway, which is usually only late at night. Then I'm free to let my V8 engine swoope like it does best, anywhere between 80-90mph.