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Post by tech4 on Jul 30, 2010 18:40:37 GMT -5
I guess this post should be on the tool forum.
While the county in working on my road there is a lot of small gravel. The small gravel gets caught in the tread of my tires. Anybody had any trouble with small gravel in the tread of tires? Is it worthwhile to dig out the small gravel?
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Post by markkw on Jul 30, 2010 19:52:47 GMT -5
Yes and no. If it's not flintrock or quarts chances are it's not going to be sharp enough to cut the rubber but there's always the chance. Most of it will sling out on its own once you run a few miles down the highway, of course if you have a paint job you value, that may not be particularly appealing .... thus is why I drive old vehicles and if they get re-painted, it's with epoxy and/or polyurethane industrial paint, may not have that hand-rubbed lacquer look but I don't have to worry about washing love bugs off it or the little pieces of gravel slinging out the tires.
Oh, what you want to watch out for are those pyramid shaped pieces of stone that stand point-up on the pavement, if they don't punch a hole in the tire, they'll bust the cords and you'll get a bubble on the tread ... the bubble does go away when the tire blows out.
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art
Woodchuck
Posts: 18 
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Post by art on Jul 31, 2010 1:24:15 GMT -5
Back when customers were allowed in the shop, or when you were at a gas station getting your oil changed, almost all of them would dig the gravel out of the treads of their tires, while their vehicle was up on the lift.
I think it will all depend on the tread compound of the tire, a soft, high performance, tire that is going to wear out rapidly, but is 'sticky' is going to suffer more from gravel than a tire with a hard rubber for long life. I would also think that an agressive mud tire is going to catch more rocks than a highway tire.
I was looking at the tires on my pickup the other day, which have 50K on them, 99 percent highway miles, and there are a few little chunks missing, but I have never worried, or heard anyone complain about gravel roads tearing up tires. Maybe if you drove on them all the time, you might have noticed a difference, but then again, you wouldn't have anything to compare it too. Too many other variables, I would think.
I'd be more worried about another car throwing up a rock and chipping your windshield. Years ago, I had a 1967 Ford Galaxy, and a car threw a rock and it punctured the radiator.
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Post by tech4 on Jul 31, 2010 8:43:12 GMT -5
I was out in Jackson Hole, WY working. I noticed that just about every car out there had cracked windshields. I asked the local manager for the company that I was working for and he said that they did not use salt on the roads in the winter but gravel. I guess the environmentalists won on the salt and compromised the safety of the drivers.
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Post by markkw on Jul 31, 2010 20:02:48 GMT -5
Weather plays a roll in what's used on the roads. In WY, if the ambient temp is below the point at which salt can effectively function, it is more prudent to use gravel wash or sand. What happens is if the salt works during the daytime hours, at night it will allow the road surface to build heavier ice than if an inert traction substance is used.
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