Oldblue......

I'll just add to trex's comments!

I've been using 303 Protectant for maybe 10-15 years. First found it in use by the marine industry in California. Used it on various rubber and vinyl items of my boat. Started using it on my vehicles shortly thereafter. Works great on rubber trim, tires and the black vinyl bumper covers and side steps. All the items stayed black....instead of the usual grey that usually appears after exposure (I gave up on Mothers Back to Black, just didn't last).

I also use it around the house on like products......vinyl BBQ cover for example. The sun here in Arizona wrecks havoc on these products. I am obsessive. Use it on the Headlight covers after cleaning them well. Never turns yellows or hazes. Note it also works well on solar panels on the driveway lights.

They also make separate products for Sunbrella and like materials i.e., outdoor furniture covers. It also treats them with a water repellent product as well.

Generally buy about 2 or 3 bottles of each around Xmas time when Auto Geek has a 20% discount and free shipping.

Oh, and speaking of obsessive.....I do the tires on both sides

Just general info, because I can't say enough good things about it (should add.....I do not have stock in the company or work for them).

 

And my wife thought I was the Only one who did that, see Sweetie I'm not the sole obsessive one here.

 

I drive a news paper route and i get every bit out of a set of tires before replacing.

Usually there are no wear bars left to guage the depth of the tread.

I am lucky if a set lasts me 25k dont think they ever make it that far
atleast not without a bunch of rotations ~

 

Proper air, alignment, balance, suspension. All the usual will get the most out of them. Air out in summer, air in for winter, unless you have nitro or live in a steady climate. There is no substitite for proper and timely maintenance.

 

Agreed! My neighbors think I'm nuts checking tire pressure and rotating tires , torquing my lug nuts, they just sit in the waiting lounge at their choice of garage not even knowing what pressure to run or if the torque bar is the right one for their wheels.
And as for cleaning the tires! A little dish wash liquid should be fine right!!??? Not on my cars!!

 

Well actually Oldblue, about once a year I give my tires a very good scrubbing down(front and back sides) with Dawn Dishwashing liquid. It removes protectant buildup and returns to tires to bare rubber so I can very thoroughly check the sidewalls for deterioration or damage before re-applying more tire protectant.

I think of it as "base lineing" the tires, and I'm really thought of as "eccentric" because I check the torque on my lug nuts every 250 miles. And being that I'm running alloy rims, the lugs do back off on occasion, differential expansion and contraction between dissimilar metals ya know.

 

I agree to use the Dawn to clean the tires , it does a great cleaning job but then you put on this solution to protect from UV rays, my neighbor on the other hand just rinses off the suds and let's the sun bake his tires!
I never ever clean my tires with a power washer either! Just the old garden hosefthe rinse off the soap .
250 miles and retorque the lugs on alloy wheels is smart not OCD!

 

My original Firestones are at about 65000 - the car is at 80000 but I guess there's 10-15000 of that on my summer tires. They're still about 1mm above the wear bars, but they're definitely starting to dry rot, and they won't be much good in snow this winter, so I'll be replacing them in the next couple of weeks.
I got 12 years out of the tires on my Camaro, but eventually they became porous to the point that they wouldn't stay at pressure for more than a couple of days. I know you're supposed to change such tires long before then, but I figured that there's a good safety margin in Z rated tires for normal use...