Tires degrading over time?

[LSXNV]

I bought a set of used BFG Comp T/A Drag Radials off a fellow board member. Got them at a hell of a deal. but I didn't realize they were 3 yrs old. There a little harder than my other BFG G-Force Dr's, and show a little dry rot on the treads. I'm a little concerned about them not being as sticky as my other Dr's. Do these tires lose there softness and bite overtime?

[cailey37]

Well.....depending on how much they were used it sounds like they have a few heat cycles on them........that's when the tire will heat up and cool down causing the rubber to get harder.......depending on how much tread is left on them you could put some softner on them but I dont know how far you want to go with it....

[LSXNV]

Well there damn near new. Maybe 2 passes if that. The tread looks really good, depth wise, minus a bit of dry rot. Maybe they changed the compound between the "G-Force Drag Radial" and the "Comp T/A Drag Radial"

Hows the softner work?

[cailey37]

You put the softner on the tire to restore it's "grip." Like I said....after you put a few heatcycles on them the rubber will start to get hard.......Now...back in the day people used to rub brake fluid on tires to get them softer.......I used to use tire softener when I was road racing to get a little grip out of my tires.....check out this site.....
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/tirepwr.htm

I used a different brand but it's all basically the same....