I'd have thought somewhat opposite. since rubber is a petroleum product,
the oil would cause the rubber to degrade and weaken. much is the same
problem when oil leaks onto rubber suspension bushings. dunno about the
coolant but I'd guess the ethylene glycol doesn't react with rubber since
hoses are all rubber too.
strangely enough, back when I was working on Space Shuttle tires we had
an incident where some hydraulic fluid dripped on a main landing gear
tire but a test and analysis concluded that although the hydraulic fluid
was caustic to skin, it would evaporte out and have no effect on the
tire.
Dave Yeung
Houston Region
On Tue, 2 Nov 1999 06:18:47 -0800 (PST) Craig Blome <cblome@yahoo.com>
writes:
>I haven't seen an answer to Adrian's question, so:
>Yes, exposure to petroleum products can cause tire
>rubber to harden. (the other three big killers are
>ozone, UV, and oxygen) Engine oil might not be as bad
>as gasoline but I wouldn't count on using them for
>more than practice tires (if that).
>
>Craig Blome
>
>--- "Thompson, Adrian (A.L.)" <athomps9@visteon.com>
>wrote:
>>
>> I've just got some nearly new Hoosiers from a friend
>> who rolled his IT car a
>> couple of months ago. The tires were on the car at
>> the time, and while the
>> car was totaled the tires escaped remarkably
>> unscathed. The problem is, the
>> front tires got covered in engine/trans oil and
>> coolant and have sat since
>> then without being cleaned. Will this damage the
>> tires or not?
>>
>
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