Is this temporary?

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I just bought these Cooper tires for my Explorer last spring and I have noticed that the outside of the tire is darker then the inside half of the tire. The outside is black like a normal tire and the inside half is like a light gray color! Is this tire browning or just junk tires? I hate the way it looks and no matter how I clean or dress it, it stays the same. Has anyone experienced this and does it go away? I normally use either Eagle tire & wheel cleaner or an APC to clean and Armor-All Original water based dressing to dress the tires. Below is a pic of one of the tires and this is with it dressed and you can still clearly see the color difference. thanks for the help
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Considering how perfect that line is, I'm going to say it's permanent. It doesn't look stained or anything, else the line would be uneven.

I've never seen that before, though.
 
Never seen that coloration before either.

That is a depression, common on GoodYears, Coopers, and Kelly's. Even though depressions do not affect anything in a negative way, they do drive me nuts.
 
It's a little unclear, but the color in the area of the white is brownish - and the part closer to the tread is blacker - Right?

If so, that is likely the antioxidants (AO's) and waxes in the rubber compound coming from within the rubber maxtrix. The line appears to be occurring where the white rubber ends - and this makes sense since the AO's and waxes used in the white rubber have to be compatible with white rubber, so they are going to be different than the AO's and waxes in the black rubber.

This will eventually disappear - or put more correctly, the difference will gradually become less noticeable.

BTW, some tire dressings encourage the AO's and waxes to migrate to the surface. The problem is that once all those waxes and AO's are used up, then the rubber starts to crack. It would be best not to use any tire dressing, but if you use one, find one with AO's in it.

BTW, the technical term for the indentation is....ah....indentation. It is caused by the overlap of the ply cords where the plies are "spliced". In a 1 ply tire, there will be at least 1 splice - and on a 2 ply tire, there will be at least 2. Sometimes they are easy to find - sometimes not, but they are always there. They do not have an appreciable affect on anything - other than the appearance.
 
"BTW, the technical term for the indentation is....ah....indentation."


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Does seem more obvious in lower grades of product reguardless of brand. I've been told (by people who should know,,but don't allways) that ply material is expensive enough that small sections are used creating more indentions than really necessary?

Bob
 
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....I've been told (by people who should know,,but don't allways) that ply material is expensive enough that small sections are used creating more indentions than really necessary?.....Bob




Not exactly.

Ply material is generally calendared (rubber squeezed into the individual cords) in about 6 foot widths, which results in about 6 foot sections of ply material. So unless the tire is built so that it accepts EXACTLY that width (on the tire this would be circumference), you will get additional splices. This is unavoidable.
 
seems like i see that indentation as you call it on cheaper brands with lower utqg ratings. cooper, futura, rocky mountain, etc.

what brand of tyre is the picture taken of?
 
Quote:


That is a depression, common on GoodYears, Coopers, and Kelly's.



I have them on Cooper (made) and Goodyear tires that I own and was going to ask about them. I'm glad that I read this thread!!
 
Quote:


That is a depression, common on GoodYears, Coopers, and Kelly's.



Just looking at it is making me depressed.
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I realize now that it is not a defect, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if I saw something like this on one of my tires.
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thanks for the replies, i emailed the company about it too a few days ago and have yet to get a response back.
 
To quote Capri;
"Sometimes they are easy to find - sometimes not, but they are always there. They do not have an appreciable affect on anything - other than the appearance."




"I realize now that it is not a defect, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if I saw something like this on one of my tires. "

Uuuuh, Pete, maybe you don't need to look too close!

Bob
 
I had Kellys on m4 4Runner, and the depression (seems to get deeper with time, or maybe it's just annoying) drove me crazy...it was the first thing that I focussed on when walking towards my car, and I was sure everyone thought I'd bought rubbish tyres.

The depression doesn't worry me anymore, as I cut the sidewall out with a Jigsaw, and am growing carrots, garlic etc in them.
 
In my limited experience, I've noticed this more with higher profile tires. My 45-50 series don't display this indentation. My 75 series do.
 
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