I have heard some people say that if you have a set of track tires that have hardened up, you can spray them down with WD-40 and it will soften them back up. Any mythbusters put this to the test? Does it really work?

 

DON'T. Unless you want to throw that set away immediately after. There is a particular compound, I forget what it is, where you need to paint it on the tyres, glad-wrap them, then sit the set in a cool place for about a week. See if you can find out what it is, its a huge cash(and time) saver.

 

wd-40 pretty much does the same thing tire dressing does when applied, they eat and degrade the rubber, accelerates dry-rottng, and develops large areas of cracking



rainwater strips the tire dressing or wd-40 off and leaves the tire dried out.



if you want to take care of your tires or prolong the rubber compound from dry-rotting, clean them with mild soap and water, and keep away from extreme heat.



dry-rotted tires caused by tire dressing or any silly slicky oily chemical will also void any tire warranty.

 

I've heard of soaking burnout tyres in diesel to make more smoke, but I haven't tested it myself. I very much doubt that it would help the tyres out.

 

About 25 years ago my father in law used to use oil of wintergreen on the tyres of his sons competition go-kart, i guess it's still around some call it tyre prep?



http://www.hdmworld.com/tirepreps.htm