Chinese rubber stinks strongly...why??

[Lump]

Okay gang, go ahead and fire your jokes in here ...but if anyone really knows the answer, I would love to know it.

I worked for years in a Goodyear store, and a close friend owns a massive tire company catering to vintage vehicles. So I am around tires and rubber products quite often. But the rubber products from China have a strong, unique odor...seriously!

Whenever I'm in a hardware or farm supply store, I can literally tell you if the trailer tires, tubes, etc, on their shelves are from China or not before I get closer than about 10 feet! Whew.

Rubber products from just about anywhere else simply do not smell that strongly.

For the record I prefer to buy American (including Canadian) when I can, and I also appreciate the quality of most European products. But we are all stuck buying PRC stuff now and then. Rubber is one example where this is likely to happen (buy a new lawnmower, for example). The rubber isn't the greatest quality...but that smell is overpowering.

What IS it?

 

[bmwpower]

It's the same reason natural gas stinks...if you smell it, run for the hills!
God trying to tell you...don't buy that ****.

But seriously, I'd like to know as well.

 

[Mickey O]

Most everything out of China stinks.

 

[wellstig1]

Harbor freight has that scent too

 

[wrenchr]

Are you smelling before or after use......................hahahahahahahaha gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Michal]

Hands/Fingers of underpaid overworked employees?

 

[arkangel06]

Ummm because its not brand new high quality rubber its a bunch of scrap shoes condomes **** plugs and whatever else they can find melted in to one big ball of toxic ****.

 

[welderwink]

ummm because its not brand new high quality rubber its a bunch of scrap shoes condomes **** plugs and what ever else they can find melted in to one big ball of toxic ****.

hahahahaha

+100

 

[Lump]

Ummm because its not brand new high quality rubber its a bunch of scrap shoes condomes **** plugs and what ever else they can find melted in to one big ball of toxic ****.

NO doubt! Ha.

But seriously, I wonder what the hell that particular toxic solvent must be? Whew, it's horrible. And I notice that those tires and/or inner tubes do not hold air so well...always seeming to leak.

I do understand that these chino tires are junk. But I'm frankly curious about specifically what they use for solvent or whatever, which makes that offensive odor.

 

[mtkst19]

i would think that the smell is from the use of natural rubber. see what the tires are made from. i would think that china/asia being a major producer of natural rubber, they would be using it for their tires. they have cheap labor to harvest and mold it--stuff that makes it cost prohibitive elsewhere.

 

[tcianci]

Some of us enjoy our little outings to HF. I have serioulsy been thinking about asking HF to import air fresheners, you know, like the little cellophane Christmas trees? Except these fresheners would smell just like your local HF store!!! That way you wife would stay out of the garage and your buddies will think you have been shopping!

 

[Thumper]

ROFLMAO......**** plugs ??............LMAO

Now I gotta clean the 7-up off the damn screen.....thanks......LOL.

 

[wrenchr]

ROFLMAO......**** plugs ??............LMAO

Now I gotta clean the 7-up off the damn screen.....thanks......LOL.

Yup, I guess that is why they smell like arm pits and ***

 

[bchee]

**** plugs aren't made out of rubber. They are made of a different kind of resin. Why do you think they are so comfortable?

 

[Lump]

**** plugs aren't made out of rubber. They are made of a different kind of resin. Why do you think they are so comfortable?

As my wife would say, "Eeewwww!"

LMAO.

 

[bchee]

I'm not talking about me, I mean why do you think so many people buy them?

 

[Scout Driver]

This spring I bought a couple of tire/wheel combinations from Harbor Freight to use on an air compressor. Should have hauled them in the pickup box. The cab smelled like Harbor Freight for over a week!

Scott

 

[X1 Mike]

What you are smelling is the hopes and dreams of the American blue collar worker.

 

[Lump]

What you are smelling is the hopes and dreams of the American blue collar worker.

No doubt, X1 Mike. But I honestly do wonder what EXACTLY that smell is. It's gotta be some kind of freaky solvent. I wonder if the US EPA knows what it is? Wouldn't it be cool if it was, like, carcinogenic, and the EPA would ban it completely? The Chinese would recover and switch to something else...but in the meantime, it would be a shot-in-the-arm for the USA tire companies!

Come to think of it...A close friend of mine has owned and operated Coker Tire forever. They are the world's largest supplier of tires for every kind of vintage vehicle, and this guy REALLY knows tires.

I'll email him tomorrow, and ask him for insight. Then I'll report back to the brain trust of Garage Journal. And then we'll ALL be a little more educated! :

 

[Racecarl]

I just got some Chinese tires for my semi and they are still stinky after 3000 miles.

 

[i4ni]

AH HA!! NOW , I know Why you guys Go to Harbor Freight all the time!! I had no idea they sold rubbers there! I think I'm getting this whole thing figured out !! Chinese rubbers run pretty small, Right ? What are they called, "Minimums" ? "Teenie Weenies" ? "Stinkies"? Personally, If I were short in the shorts I'd be embarrassed as hell to have to ask for those Stinky little imported things! It's bad enough when I have to ask for "Magnums" .

 

[X1 Mike]

Come to think of it...A close friend of mine has owned and operated Coker Tire forever. They are the world's largest supplier of tires for every kind of vintage vehicle, and this guy REALLY knows tires.

I'll email him tomorrow, and ask him for insight. Then I'll report back to the brain trust of Garage Journal. And then we'll ALL be a little more educated! :

Are you name dropping? Jay Leno told me he hates when people name drop....

I'm sure whatever it is can't be healthy for us.

 

[Teken]

I am curious as to what brand tire you guys are referring too. As there aren't many tires these days that are composed of all natural rubber . . . Most tires that are able to meet the stated wear mileage are made of synthetic compounds . . .

Insight . . .

 

[WVBrady]

If you think that stuff stinks, you should have smelled the plastic seat covers from a 1970 Toyota. Consumer Reports said that the seats had a particularly bilious odor and that was an understatement. I took a test drive in one and had trouble getting to sleep that night because I couldn't get that odor out of my mind (or nostrils).

 

[Lump]

Are you name dropping? Jay Leno told me he hates when people name drop....

I'm sure whatever it is can't be healthy for us.

Ha...well, ALMOST! But I didn't mention his name, if you think about it. This "un-named person" and I have been good friends for a long time, involved in SEMA together. But this "un-named person" is just a good old boy, in the final analysis. He and I mostly enjoy a beer together now and then, while he spends his time accusing me of being a "G-d*m Yankee", and I tease him about being so "southern" that he should be voting for Castro!

All jokes aside, he is the ONLY guy I know who knows that much about tires.

 

[Lump]

I am curious as to what brand tire you guys are referring too. As there aren't many tires these days that are composed of all natural rubber . . . Most tires that are able to meet the stated wear mileage are made of synthetic compounds . . .

Insight . . .

Hmmm...
I would have assumed that there were NO tires made of natural rubber any more.

Modern synthetic rubber compounds are WAY better than tires were 50 years ago. If you see old Black n White films of 1920's-vintage cars being driven, you'll notice LOTS of spare tires hanging all over every one of them. Drivers used to experience a flat tire every 30 to 50 miles, no exaggeration. So, while modern synthetic rubber is not worth a damn for a sling shot, it helps to make mighty fine rubber tires!

 

[mtkst19]

im interested to find out w/ your friend has to say. i was under the impression that even w/ the synthetics, there was still some natural rubber in tires. like 10% for a bonding agent if you will to get all the petroleum based stuff to stick together.

isn't cooper the only usa owned tire company anymore?

edit, answered my own question. hooiser, goodyear and cooper are us owned.

 

[oldtools]

Natural rubber has a very foul odor. Dosen't matter where it come from. The rubber compound from China may have more natural rubber content than other country, hence it smell more. Click on "odor" in attached link.

http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/kautschuk/naturkautschuk/naturkautschuk.htm#geruch

 

[IndyGarage]

I think it's formaldehyde. Remember the FEMA trailers that were built to house the Katrina folks? Four years ago, I bought a Haulmark 6x12 box enclosed trailer. The other day when it was hot I went to use it, and walked in the trailer and immediately my eyes started burning and I had to get out of there open the side door and let it air out for a couple hours. I love the trailer, but whatever that smell is it is awful.

I bought a China made water hose reel from Menards a couple years ago, and that smell was so strong I had to leave it outside.

 

[lipadj46]

Chinese rubber stinks strongly...why??

Because it's made from people.

 

[scheu]

Because it's made from people.

Chinese rubber is people!!! Hahaha!!

 

[lipadj46]

Chinese rubber is people!!! Hahaha!!

+1

 

[Herb]

Maybe it's not the actual tire, but the mold release agent that is used. I haven't seen any tires at HF, but the rubber and plastic/ urethane products they do have all have a similar odor.

 

[Monte]

polycyclical aromatic hydrocarbons "PAH" ??

 

[Indy_500]

Harbor Freight don't smell as bad as it used to. They're definatly getting better. As for the smell of chinese products, i thought it was because they have to coat stuff with something before it gets shipped over in case of bad weather on a ship or something.

 

[Easton]

The link below might be of interest to you...

http://dynamics.org/Altenberg/CURRENT_AFFAIRS/CHINA_PLASTIC/

 

[Easton]

And here's another link on the subject...
http://eternian.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/toxic-plastic/

 

[DMAR]

The link below might be of interest to you...

http://dynamics.org/Altenberg/CURRENT_AFFAIRS/CHINA_PLASTIC/

This is what I thought of when I first saw the question. One of the main reasons U.S. companies like to send manufacturing to places like China (and Vietnam, and India, and Pakistan, and the Phillipines, and Malaysia, and etc, and etc....) is because they are not constrained by the EPA's regulations (and they can pay their people prison wages ). These countries can produce their products utilizing toxic, cancer causing chemical compounds and/or processes.

As consumers, we just want cheap, I suppose we don't care who is getting sick and dying from it. Have you heard about, or seen, the incredible toxic clouds (smog) hanging over the major cities of China. Did you ever see the place (I forget the country) where some of our old computers are taken to be dumped? literally a hell on earth; a cesspool of toxic despair... It really is amazing how bad this stuff is, and how greed keeps it rolling.

There are plenty of people in this country that would be happy to see this type of thing come back the the USA, and they use the talking points of "more jobs for Americans" to cover their real driver; greedy self interest. Don't get me wrong, the EPA is ridiculous at times, but trust me, someone has to safeguard our true self interests...

Don't believe everything a politician says, "we need to get rid of all these regulations that are costing Americans jobs/sending our jobs overseas." Exactly how far do we need to devolve as a country to have the Third World labor market that is needed for a "globally competitive" market. Should we have 11 year olds working 60+hours a week like China does, and like we used to when we were that 'third world' country? Should we have to work 7 days a week, in unsafe conditions like they do, and like we used to do in this country? Of course these examples are a bit extreme, it would start with things much less noticeable, at first...

Funny how you never hear the politicians say that the business/greed structure is out of whack relative to people. Again, I'm for healthy corporate profits, but it seems to have gone to the extreme. I am also all for a free market economy, but you are naive if you don't think that regulations are needed... I always hear how we need to do this for business, and do that for business, so that people can have jobs, etc. IMO, this is the wrong focus of a government that is supposed to represent people (government is supposed to us, not corporations...).

We all know the only thing that drives a 'publicly traded' corporation; maximizing profit. This is the one overriding, fiduciary responsibility of these corporations, it is in their charter. People are just a means to an end. How about focusing on us people instead? I am not a socialist, I am not even a liberal, and I love making money. I just see a lot of bad things happening to people, and the never ending push to keep things stacked against the vast, vast majority of people. I actually have done pretty well in this system, I just have a conscious, and it's Labor Day weekend, so I thought I'd rant... I don't have an agenda, some things just bother me.

Back to OP's post. Of course all these China products are still 'offing' their noxious emissions, no matter where they are made, they're going to continue to emit their toxins. Guess what, when it smells terrible, makes your eyes water, etc., its not good for you to breath it. Won't kill you that day, but does impact your health over time. Cancer causing means it can cause cancer.

Happy Labor Day weekend, I'm going swimming, and then I'm going to work on some stuff in my shop...

 

[Harry Gerrard]

This is what I thought of when I first saw the question. One of the main reasons U.S. companies like to send manufacturing to places like China (and Vietnam, and India, and Pakistan, and the Phillipines, and Malaysia, and etc, and etc....) is because they are not constrained by the EPA's regulations (and they can pay their people prison wages ). These countries can produce their products utilizing toxic, cancer causing chemical compounds and/or processes.

As consumers, we just want cheap, I suppose we don't care who is getting sick and dying from it. Have you heard about, or seen, the incredible toxic clouds (smog) hanging over the major cities of China. Did you ever see the place (I forget the country) where some of our old computers are taken to be dumped? literally a hell on earth; a cesspool of toxic despair... It really is amazing how bad this stuff is, and how greed keeps it rolling.

There are plenty of people in this country that would be happy to see this type of thing come back the the USA, and they use the talking points of "more jobs for Americans" to cover their real driver; greedy self interest. Don't get me wrong, the EPA is ridiculous at times, but trust me, someone has to safeguard our true self interests...

Don't believe everything a politician says, "we need to get rid of all these regulations that are costing Americans jobs/sending our jobs overseas." Exactly how far do we need to devolve as a country to have the Third World labor market that is needed for a "globally competitive" market. Should we have 11 year olds working 60+hours a week like China does, and like we used to when we were that 'third world' country? Should we have to work 7 days a week, in unsafe conditions like they do, and like we used to do in this country? Of course these examples are a bit extreme, it would start with things much less noticeable, at first...

Funny how you never hear the politicians say that the business/greed structure is out of whack relative to people. Again, I'm for healthy corporate profits, but it seems to have gone to the extreme. I am also all for a free market economy, but you are naive if you don't think that regulations are needed... I always hear how we need to do this for business, and do that for business, so that people can have jobs, etc. IMO, this is the wrong focus of a government that is supposed to represent people (government is supposed to us, not corporations...).

We all know the only thing that drives a 'publicly traded' corporation; maximizing profit. This is the one overriding, fiduciary responsibility of these corporations, it is in their charter. People are just a means to an end. How about focusing on us people instead? I am not a socialist, I am not even a liberal, and I love making money. I just see a lot of bad things happening to people, and the never ending push to keep things stacked against the vast, vast majority of people. I actually have done pretty well in this system, I just have a conscious, and it's Labor Day weekend, so I thought I'd rant... I don't have an agenda, some things just bother me.

Back to OP's post. Of course all these China products are still 'offing' their noxious emissions, no matter where they are made, they're going to continue to emit their toxins. Guess what, when it smells terrible, makes your eyes water, etc., its not good for you to breath it. Won't kill you that day, but does impact your health over time. Cancer causing means it can cause cancer.

Happy Labor Day weekend, I'm going swimming, and then I'm going to work on some stuff in my shop...

11 year olds working 60+hours,, that won't happen in my lifetime. I know a handful of 10-15 year olds, and they wouldn't work 6hrs in a year.

And No, not all of us just want cheap. Quality & Usefulness are my top two criteria.

 

[neophyte]

Sulphur is used in the vulcanization of rubber. Phosphorus is also used in the processing of rubber. Both sulphur and phosphorus can stink. There was a problem caused during the housing boom by drywall imported from China that contained sulfur and was releasing fumes. Maybe some of the rubber production in china is plagued by bad chemical engineering or companies or suppliers taking shortcuts.

It should be mentioned that old rubberized USA military surplus can also have a rather unpleasant smell. I'm not sure whether this is due to the age, formulation, or chemicals or preservatives that the items were stored with. I have smelled the chinese rubber though and it does stink, and for a long time.