I asked some time ago about how metal tracks work in the desert, but there remains the question on how rubber tires are affected. Both tank and pneumatic ones that is.

Tom,
Beats the heck outta me(that's what one tire said to another in the desert)! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I Commanded a Smoke Generator Company split between Fort Lewis WA and Fort Irwin CA from 1982-84, so I got to see a wide variance in maintenance (wet-cool to very dry-hot). Our tires at Irwin dried out, cracked and became un-serviceable on a regular basis, far faster than those at Lewis. Tires would bleach out from a rubber-black color to a dusty dark gray too, and rims would wear from an OD green color to a washed-out gray-green in a short period. My Company had no roofed motor pool at that time, and so everything was stored in the open. Heat, wind blown sand, relentless sun, wide variations in temps, and heavy use bleached everything rapidly, within a couple of months, you really couldn't tell a "new" vehicle from one that had been there for a couple of years. But-- it also depends on what kind of vehicle you have in mind-- my M35A1 and M54A1 tires seemed better suited to the weather than the tires on my M151A1s for some reason, but even they wore out rapidly.
VR, Russ

Russ - the tires on your M151 were probably harder rubber than the others. I am guessing the Army was opting for a stiffer, less flexible rubber in those tires to try and off-set the 151's tendency to roll.

Problem is the stiffer rubber formulation would not do as well in the desert environment.

I actually paint all my tires (and hard rubber rimed road wheels) with Model Masters "Gun Metal" straight out of the bottle. This gives the "rubber" that slightly silver-gray sheen of somewhat oxidized rubber having been out in the sun too long!

Add on some finished weathering and the effect can be rather dead-on perfect.

Well... depends. My M60A1 trackpads and rubber tires on the road wheels stayed black the entire time I was in Saudi/Kuwait.

Greg were you hitting them with any Armor-all or light oil when cleaning up the vehicle?

Armorall... No there was no cleaning the track or road wheels until after Desert Storm was over and we returned to Saudi. We had sand and not dust to deal with.