I store my older bowling balls on a wood rack in my basement. The temperature is a constant 65*.No direct sunlight. Every week or so if I go down there to do something I move the balls around. I have had two balls crack. A DV8 Endless Nightmare and now a DV8 Thug Unruly. Both cracked all the way around the ball. I have 2 older Brunswick balls and a DV8 Ruckus Feud on the rack. Any reason for the cracking and anything that can be done to stop it ?

John,

I wanted to post on a similar post recently but decided not to. I have had balls crack overnight in my house after using them the night before and have neglected others for years in my basement which can get quite cold and had no problems. From my experience i really don't think moving them will save them but I do think some models are more likely than others. Other than a bridge crack I have been lucky over the past several years. Nothing split the whole way around as I did years ago.

Basements sometimes have moisture...wonder if that's the culprit

I am not saying anything about cracking. I'm not putting the whammy on myself.

I think this is a good summary by Luke Rosdahl about cracking balls. Hope Luke doesn't mind my quoting him. It's from a thread:
http://www.ballreviews.com/miscellaneous/thoughts-on-ball-manufacturer-quality-t316054.0.html

"....  3 piece balls are more susceptible to cracking than 2 piece are, resin more than urethane or plastic, etc.  Surface pitting is normal period, air pockets shouldn't be but those are very rare; circular cracks around finger holes are pro shop error, ....  95% of the problems bowling balls have are caused by the people who own them and don't know how to take care of them or pro shop operators who don't know what they're doing.  Let a ball sit too long, core settles, ball cracks, owner fault.  Use too much glue installing inserts, causes the circular cracking, pro shop fault.  Don't bevel holes before installing inserts, chips out/cracks around finger holes, pro shop fault.  I've got a basement full of stuff that's just fine because even if I don't throw a ball for a while, I go down and move it occasionally.  I don't drill stuff within an inch of the pin.  I bevel my finger holes, and I use exactly two drops of glue to hold the inserts in, don't need more than that.  My stuff doesn't crack or get circular cracks or chip or anything, but "my company" is supposedly the worst when it comes to durability.

I don't buy it when it comes to other companies either.  "Columbia balls always crack," no they don't, people just don't take care of their stuff and want to blame manufacturing.  The design of modern reactive bowling balls DOES make them more fragile than they used to be, but that's the trade off.  If we want to go back to the 60s and 70s with rubber and urethane balls, you'll never have a problem.  Never heard of a Pitch Black cracking, and those are still available. "

I agree with just about all said here. I might add, personally, I've had about 150 -200 balls, drilled and undrilled sit in my basement, 2 of which have cracked over the past 20-24 years. Some balls sit in their original plastic bags in their original box. Some sit on ball cups on shelves, some sit on a rug, on a cement floor.

My driller is/was good; he's retired. I drill my own now, based on what he's taught me. Bits MUST be sharp. You must drill slowly. You must bevel all holes. Do not place the pin closer than 3/4" to ANY hole. Do not use more than 2 drops of glue to glue any device into any hole. Try to glue the device only to the filler, not to the coverstock material. Let the ball stabilize to the temperature and humidity of the place in which you will drill it before drilling it. Weigh the ball before drilling it.

All good, the tip about gluing to the filler instead of the coverstock is a good one. 

I think this is a good summary by Luke Rosdahl about cracking balls. Hope Luke doesn't mind my quoting him. It's from a thread:
http://www.ballreviews.com/miscellaneous/thoughts-on-ball-manufacturer-quality-t316054.0.html

"....  3 piece balls are more susceptible to cracking than 2 piece are, resin more than urethane or plastic, etc.  Surface pitting is normal period, air pockets shouldn't be but those are very rare; circular cracks around finger holes are pro shop error, ....  95% of the problems bowling balls have are caused by the people who own them and don't know how to take care of them or pro shop operators who don't know what they're doing.  Let a ball sit too long, core settles, ball cracks, owner fault.  Use too much glue installing inserts, causes the circular cracking, pro shop fault.  Don't bevel holes before installing inserts, chips out/cracks around finger holes, pro shop fault.  I've got a basement full of stuff that's just fine because even if I don't throw a ball for a while, I go down and move it occasionally.  I don't drill stuff within an inch of the pin.  I bevel my finger holes, and I use exactly two drops of glue to hold the inserts in, don't need more than that.  My stuff doesn't crack or get circular cracks or chip or anything, but "my company" is supposedly the worst when it comes to durability.

I don't buy it when it comes to other companies either.  "Columbia balls always crack," no they don't, people just don't take care of their stuff and want to blame manufacturing.  The design of modern reactive bowling balls DOES make them more fragile than they used to be, but that's the trade off.  If we want to go back to the 60s and 70s with rubber and urethane balls, you'll never have a problem.  Never heard of a Pitch Black cracking, and those are still available. "

I agree with just about all said here. I might add, personally, I've had about 150 -200 balls, drilled and undrilled sit in my basement, 2 of which have cracked over the past 20-24 years. Some balls sit in their original plastic bags in their original box. Some sit on ball cups on shelves, some sit on a rug, on a cement floor.

My driller is/was good; he's retired. I drill my own now, based on what he's taught me. Bits MUST be sharp. You must drill slowly. You must bevel all holes. Do not place the pin closer than 3/4" to ANY hole. Do not use more than 2 drops of glue to glue any device into any hole. Try to glue the device only to the filler, not to the coverstock material. Let the ball stabilize to the temperature and humidity of the place in which you will drill it before drilling it. Weigh the ball before drilling it.

I don't feel that it is a problem but others do.

I'm having a hard time believing that rotating balls, avoiding wooden racks, and sacrificing chickens will protect a bowling ball that has already experienced throws onto a lane (thump) into multiple wooden pins (thumpity thump thump), stop suddenly after 65'+ (thwap), and returned back through the metal ball returns.

Since this activity doesn't often crack a ball from the outside, I'm guessing it's probably more how temperature/humidity changes affect the different composite densities and applied to irregularities in manufacturing.