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Letting the other car go in a narrow street, my tyre brushed the kerb and on closer inspection there is slight cracks in the sidewall of the actual tyre. Is the tyre safe? Can't find much info on the internet confirming this. Many thanks
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make sure you cannot see any white cords showing
keep your eye on it for carbuncles
check the inside wall as well
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Do you want a blow out on a motorway? If you are in doubt why not change it? If you go to a tyre supplier I think they may try to misinform you to make sale. You are doubtful which I suppose is why you have asked the question here. For £50(?) is it worth not changing it? If push comes to shove put the spare on and keep the damaged one as the spare until you can get an unbiased opinion.
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sounds like a come on make my day punk question AS well do you??????????
flipping heck we all hit potholes everyday and speedbumps a little clip of a kerb and the whole country would grind to a halt doing en-masse tyre inspections
if he cant go to a tyre specialist for an unbiased opinion who do you recommend then? a butcher or a baker ;-)
:-(
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I wouldn't know who to 'recommend' for an unbiased inspection of a tyre. If he is in doubt about the tyre, which he can inspect and we can't, he's best off changing it. It is his decision, not ours.
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Unusual for brushing a kerb to cause cracking. Do the other tyres have any similar cracks?
Some tyres do tend to 'craze' their sidewall with age (UV causes the rubber to harden) - Uniroyals seem bad for this for some reason.
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If it was a fair bang - then I'd only be happy if someone took the tyre off the wheel to check for damage on the inside as well.
TBH I've always found tyre outfits, even the badly reported ones, to be fairly fair with tyres and puncture repairability.
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If you know a tame MoT man that might be where your answer lies. I would replace it, comes from being a motorcylist and knowing that there are an infinate number of factors that decide whether you crash and burn, I like an element of control on those factors that I can do something about.
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Do the other tyres have any similar cracks? Some tyres do tend to 'craze' their sidewall with age - Uniroyals seem bad for this for some reason.
No other tyre just the front one. The car is only 6 months old so I wouldn't have thought it had it anything to do with age? 8000 miles on them, are they are Michelin Pilots.
Hope the picture helps:
img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/sat1983/tyrecrack2...g
img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/sat1983/tyrecrack....g
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That looks more like a bang than a brush, and they are cuts not cracks.
The tyre is bruised, but tyres are of course tough by definition. Might be an idea to look inside it and see what it's like.
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it's only going to play on your mind isn't it........get a new one......when you have the new one fitted and the tyre fitter knows you're not buying any more.....mention that you're keeping it as a spare......if he sucks his teeth and mentions 'rather you than me', then there's a hint.....otherwise you can have a good look around it/inside it and if it seems superficial, keep as a spare in the knowledge if you use it you won't go mad on it, e.g. stick to 50mph etc
personally i'd chuck it.......worst case scenario in that case is a perfectly usable tyre is thrown away........worst case scenario the other way around, as PU mentions above, doesn't bear thinking about
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Yes, they're not cracks, they're minor cuts. From what I can see in the photo they look OK to me - I would be happy to drive with them - just keep an eye out for bulging (delamination).
If you are the worrying sort then have it swapped out for a new one and keep it as a 'spare'.
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Scrap it ASAP, don't even think of saving it for a spare tyre.
Hitting a curb that cuts a tyre results in bruising the tyre wall which can result is a balloon forming on the inside of the tyre wall which an external inspection will not detect. When the balloon explodes so may your life as well as a number of other people.
How much is a life worth ? More than the price of a new tyre that's for sure.
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ive seen many a tyre with a baloon (carbuncle) on the outside ,never seen one inside though
how would it work with an inflated tyre?
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Paragraph C and D may cover this:
Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 provides for the condition and maintenance of tyres with regard to motor vehicles and trailers.
27(1) Unless provided for in paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) below, a wheeled motor vehicle or trailer a wheel of which is fitted with a pneumatictyre
(a) the tyre is unsuitable having regard to the use to which the motor vehicle or trailer is being put or to the types of tyres fitted to its other wheels; (SEE ALSO PARAGRAPH (3) BELOW)
(b) the tyre is not so inflated as to make it fit for the use to which the motor vehicle or trailer is being put;
(c) the tyre has a cut in excess of 25 mm or 10 percent of the section width of the tyre, whichever is the greater, measured in any direction on the outside of the tyre and deep enough to reach the ply or cord;(SEE ALSO PARAGRAPH (2) BELOW)
(d) the tyre has any lump, bulge or tear caused by separation or partial failure of its structure; (SEE ALSO PARAGRAPH (2) BELOW)
(e) the tyre has any of the ply or cord exposed; (SEE ALSO PARAGRAPH (2) BELOW)
(f) the base of any groove which showed in the original tread pattern of the tyre is not clearly visible;
(g) either
Extract from the PNLDB (Police National Database)
If you are concerned enough to question it, change it!!
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Fullchat
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Hitting a curb that cuts a tyre results in bruising the tyre wall which can result is a balloon forming on the inside of the tyre wall which an external inspection will not detect.
I'd be interested in the physics of how that works....
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The OP "brushed" the kerb, not hit it, so it's doubtful that it has anything other than the superficial damage shown in the pictures, which look like shallow cuts to me rather than cracks. I'd happily carry on driving with that tyre on. I've seen tyres with the writing lterally worn off the sidewall with constant kerb scraping go for years (including a Michelin Pilot that was on one of my cars when I bought it).
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I think most of you have "just" about put my mind at rest!! TBH SWMBO thinks I've lost it worrying about so little. It is true after all that 1000's of motorists every day must have brushed against a kerb and not thought about it twice. If i'd have hit it hard,and it would have affected steering and ripped a chunk of the tyre apart I'd have replaced it no question.
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On your head be it!
"I put it to you that you were aware of the tyre defect. Infact you posted your concerns on a website but still chose to ignore it".
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Fullchat
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Ask the Service Manager at a franchised dealer appropriate to the make of car to look at it. His opinion after seeing it in the flesh has got to be better than any of ours based on two photographs.
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L\'escargot.
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The trouble with asking advice on a matter like this is that you box yourself into a corner. Having asked, and received some answers you don't like, it would be madness to ignore them. Yet we all live every day with potentially dangerous things, but because we don't know, or don't ask, we don't worry about them.
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Yet we all live every day with potentially dangerous things but because we don't know or don't ask we don't worry about them.
Too true! I will just try and not worry about it.
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If you're going to keep the tyre on the car fit it to the rear, if the tyre does blow out you will still be able to steer to the kerb
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Fullchat's post above gives the correct way to assess damage by a cut in the sidewall.
If the cut doesn't go down to the plys, the tyre is safe to use.
If the cut does go down to the plys, it must be more than an inch long for the tyre to be unsafe.
The above is broadly the same check that is used during an MOT, and is the check any competent tyre fitter would make.
As you know the damage was sustained during an impact, keep an eye on the tyre for any signs of delamination, which immediately makes the tyre unsafe - this can be seen as a bulge out in the sidewall.
Although the piccies don't look too serious, whatever you do, don't swap the tyre to the rear - this is the worst possible place to have a tyre fail - it's much safer for a front tyre to fail. Having once hit a brick which had just been thrown onto the carriageway of the M65 at speed, and having the front N/S tyre instantly fail as a result, I know there was no drama, and no loss of steering.
If it were mine, I would probably be looking to swap the tyre to the spare.
Number_Cruncher
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The worst possible place to have a tyre fail is in the middle of nowhere when you suddenly remember you never got round to getting the spare repaired from the last puncture.
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