Tire Sidewall Damage

[narsnail]

Really minor IMO but I'm wrong about a lot of things. You can see the rip on the writing and also closer to the rim, I can stick my pinky behind it if I pull on it. Was the front left tire but I rotated my fronts today so it's now on the right.

Am I playing with fire by leaving this? Wheels have been balanced/ aligned and I'm still having some strange vibrating/clunking at most speeds. Seen a lot of tire issues on this forum so wondering what you guys think.

The tires were on the car when I bought it @ 26000km, and it WAS sitting outside during the winter with these tires (Pilot Sport 4) in the staggered setup.

 

[Silverghost]

I don't like the look.
There is a cut right near the rim edge.
If it were I, I would get new tires.

 

[narsnail]

I don't like the look.
There is a cut right near the rim edge.
If it were I, I would get new tires.

I hit a traintrack pretty hard right after I lowered it, and it bent my right rim (now on the left and fixed) on the inside lip. I have a feeling this happened to the other one during the same incident, but they checked if it was bent and said it wasn't. Did your tires last very long or did you just switch because you wanted 20s?

 

[MerlintheMad]

If you just drive legal speeds and corner like a civilized person, and you have a lot of tread left, it won't cause any trouble: unless, that is, the bead or some other aspect of the sidewall is compromised and is causing the vibration you mentioned. I think that a tire place can verify if there is "wobble" caused by a sidewall failure. If there isn't any out of true indication then it should be fine. But I would never cavort on that tire, that's a fact.

 

[narsnail]

If you just drive legal speeds and corner like a civilized person, and you have a lot of tread left, it won't cause any trouble: unless, that is, the bead or some other aspect of the sidewall is compromised and is causing the vibration you mentioned. I think that a tire place can verify if there is "wobble" caused by a sidewall failure. If there isn't any out of true indication then it should be fine. But I would never cavort on that tire, that's a fact.

Usually I do, mostly city driving so I don't get over 70km/h very often. I don't track or race and cornering fast in my city will fling me out the window our roads are so bad. There's a tire shop I trust right by my work I'll take it to tomorrow.

 

[Silverghost]

Did your tires last very long or did you just switch because you wanted 20s?

Long story: I swapped my OEM rims and tires at the end of their tread for virtually brand new tires on 20 rims. I could not pass up that opportunity.

 

[narsnail]

So just for shits I rolled my tires in the garage, both front ones. One of the tires rolled cleanly, didn't wobble or fall just rolled cleanly.

The other one wobbled like a drunk dwarf. It fell over super easy. Assuming it's possible for the belts to be separated/ damaged without showing visibly? I'm just imagining this tire wobbling at higher speeds and it's lining up with what im experiencing.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Assuming it's possible for the belts to be separated/ damaged without showing visibly?

Absolutely! That's why virtually anybody in the tire business warns that visible sidewall damage can result in unseen structural damage as well.

 

[narsnail]

Thanks guys, I'm a slow learner but I'm learning.