To what extent can you be failed on a driving test for wheel faults?

karaokeman

Hi all,

A few months back I was to sit my driving test but got a non attendance fail for one of the wheels having a pore in it I hadn't noticed.

I have another test on Friday, I have thoroughly examined the wheels and the only potential fault I can see is in this pic around the edges.

Does anyone know if I should replace this wheel before Friday or should it be ok?

Regards,
M

Henry Ford III

Doesn't look so good.

seamus

If in doubt, get it replaced. The tester can refuse to conduct the test if they have any reason to believe the car is not roadworthy. Up-to-date NCT doesn't matter if the tester is not happy.

You'd be kicking yourself if you didn't replace it and got another non-attendance on Friday.

J_R

karaokeman wrote: »

Hi all,

A few months back I was to sit my driving test but got a non attendance fail for one of the wheels having a pore in it I hadn't noticed.

I have another test on Friday, I have thoroughly examined the wheels and the only potential fault I can see is in this pic around the edges.

Does anyone know if I should replace this wheel before Friday or should it be ok?

Regards,
M

Hi,
An RSA examiner believed that it was unsafe to take the car on a short drive around town for thirty odd minutes. 
You have been driving it for the past few months. :O

Alanstrainor

The resolution is too small on the image to read the date code... but that tyre is old, really old. When tyres age they dry and crack like this one. Time to replace. Are all tyres the same condition?

I'm not sure what you mean by them finding a pore in it...

Melodeon

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I'm not sure what you mean by them finding a pore in it...

I suspect they mean a hole of some sort.

There certainly appears to be a pretty deep scrape on the tyre sidewall at around the 11 o'clock position.

The general condition of the whole tyre and wheel leads me to suspect that the driver is using Braille to judge their distance from kerbs and other low solid objects.

jippo nolan

Melodeon wrote: »

I suspect they mean a hole of some sort.

There certainly appears to be a pretty deep scrape on the tyre sidewall at around the 11 o'clock position.

The general condition of the whole tyre and wheel leads me to suspect that the driver is using Braille to judge their distance from kerbs and other low solid objects.

That’s the good wheel!

Auguste Comte

It might be an investment to do a pretest with your local driving school and use their car the test.

TheBoyConor

Putting 4 new tyres on a car could cost 300 or 400 euro.

OP could you get a loan of a friend or family member's car for the day of the test?

Alanstrainor

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Putting 4 new tyres on a car could cost 300 or 400 euro.

OP could you get a loan of a friend or family member's car for the day of the test?

It's true, but driving the car at all is dangerous with those tyres. So they will need doing asap.

TheBoyConor

Tbh that sort of cracking and perishing is only on the outer skin of the tyre that is exposed to the elements. The actual structural part of the tyre, the banding, is actually buried beneath a decent thickness of rubber and it would want to be go fierce bad before the strength is compromised in a significant way.

I've seen machine tyres that were very very badly perished but continued to work year in year out under heavy loading without a problem until the treads were worn out.

This e mark and four year rule stuff for replacing tyres is nothing but another scam and a money spinner orchestrated by the likes of SIMI, the insurers and tyre industry. A 10 year old tyre on a rarely used car could still be absolutely perfect.

Alanstrainor

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Tbh that sort of cracking and perishing is only on the outer skin of the tyre that is exposed to the elements. The actual structural part of the tyre, the banding, is actually buried beneath a decent thickness of rubber and it would want to be go fierce bad before the strength is compromised in a significant way.

I've seen machine tyres that were very very badly perished but continued to work year in year out under heavy loading without a problem until the treads were worn out.

This e mark and four year rule stuff for replacing tyres is nothing but another scam and a money spinner orchestrated by the likes of SIMI, the insurers and tyre industry. A 10 year old tyre on a rarely used car could still be absolutely perfect.

The outer skin as you put it, is what keeps you on the road. It is a big problem when it hardens like it has in the OP's picture. I've driven some cars with old tyres, they loose all sense of grip whatsoever even with tonnes of thread. Not good in the wet or under braking.

This is not a conspiracy, you can see the damage to that tyre clear as day.

TheBoyConor

Well tbh, I have tyres older than 4 years on my car that are perfectly fine and I never had any issue. I know they were going to fail the nct so I did a swap with my old 14" steel wheels with OKish but newer tyres to get through the test then swapped back to my 15" alloys post test.

I'm not buying it to be honest. How come it was perfectly legal and OK to have 6 year old tyres roadworthy tyres on one day then next day you've "experts" telling you that your 4 years and 1 day old tyres are dangerous death traps? Bull!

OP, what is your spare wheel like? Could you get away with putting your spare wheel on for the day of the test?

Stephen15

They wouldn't fail me for having no hubcaps and a few scraps and scratches nothing major or unsafe on an 03 Micra. If

karaokeman

Thanks to all for the advice.

I had a pretest today and asked my driving instructor, he said nothing was wrong and the small stratches (or perceived scratches) are part of the wheel so I should be ok.

Alanstrainor

karaokeman wrote: »

Thanks to all for the advice.

I had a pretest today and asked my driving instructor, he said nothing was wrong and the small stratches (or perceived scratches) are part of the wheel so I should be ok.

Just to be clear. No one here is talking about the wheel (silver bit.) it's all about the tyre (black rubber bit).

karaokeman

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Just to be clear. No one here is talking about the wheel (silver bit.) it's all about the tyre (black rubber bit).

My bad.

Nonetheless my instructor said nothing was wrong but I'm still considering getting a new wheel just to be sure to be sure. I'm just so nervous about the whole thing.

dennyk

That tyre is definitely looking pretty dire. That cracking along the treads isn't a good sign, and the curb rash definitely doesn't help the structural integrity of the sidewall. I've seen tyres that looked like that before; one just up and started leaking air straight out of the cracked sidewalls, and another rapidly developed a blister right in the center of the tread. Plus those look like some cheap Chinese tyres; I'd barely trust those things to hold air and not come apart when they're brand new and undamaged.

TL;DR: Please go replace your tyres before one of 'em blows out and puts you into the ditch or another car.

The wheel damage appears to be cosmetic from what little I can see in your low-res image; it shouldn't be a safety concern (though it may well give your tester the notion that you might have some issues with spatial awareness that he'll need to grade you more carefully on... :pac: ).

Dravokivich

Why did you check it with your instructor and not a mechanic or somewhere that works with wheels/tires? And why did you wait until about to sit your next test?