Kerb damage to sidewall - cosmetic or structural?

wingnut · 17-05-2019 6:41pm #1

Good tyre, clipped the kerb. Safe or replace?

punisher5112 · 17-05-2019 6:43pm

Is there any damage or a bulge?

wingnut · 17-05-2019 6:45pm

As above, just fixed the image tag. It looks to be in the rim protector but pretty deep. No bulge. Rather not get a new one as just had to put two on our other car but safety first!

punisher5112 · 17-05-2019 6:56pm

That's pretty bad, new tyre imo

mickdw · 17-05-2019 6:59pm

I just did something similar myself.
Mine seems to be a thick layer off rim protector area. I've been watching for any deformation but it seems fine.

Rows Grower · 17-05-2019 7:08pm

wingnut wrote: »

As above, just fixed the image tag. It looks to be in the rim protector but pretty deep. No bulge. Rather not get a new one as just had to put two on our other car but safety first!

Keep driving the other car until you change that tyre would be my advice.

Toyotafanboi · 17-05-2019 8:55pm

That's fine, I wouldn't be changing a tyre for that. It's unsightly but not unsafe. That band is thicker in that area of the tyre for that very purpose.

Rows Grower · 17-05-2019 9:21pm

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

That's fine, I wouldn't be changing a tyre for that. It's unsightly but not unsafe. That band is thicker in that area of the tyre for that very purpose.

Was thicker.

Toyotafanboi · 17-05-2019 9:31pm

Yeah, "was thicker" but it's designed thicker to allow for pieces to be nicked out of it if stuff like this happens, so you can continue to use the tyre. Case by case, obviously, but that looks fine.

wingnut · 17-05-2019 10:40pm

Rows Grower wrote: »

Was thicker.

A hung Jury. I think I might err on the side of caution just incase.

17-05-2019 11:31pm

No need to change it unless you can see wire is the rule

uck51js9zml2yt · 18-05-2019 12:11am

BrownFinger wrote: »

No need to change it unless you can see wire is the rule

What rule is this? Have you a link?

dobman88 · 18-05-2019 12:14am

Nikolai Vast Significant wrote: »

What rule is this? Have you a link?

Lol. Turn on your sarcasm detector.

punisher5112 · 18-05-2019 1:04am

Seen a drain surgeon van the other day and the rear tyre had not 1 but 2 huge bulges and the tyre bopping about.... Imagine what that will be like when it goes at speed with all the weight in the rear.

Tea drinker · 18-05-2019 12:44pm

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Yeah, "was thicker" but it's designed thicker to allow for pieces to be nicked out of it if stuff like this happens, so you can continue to use the tyre. Case by case, obviously, but that looks fine.

Not to nit pick but I thought the tyre was yhicker there to acti as a rim protector?
The rim is damaged in this case as the kerbing was sufficiently severe.
I wouldn't have that on my car, and it's a heap of sith.
Just my personal choice I'm no tyre expert.

biko · 18-05-2019 12:49pm

You're going to get various non-professional opinions here OP.
If you are really concerned, see a professional who can even inspect the inside of the tyre.

Whocare · 18-05-2019 12:53pm

I'll be putting a tyre on the back of car so that it won't have to take stress of the steering taking turns you now

antodeco · 18-05-2019 12:55pm

I assume that would fail the NCT?

Nforce · 18-05-2019 2:26pm

Whocare wrote: »

I'll be putting a tyre on the back of car so that it won't have to take stress of the steering taking turns you now

This..at least then you'll have a better chance of proper steering imput should the tyre go when at speed

Interslice · 18-05-2019 4:23pm

The damage is almost entirely to the rim protector. It has only barely scratched the structural part of the tyre itself.

magentis · 18-05-2019 4:33pm

For the sake of a price of a tyre I would replace it.

There is no way of knowing if there is internal damage or not.The hole in the middle of the damage would concern me.

There looks to be a bit of damage further up the sidewall by the "E" also.

Toyotafanboi · 18-05-2019 8:16pm

Tea drinker wrote: »

Not to nit pick but I thought the tyre was yhicker there to acti as a rim protector?

Exactly.

The tyre is thicker there so you can take a good sacraficial chunk out of it, if such a situation should occur, to protect the rim. That's what happened here. The rim would be far worse if that rubber didn't get in the way.

Using a tyre with damage to the rim protection is fine. Sure, it's damage in the sidewall area but in an area designed to take damage. It's not to be confused with a similar looking nick in the centre of the sidewall, that would be potentially unsafe.

To be fair, if someone posted a pic of that tyre on here and said Advance Pitstop recommended they replace that tyre based on that damage, you'd have a thread full of "Advance Pitstop unnecessary upsell", "that tyre is fine, it's only in the rim protection", "dont trust the motor industry" type stuff.

Rows Grower · 18-05-2019 8:31pm

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Exactly.

The tyre is thicker there so you can take a good sacraficial chunk out of it, if such a situation should occur, to protect the rim. That's what happened here. The rim would be far worse if that rubber didn't get in the way.

Using a tyre with damage to the rim protection is fine. Sure, it's damage in the sidewall area but in an area designed to take damage. It's not to be confused with a similar looking nick in the centre of the sidewall, that would be potentially unsafe.

To be fair, if someone posted a pic of that tyre on here and said Advance Pitstop recommended they replace that tyre based on that damage, you'd have a thread full of "Advance Pitstop unnecessary upsell", "that tyre is fine, it's only in the rim protection", "dont trust the motor industry" type stuff.

Every tyre is potentially unsafe, there's only four of them and they are the only things giving you a grip on the road.

Personally speaking, there is no way I would drive or let anyone I know drive with a damaged tyre like the one in the original post.

Why take risks for the sake of 60 euro?

19-05-2019 12:06am

Rows Grower wrote: »

Every tyre is potentially unsafe, there's only four of them and they are the only things giving you a grip on the road.

Personally speaking, there is no way I would drive or let anyone I know drive with a damaged tyre like the one in the original post.

Why take risks for the sake of 60 euro?

60e??
Buying linglangs or wingwongs?

Stoolbend · 19-05-2019 12:11am

antodeco wrote: »

I assume that would fail the NCT?

I wouldn’t expect that to fail NCT. It’s still thicker in that spot than a tyre without rim protection.

19-05-2019 12:15am

Stoolbend wrote: »

I wouldn’t expect that to fail NCT. It’s still thicker in that spot than a tyre without rim protection.

I agree.
OP, what's the brand and model of the tyre?

Toyotafanboi · 19-05-2019 12:55am

Rows Grower wrote: »

Every tyre is potentially unsafe, there's only four of them and they are the only things giving you a grip on the road.

Personally speaking, there is no way I would drive or let anyone I know drive with a damaged tyre like the one in the original post.

Why take risks for the sake of 60 euro?

Because there's no risk, the tyre is fine.

Unless you have too much money and the €60 is burning a hole in your pocket. I'm a big fan of keeping good tyres and not skimping on them but I'd be just as big a fan of not wasting money unnecessarily.

19-05-2019 1:32am

For me personally, I'd keep it.

I put new tyres on my car about a week ago. Seen a nail in the rear tyre about 3 days ago. I think it's too close to the edge to be fixable. So I'll just drive around with the nail in it until i have absolutely no choice but to replace it.

For reference though, I have had a 'blowout' at 130km/h on the motorway. I heard the tyre. That was how I knew it had blown. The car didn't slide dramatically side to side or flip over, so my stance on tyres is to just let them die in these situations, instead of throwing money at replacing them unnecessarily.

That said, I was sold a part worn before that had been repaired on the side-wall (apparently a big no-no). I didn't know until it was being replaced and the lads taking it off noticed it and showed me. So if i drove fine on that, then I'm sure you'd get by fine on your tyre, OP.

19-05-2019 1:42am

BrownFinger wrote: »

60e??
Buying linglangs or wingwongs?

linglangs, wingwongs and the likes are grand, though. They get unnecessary hate, in my opinion.

Most people potter about at 50-80. Even on the motorway you'll see many, many cars doodling along at 100 at most. Not everyone will benefit from the additional grip of a premium tyre, as they won't be booting it around the place to begin with.

If you're an aggressive driver, or you're one of those Audi/BMW drivers that can't manage time and always seem to be late for things, then spending the extra on tyres that might save your ass when you dart around a bend on a rural road and meet a tractor coming at you might make sense.

For John and Mary that potter over to Tesco once a week, it's hardly worth bothering.

punisher5112 · 19-05-2019 2:47am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

For me personally, I'd keep it.

I put new tyres on my car about a week ago. Seen a nail in the rear tyre about 3 days ago. I think it's too close to the edge to be fixable. So I'll just drive around with the nail in it until i have absolutely no choice but to replace it.

For reference though, I have had a 'blowout' at 130km/h on the motorway. I heard the tyre. That was how I knew it had blown. The car didn't slide dramatically side to side or flip over, so my stance on tyres is to just let them die in these situations, instead of throwing money at replacing them unnecessarily.

That said, I was sold a part worn before that had been repaired on the side-wall (apparently a big no-no). I didn't know until it was being replaced and the lads taking it off noticed it and showed me. So if i drove fine on that, then I'm sure you'd get by fine on your tyre, OP.

Oh dear lord.....

Kkv that's a terribly bad idea.....

I went through 2 brand new tyres in less then 2 weeks of them fitted. One blew out on M50 at speed and the other got punctured with a piece of metal....

The damage on the inside of the tyre was mad as outside looked fairly ok....

Please get it sorted or replace....

dodzy · 19-05-2019 9:03am

antodeco wrote: »

I assume that would fail the NCT?

I've seen testers fail very similar sidewall damage.

Del2005 · 19-05-2019 9:27am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

linglangs, wingwongs and the likes are grand, though. They get unnecessary hate, in my opinion.

Most people potter about at 50-80. Even on the motorway you'll see many, many cars doodling along at 100 at most. Not everyone will benefit from the additional grip of a premium tyre, as they won't be booting it around the place to begin with.

If you're an aggressive driver, or you're one of those Audi/BMW drivers that can't manage time and always seem to be late for things, then spending the extra on tyres that might save your ass when you dart around a bend on a rural road and meet a tractor coming at you might make sense.

For John and Mary that potter over to Tesco once a week, it's hardly worth bothering.

I slid on ditch finders when turning at traffic lights from a standing start in a residential area I was doing at most 15km/h, replaced the tyres and never slid again.

When you stand on the brakes even at low speed quality tyres will out preform cheap tyres and that could be the difference between a minor incident and a serious one.

19-05-2019 4:16pm

Del2005 wrote: »

I slid on ditch finders when turning at traffic lights from a standing start in a residential area I was doing at most 15km/h, replaced the tyres and never slid again.

When you stand on the brakes even at low speed quality tyres will out preform cheap tyres and that could be the difference between a minor incident and a serious one.

I do understand what you're saying. Personally, I'm rocking around Ireland to the tune of about 60-70,000km per year. I've been doing this for about 5 years now, and I go down all kinds of back roads, boreens, motorways and everything in between.

My stance is to get tyres on the car that are cheap and have grip. Once i change the tyres, I do my own little brake test. If the car slides unnecessarily, I'll adapt my driving as I'm aware of it. However, I can honestly say that it's never really happened.

There was a time when I had a Focus Estate a few years back, and it had the tyres on it that came with it. Now, I never checked them as I was straight into work (driving) and i never thought of it. I slid on a roundabout (back of the car started drifting) which made me check them. All four tyres were like F1 tyres. Not a tread to be found on any of them. They were the worst tyres I'd ever seen in my life.

I changed them fairly swiftly, however, i still must have been driving on them for the best part of 3 full long days, and got by just fine. It was only when I got onto a wet roundabout, at a bit of speed, that I had an issue.

This experience (coupled with my other tyre experiences, such as the 130kph blowout, nails/screws in tyres, badly/illegally repaired tyres put on the car, etc) gives me a bit of a nonchalant attitude towards tyres in general. I find that even the shoddiest tyres will do most people (myself included if im not rushing anywhere) just fine.

Now, I'm not saying that people shouldn't take tyre safety seriously. And if someone feels uncomfortable driving with a scuffed sidewall, or a nail in the tyre, or whatever, then they should head straight to a tyre centre. I'd never say otherwise.

My personal stance is that the danger posed by tyres just isn't as grave as many may make it out to be, though, and often that certain tyres (and brands) that get a hammering, are actually perfectly fine for 90% of the population to use.

On boards, you tend to find that recommending a linglang or a wingwong as they've been jokingly called, will get you met with scorn. But they're fine for the vast majority.

Ms. O Rourke in her 191 Micra that's never seen 4th gear doesn't need a premium set of tyres.

19-05-2019 6:29pm

I wouldn’t be charging that, have similar myself on a tyre for ages (probably slight less damaged) and it’s perfect. Even left the car in for tracking and balancing recently and the tyre place never commented on it and tyre love trying to sell tyres.

Also 60 lol, tyres for my car are 130 a corner min and I don’t buy crap.

btkm8unsl0w5r4 · 19-05-2019 6:51pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Ms. O Rourke in her 191 Micra that's never seen 4th gear doesn't need a premium set of tyres.

She doesnt your right...its the pedestrian she hits that will appreciate a better tyre, cause Ms O Rourkes reaction time is slow enough already without bad rubber elongating her braking distance.

Having good tyres is just good roadcraft.

sundodger5 · 19-05-2019 7:00pm

ok semi professional opinion, I quit the tyre game years back.
If you came in to me asking should that be changed, and you had driven a bit on it. I would advise it is fine.
Why? The chords in the sidewall are not showing (think that was what a poster above was getting at re the rules)
Also no sign of a bulge. A bulge occurs when 1 or more of the chords fracture in the sidewall leaving just the strength of the rubber. In essence a weak spot.
as others have mentioned the rubber is thicker there to act as a rim protector...or not in this case looking at the rim.

McCrack · 19-05-2019 7:19pm

Savannah Most Triangle wrote: »

She doesnt your right...its the pedestrian she hits that will appreciate a better tyre, cause Ms O Rourkes reaction time is slow enough already without bad rubber elongating her braking distance.

Having good tyres is just good roadcraft.

But it's quite unlikely Ms O Rourke will hit the pedestrian in the first place because she drives cautious and obeys the rules

btkm8unsl0w5r4 · 19-05-2019 8:10pm

McCrack wrote: »

But it's quite unlikely Ms O Rourke will hit the pedestrian in the first place because she drives cautious and obeys the rules

THats no how accidents work, a child, cyclist, pedestian, other car can appear in front of you on a wet and cold day without warning and without and care for the cautiousness of your driving or your obedience of the rules. All that prevents you from hitting them, or from hitting them at greater speed is your reaction time and your braking distance.

Two car collisions often involve one party not at fault and given the amount of numpties on the road and footpaths I would rather every advantage

I know it would be nice to think that you can save a few quid with the 25 euro a corner tyres cause you drive better than everyone else, but following your own logic its the other people you need to avoid and tyres play a key role in this.

McCrack · 19-05-2019 8:48pm

All things being equal but it's not like that in real life

Ms O Rourke drives very sensible so it's highly unlikely she is going to be hitting pedestrians unless it's a lemming and no fancy tyre is going to make a difference

Toyotafanboi · 19-05-2019 8:54pm

Gas though, most of the thread are all for spending the money replacing a perfectly fine tyre "just encase" but the same crowd wont spend the few bob on a good quality tyre "just encase".

Rows Grower · 19-05-2019 9:39pm

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Gas though, most of the thread are all for spending the money replacing a perfectly fine tyre "just encase" but the same crowd wont spend the few bob on a good quality tyre "just encase".

No what's gas is yourself and others think a tyre with a hole in the side is better than a brand new tyre in perfect condition.

All new tyres sold here have to meet minimum standards in Europe since 2012.

They are all potentially unsafe and dangerous but I'd rather not drive on one that is damaged to such an extent there is a piece of it missing.

What happens if the same driver parks in the same spot again and damages the tyre even more? That tyre is tubeless, it's not solid rubber.

19-05-2019 10:07pm

It's a rim protector.
It's supposed to get damaged instead of the side wall.

Toyotafanboi · 19-05-2019 10:30pm

Rows Grower wrote: »

No what's gas is yourself and others think a tyre with a hole in the side is better than a brand new tyre in perfect condition.

It's not better than a new tyre, particularly visually. There isn't a hole in it, if there was, it wouldn't hold air. There is a piece of rubber missing from a sacraficial area of the tyre that doesn't compromise the tyres ability to do its job. The tyre is perfectly serviceable.

The only thing compromised is the rim scratch protection in that area, which doesn't matter now anyway as the rim is scratched.

It's not unfit for purpose though, which is what people are suggesting when they say they would replace it.

mickdw · 19-05-2019 10:41pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Del2005 wrote: »

I slid on ditch finders when turning at traffic lights from a standing start in a residential area I was doing at most 15km/h, replaced the tyres and never slid again.

When you stand on the brakes even at low speed quality tyres will out preform cheap tyres and that could be the difference between a minor incident and a serious one.

I do understand what you're saying. Personally, I'm rocking around Ireland to the tune of about 60-70,000km per year. I've been doing this for about 5 years now, and I go down all kinds of back roads, boreens, motorways and everything in between.

My stance is to get tyres on the car that are cheap and have grip. Once i change the tyres, I do my own little brake test. If the car slides unnecessarily, I'll adapt my driving as I'm aware of it. However, I can honestly say that it's never really happened.

There was a time when I had a Focus Estate a few years back, and it had the tyres on it that came with it. Now, I never checked them as I was straight into work (driving) and i never thought of it. I slid on a roundabout (back of the car started drifting) which made me check them. All four tyres were like F1 tyres. Not a tread to be found on any of them. They were the worst tyres I'd ever seen in my life.

I changed them fairly swiftly, however, i still must have been driving on them for the best part of 3 full long days, and got by just fine. It was only when I got onto a wet roundabout, at a bit of speed, that I had an issue.

This experience (coupled with my other tyre experiences, such as the 130kph blowout, nails/screws in tyres, badly/illegally repaired tyres put on the car, etc) gives me a bit of a nonchalant attitude towards tyres in general. I find that even the shoddiest tyres will do most people (myself included if im not rushing anywhere) just fine.

Now, I'm not saying that people shouldn't take tyre safety seriously. And if someone feels uncomfortable driving with a scuffed sidewall, or a nail in the tyre, or whatever, then they should head straight to a tyre centre. I'd never say otherwise.

My personal stance is that the danger posed by tyres just isn't as grave as many may make it out to be, though, and often that certain tyres (and brands) that get a hammering, are actually perfectly fine for 90% of the population to use.

On boards, you tend to find that recommending a linglang or a wingwong as they've been jokingly called, will get you met with scorn. But they're fine for the vast majority.

Ms. O Rourke in her 191 Micra that's never seen 4th gear doesn't need a premium set of tyres.

You found the issue on a wet roundabout. Makes sense. What you didn't happen to find was an emergency situation where you had to swerve to avoid someone. The bald tyre would have resulted in an accident where it could have been avoided and it's difficult to drive in a manner that caters for all accident situations.

19-05-2019 11:20pm

Rows Grower wrote: »

No what's gas is yourself and others think a tyre with a hole in the side is better than a brand new tyre in perfect condition.

All new tyres sold here have to meet minimum standards in Europe since 2012.

They are all potentially unsafe and dangerous but I'd rather not drive on one that is damaged to such an extent there is a piece of it missing.

What happens if the same driver parks in the same spot again and damages the tyre even more? That tyre is tubeless, it's not solid rubber.

When you slam on the brakes on a wet road that little nick isn’t going to prevent a premium tyre from stopping you. Having a brand new Chinese tyre on the other hand could leave you buried in the car in front, a pedestrian etc.

A nearly fully worn premium tyre with a chunk gone is far superior to a brand new Chinese piece of crap. I don’t think some people realise how bad some of these cheap tyres are.

Rows Grower · 19-05-2019 11:57pm

Graham Mammoth Sinker wrote: »

When you slam on the brakes on a wet road that little nick isn’t going to prevent a premium tyre from stopping you. Having a brand new Chinese tyre on the other hand could leave you buried in the car in front, a pedestrian etc.

A nearly fully worn premium tyre with a chunk gone is far superior to a brand new Chinese piece of crap. I don’t think some people realise how bad some of these cheap tyres are.

You need to open your eyes nox, it's 2019 now.

Forget about the imitation Action Man you got in the pound shop 30 years ago that broke after 5 minutes.

The Chinese are producing some of the best quality products available in the world for a fraction of the price for quite some time now.

sundodger5 · 20-05-2019 12:04am

but most of the tyres are junk tbh

Hebegeebee · 20-05-2019 12:21am

Rows Grower wrote: »

You need to open your eyes nox, it's 2019 now.

Forget about the imitation Action Man you got in the pound shop 30 years ago that broke after 5 minutes.

The Chinese are producing some of the best quality products available in the world for a fraction of the price for quite some time now.

Just not when it comes to tyres! You won’t see any of their tyres topping tyre tests on review websites like tyrereviews.co.uk for example.

Del2005 · 20-05-2019 12:42am

Rows Grower wrote: »

You need to open your eyes nox, it's 2019 now.

Forget about the imitation Action Man you got in the pound shop 30 years ago that broke after 5 minutes.

The Chinese are producing some of the best quality products available in the world for a fraction of the price for quite some time now.

The Chinese make the iPhone but they also make crap phones. No one is saying don't buy Chinese they are saying don't buy the cheap low quality stuff they make, but the quality products instead.

Rows Grower · 20-05-2019 12:47am

Del2005 wrote: »

The Chinese make the iPhone but they also make crap phones. No one is saying don't buy Chinese they are saying don't buy the cheap low quality stuff they make, but the quality products instead.

Cheers Del, thanks for clearing that up.

btkm8unsl0w5r4 · 20-05-2019 10:47am

McCrack wrote: »

All things being equal but it's not like that in real life

Ms O Rourke drives very sensible so it's highly unlikely she is going to be hitting pedestrians unless it's a lemming and no fancy tyre is going to make a difference

How does that work, how does Ms O Rourkes behaviors stop a child running out in front of her between cars or some idiot jamming on the brakes in front of her for no reason?

The difference in tyers could be the difference between a stay in hospital for a few weeks and being dead for her or the other party. Surely you get that? You can need grip even well below the speed limit especially in our changeable weather and on our poor roads.

I am guessing your the type that doesn't see the point in heath insurance, or life assurance. Sure your fit as a fiddle what could possibly happen?

The tyres being Chinese makes no difference, its the fact they can get from china to here and still only cost 25 euro a corner that is the worry

Kerb damage to sidewall - cosmetic or structural?

Comments