Sidewall cracking, how urgent is it?

[wrcsixeight]

I had some 'just turned 6 year old' KUmhos whose cracks appeared very similar fail in a very inconvenient location, and had to pay 215$ for a 135$ tire when I limped into the nearest town.

Trying to get ones money's worth out of aged tires might achieve the exact opposite.

I was lucky to not have a catastrophic failure, and luckier that they had my tiresize in the nearest bumblescrew town

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
I got a new phone and now I have pics. Seems like the cracks are spreading. I think this is getting to the point I should no longer wait.

any thoughts?




They look fine to me. You should see Michelins in Arizona

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

How urgent is it? What's your life worth?

 

[Mr Nice]

Replace those tires.

 

[badtlc]

new tires ordered.

 

[jjjxlr8]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
I got a new phone and now I have pics. Seems like the cracks are spreading. I think this is getting to the point I should no longer wait.

any thoughts?






Everything in these 3 photos is cosmetic and not a safety issue. The line in the buttress is just the junction between two different rubber compounds.

 

[andyd]

2nd pic looks like a possible start of a tread separation. Any strange vibrations? or thumps.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: andyd
2nd pic looks like a possible start of a tread separation. Any strange vibrations? or thumps.


Not that I have noticed.

I do have some noise coming from the front left when backing up slowly but I think that might be a bearing going bad.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: andyd
2nd pic looks like a possible start of a tread separation. Any strange vibrations? or thumps.

It's probably where the tread compound meets the carcass compound although normally the tread compound goes up a bit higher on the sidewall.

 

[tightwad]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
ok, let me clear up some confusion about the pics. I dont have pics of my tires.

1) Pic number 1 is ONLY to show approximate location on sidewall with respect to the wheel. The cracking is about 1" off the wheel like the picture. The cracking does not look like this picture.

2) The cracking that my tire does have is very small like the 2nd picture and is in a 1/2" wide band all the way around.



AHA! Now I am not confused. I was about to ask about a 8R19.5 tire on an Escape when I saw the disclaimer!

 

[Rand]

I'd say still cosmetic at this stage.. however I replace my tires early anyway.

 

[zeng]

Agree that the 'mini cracks' are cosmetic ...... and its structural integrity is not compromised, yet.
I wouldn't have the tires replaced , for now.

 

[CapriRacer]

Just an FYI:

I've looked at 10's of thousands of failed tires and not one of them failed due to the cracks you see on the outside.

What those cracks MIGHT indicate is the state of the rubber within the tire. Just be aware that some tire manufacturers use a different rubber on the sidewall - and sometimes that rubber is not as prone to cracking.

Put another way:

Bad cracking = remove the tire.

Little or no cracking is NOT a sign the tire is good. You have to add some other information - like the age of the tire.

 

[badtlc]

If you'll look at the pics from my tires, you'll see the cracks have appeared in every crevice of the tread itself. it seems all the rubber in the tire had lost its malleability and was giving way/cracking.

Anyhow, Kumho Solus TA11s have been installed. I'll try and post tire porn later.

 

[avacado11]

I've seen people ride on worse. As long as you don't travel long distances or really high speeds, I say you're fine.

 

[Bgallagher]

The rear tires seem to be in worse shape than the front. That being said I would consider shopping for something new. Question, what is the warranty on those tires? Might be worth inquiring if you're looking to get a discount on a new set of rubbers.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
The rear tires seem to be in worse shape than the front. That being said I would consider shopping for something new. Question, what is the warranty on those tires? Might be worth inquiring if you're looking to get a discount on a new set of rubbers.


To get any warranty on them I would have had to go back to NTB. I wanted to go through Discount Tire this time and the Kumho Solus TA11 new was about the same price as i would have paid for prorated Cooper Discoverer H/T. Plus, cooper is discontinuing the H/T so I'd likely be getting old stock.

I wanted to try these Kumhos as they are more a passenger tire than light truck. I just didnt want to this soon, haha. Oh well.