Sidwall Cracks

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Redright9

Redright9

Joined
Sep 18, 2018
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464
Location
Kern Co. California
Hello,

Here is a picture of the cracking I am starting to see around all four tires on my car. It has shown up very recently, none seem to be deep, but just a lot. The tires are at most 2 years old with again at most 20K miles on them. I do live in a desert so maybe this is what I have to deal with... Do I need to replace them already?

Tire crack.jpg
 
Read the date code on the tires..they may be older than you think. Let us know that and the brand, and yes, I would replace them if I had to drive 70 MPH in desert heat.
 
It does not appear tires want to live in the same place you live. Even if the tires were a year or two old when the OP bought them that would only make them 3 or 4 yr old.

That looks like my boat trailer tires that were 15 or 20 yr old.
 
Yeah, this is fairly disappointing... I am fairly OCD when it comes to tire pressure, so I know they have always been properly inflated... Here is the data:

Definity HP 800
Date Code: 1717
Bought: 10/31/17 @ 149233 miles

Current mileage on the car is 163173
 
The cracks you see are not necessarily on the same surface that holds in the air. Tires are composed of an inner and outer layer.

[Linked Image]
 
Similar thing happened with the Bridgestones on my RDX. I've never had tires show cracks like that so early (started around the 2 year mark). I was paranoid and had a couple of tire places check them out - each said it looked superficial. I figured if a tire place doesn't want to sell me new tires then they must be okay. I'll be replacing them this spring so I made it to 4 years (5+ if you go by the date code).
 
I called Pep Boys where I bought them and was told no warranty. Warranty only covers tread wear. They said I don't drive the car enough and should put tire covers on them. I said I drive it to work every day so they do get "exercised". He told me not enough, its a maintenance item, basically, nothing they can do. So I guess from here, keep an eye on them, and start shopping for killer tire deals... I have had great luck in the past with off brand tires from pep boys on my work commuter cars but I guess now I will choose differently.
 
Originally Posted by Redright9
I called Pep Boys where I bought them and was told no warranty. Warranty only covers tread wear. They said I don't drive the car enough and should put tire covers on them. I said I drive it to work every day so they do get "exercised". He told me not enough, its a maintenance item, basically, nothing they can do. So I guess from here, keep an eye on them, and start shopping for killer tire deals... I have had great luck in the past with off brand tires from pep boys on my work commuter cars but I guess now I will choose differently.


Being in Litigation central call you State Attorney Generals office of consumer protection and see what they say. My guess that is a defect in manufacturing or materials.
 
I had some tires I thought just turned 5, but just turned 6 years old, try and kill me when driving the 395 in August'18.

These has no sidewall cracks, but 3 of 4 grew in diameter by about 1.5 inches, narrowed by about 1 inch, and the tread was rounded like one sees on some ATV tires. One tire was grossly out of round too. Was 100 miles from the nearest tire shop and paid 200+ for a 120$ tire when I limped there.

What was weird is that besides being a bit squirrelly, at 65mph they were nice and smooth, it was when i slowed to enter a rest area it felt like there was an earthquake occurring. if I had not stopped for that rest area..........

Not sure what happened but they showed no signs of sidewall damage, superficial cracking and had tons of tread left when I did the once over beforethe road trip.

Desert, summer, I will no longer take any chances with suspicious tires.

Check the date codes. they might be in the inside ofthe tire under the vehicle if the DOT xxxx number on the outside makes no sense in terms of week/year.
 
Originally Posted by wrcsixeight
I had some tires I thought just turned 5, but just turned 6 years old, try and kill me when driving the 395 in August'18.

These has no sidewall cracks, but 3 of 4 grew in diameter by about 1.5 inches, narrowed by about 1 inch, and the tread was rounded like one sees on some ATV tires. One tire was grossly out of round too. Was 100 miles from the nearest tire shop and paid 200+ for a 120$ tire when I limped there.

What was weird is that besides being a bit squirrelly, at 65mph they were nice and smooth, it was when i slowed to enter a rest area it felt like there was an earthquake occurring. if I had not stopped for that rest area..........

Not sure what happened but they showed no signs of sidewall damage, superficial cracking and had tons of tread left when I did the once over beforethe road trip.

Desert, summer, I will no longer take any chances with suspicious tires.

Check the date codes. they might be in the inside ofthe tire under the vehicle if the DOT xxxx number on the outside makes no sense in terms of week/year.


Chinese tires?
 
Originally Posted by Redright9
I called Pep Boys where I bought them and was told no warranty. Warranty only covers tread wear. They said I don't drive the car enough and should put tire covers on them. I said I drive it to work every day so they do get "exercised". He told me not enough, its a maintenance item, basically, nothing they can do. So I guess from here, keep an eye on them, and start shopping for killer tire deals... I have had great luck in the past with off brand tires from pep boys on my work commuter cars but I guess now I will choose differently.



Or you could look at the pic I posted which shows that the sidewall is not responsible for holding air.
 
Originally Posted by Reddy45
Originally Posted by Redright9
I called Pep Boys where I bought them and was told no warranty. Warranty only covers tread wear. They said I don't drive the car enough and should put tire covers on them. I said I drive it to work every day so they do get "exercised". He told me not enough, its a maintenance item, basically, nothing they can do. So I guess from here, keep an eye on them, and start shopping for killer tire deals... I have had great luck in the past with off brand tires from pep boys on my work commuter cars but I guess now I will choose differently.



Or you could look at the pic I posted which shows that the sidewall is not responsible for holding air.



Lol!!! agreed, I plan on watching them for a while since I drive the car to and from work.. My kids don't ride in it and when they do its around town at low speeds. I just don't want the sidewall to get too weak then fail.
 
Last edited:
wow, two years and they look like that? If it were my work car only and kids never rode in it I would probably just keep an eye on it too. However, if it were the family truckester I would be online here at work looking at tires instead of being on BITOG.
 
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