What's going on with this tire?

N

NuggyBuggy

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
We put my snow tires and noticed this weird spot. There are little sharp pieces projecting obliquely across the surface of the mirror. It looks completely bald in this area, and the profile looks all off. The rest of the tire seems fine. I'm scratching my head trying to understand what could wear a tire down in one spot specifically like that, and make it look like this?

Drove around and ride feels wrong - very rough. I'm going to get the tire replaced for sure, but would love to understand this. I've never seen those sharp looking quill-like projections before, and I've worn tires right down to the cords.


IMG_7767-2.JPGIMG_7768-2.JPG
 
I would say it’s junk, looks like the tire had a soft spot from manufacturing, or you’ve hit something and broken some belts
 
That might be an alignment issue. Was that tire on the front of your car? It might be a good idea to get an alignment done if you haven’t done so recently. I usually get one done every time I get new tires.
 
Wingboy said:
Broken belt. Post a side view.
Click to expand...
Agree. You can see the bulge in his profile shot.

When one of the radial belts breaks, that part of the tire gets a larger radius and wears off quickly. The quill projections are steel belts embedded in the tire to maintain shape. They hurt and are worse than slivers.

Tire is garbage. No obvious signs of alignment issues.
 
Thanks everybody.
GreyGhost said:
Agree. You can see the bulge in his profile shot.

When one of the radial belts breaks, that part of the tire gets a larger radius and wears off quickly. The quill projections are steel belts embedded in the tire to maintain shape. They hurt and are worse than slivers.

Tire is garbage. No obvious signs of alignment issues.
Click to expand...
Thank you all. That explains why that one spot would wear out. I assume those quills are only found deep in the tire and that explains why we don't normally see them.

Car is at the nearest tire place waiting for a replacement. They were suggesting an alignment but it sounds like this may not be in order. I'm going to inquire with my dealer when an alignment was last done; no reason I couldn't do it later. I didn't bother shopping around, I was happy to be able to just walk home.
 
That is very strange.

Could that happen from some hard braking? But I believe with ABS it's shouldn't skid like that.
 
sburns said:
That is very strange.

Could that happen from some hard braking? But I believe with ABS it's shouldn't skid like that.
Click to expand...
The tire is no longer round. Look at the profile picture. You can see the bulge right of centreline. The biggest part of the bulge will have worn off. A good check when swapping tires is to roll each tire at least one revolution across the floor. Broken belt will cause tire to lean over as the bulge hits the floor. If the tire stays vertical, it's probably good to go on.

As for what causes them to break, I have no idea. I have had a few tires do it. Some all-season, some snow tires. Normally one tire out of a set. If it was a pothole hit, I would expect two to have similar damage (but obviously not guaranteed).
 
I’d check the strut/shock the tire was last located. The belt breaking would put the tire out of round for sure. Just wondering if it affected the suspension in some way.


Pretty much every day I drive the QEW, I’ve observed a bouncy wheel from a blown strut or shock. 🤷‍♂️
 
nakkers said:
I’d check the strut/shock the tire was last located. The belt breaking would put the tire out of round for sure. Just wondering if it affected the suspension in some way.


Pretty much every day I drive the QEW, I’ve observed a bouncy wheel from a blown strut or shock. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
I wouldn't know what to look for with a strut/shock, and don't have a good way to get under the car. I know once I ask my dealer about it, what they're going to say. LOL. However I can say that I noticed no issues driving the season with my summers (the problem tire here was with a winter I was putting on).

I'd post here asking if anyone had a Lexus guy they trust, then I realized I already did a while back and the answers didn't end up working out - either they weren't doing Lexus anymore, or they were too far. I went to one place and I wasn't happy.

Still, happy to hear suggestions.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
I wouldn't know what to look for with a strut/shock and I know once I ask my dealer about it, what they're going to say.

I'd post here asking if anyone had a Lexus guy, but I already did a while back.
Click to expand...
Push down on corner of car hard and it should come back up without oscillating.

The schmoo shouldn't be leaking out of the shock/strut.

If you have multiple jacks and/or car on jack stands, with suspension extended, jack up suspension on that corner and then release jack quickly. It should descend at a controlled rate and not slam down like an uncontrolled spring.
 
I once saw a tow-truck tow a car with the parking brake still on it. My first thought was in that general direction but I see others have posted better answers.
 
LBV said:
I once saw a tow-truck tow a car with the parking brake still on it. My first thought was in that general direction but I see others have posted better answers.
Click to expand...
@mimico_polak had a trailer tire that looked like that. The strange thing is it was the spare and as far as he knows never installed on the axle. One of lifes mysteries how it got beat up.
 
It looks like someone took a belt sander to it, or it was stored beside something that vibrates wildly.

My question is how did it get taken off at spring time and stored when it looked like that? I am real thrifty, but even I wouldn't put a tire like that on, even a summer tire.
 
Sunday Rider said:
It looks like someone took a belt sander to it, or it was stored beside something that vibrates wildly.

My question is how did it get taken off at spring time and stored when it looked like that? I am real thrifty, but even I wouldn't put a tire like that on, even a summer tire.
Click to expand...
If it's on the rear, you didn't inspect them as you take them off and you got lucky and it didn't stab you, there is a chance it wasn't noticed. It can be a self-clearancing issue where as the bump grows, the rubber wears off and rolling diameter doesn't change much.
 
GreyGhost said:
@mimico_polak had a trailer tire that looked like that. The strange thing is it was the spare and as far as he knows never installed on the axle. One of lifes mysteries how it got beat up.
Click to expand...
I know exactly what happened…I just can’t prove who did it.

Someone (my buddy) hooked up the trailer improperly and it fell off the ball. It dragged behind the car by the chains and flattened the spare.

As the spare was near the front, it prevented the frame from scraping by sacrificing itself for the greater good.
 
LBV said:
I once saw a tow-truck tow a car with the parking brake still on it. My first thought was in that general direction but I see others have posted better answers.
Click to expand...
Seen that recently. Tow truck didn’t properly secure car and the car rim was ground down to the bumper before the guy realized it….idiot.
 
GreyGhost said:
If it's on the rear, you didn't inspect them as you take them off and you got lucky and it didn't stab you, there is a chance it wasn't noticed. It can be a self-clearancing issue where as the bump grows, the rubber wears off and rolling diameter doesn't change much.
Click to expand...
You take the wheel off and roll it to either bag it, or throw in the back seat/trunk you have to see the gaping scar, and wobble as it rolls. Probably young kid getting the grunt job and rolling with one had with the phone in the other and not watching...that's my scientific theory.
 
Sunday Rider said:
You take the wheel off and roll it to either bag it, or throw in the back seat/trunk you have to see the gaping scar, and wobble as it rolls. Probably young kid getting the grunt job and rolling with one had with the phone in the other and not watching...that's my scientific theory.
Click to expand...
No young kid getting the blame here. It would entirely be on me. Tire comes off, I bag it where it lies before it goes onto the rack. We usually inspect the tires going on - that's how my brother caught it - but we're not as good looking at things coming off. That will change.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom