Looks like its a Michelin X-ice2 from the tread design, what is the date code on that tire?
What's going on with this tire?
- Thread starter NuggyBuggy
- Start date
Mad Mike
Well-known member
That’s a Michelin Ice tire and that wound is skid inflicted.
Very soft compound. I’ll bet it was on the rear and the car was driven with the handbrake on or with a stuck brake.
Likely your vehicle has independent rear, you left tires on well past snow season.
Relax
Well-known member
That was my first thought until people started talking about a broken belt/bulge. Hard to imagine someone not noticing a tire locked up long enough to wear down to the belts.
That said, it would be in OP's best interest to rule that out by making sure the wheel is actually turning on the corner the bad tire came off.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Broken belts don’t wear like that - it’s a skid from a locked up wheel. On a rear wheel with independent rear suspension, locking a wheel puts it up on its edge.
Do that to a snow tire on a warm day and you’ll burn thru the tire in less than 30 seconds.
In any case, that tire is done. It can’t be used now.
I'll take a pic of one in the garage later. 100%, it's a broken belt.
Tire is gone. Took car to the nearest place to me right after I posted.
Colour me impressed - Active Green & Ross asked me to come back in a week so that they could retorque the lug nuts. If I'm changing tires, I like to retorque them, but I have never had a shop or dealer *ask* me to bring it back to them for a checkup - and I've paid for a lot more tire changes or swaps than I've done myself.
And this considering they were so booked out for winter tire swaps they needed to have the car all day to be able to take me.
I think that has become standard practice. On the bill, they normally make you sign that you will bring it back for a retorque. I suspect it is driven by the insurance companies. When I got a set of tires at costco, for a retorque, you pull up in front of the garage and ask for a retorque, they walk out and check them all outside and you are on your way.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
It’s a broken belt now - but there’s no way it broke then caused that damage. A broken radial bucks like crazy, the last 100 km of driving would feel like you’re driving over railroad ties.
I've had it happen multiple times. They last quite a while (can be thousands of km), it's not imminent doom. I had one go and it diameter increased almost evenly so there was no bumping but car pulled left (front ride turned out to be screwed). I got an alignment that fixed nothing (because it was a not yet diagnosed tire problem). Pulling the wheels off to diagnose and I finally figured it out.
Not a car tire expert, so no input on how that happened. But without knowing for sure the root cause, I'd be wary of this happening again when you put a new tire on.
Might be a worth the effort and $ to get your alignment checked, toe and camber on the corner you pulled that wheel off of, just to rule that out.
Might be a worth the effort and $ to get your alignment checked, toe and camber on the corner you pulled that wheel off of, just to rule that out.
Fwiw, my alignment was perfect when I had mine checked with the same problem.
Relax
Well-known member
Yeah, but if it's a locked up caliper, he's just going to end up with another tire like that on his way home. That's why I recomended spinning the wheel to rule that out - takes a minute if you can get someone else to drive it while you watch. A good shop should have checked while it was up on the lift, but Active Green and Ross can be hit and miss depending on the tech.
I go with the locked wheel theory where the tire was not rotating and got ground down. As noted, it would not take long for this to happen on a relatively soft winter tire.
I'd be checking the brakes in general for a seized caliper or piston. I'd also be checking the parking brake mechanism as it might have stuck in the on position for a time before releasing.
Back in the 70's I worked in a gas station as a pump jockey, oil change, tire change general labor type of guy. Lady pulls in with smoke pouring off the rear wheels, terrible burning smell. She tells me something is wrong, she's been on the highway for 10 - 15 minutes since leaving home, car seems to be bogged down and she has to press hard on the gas to keep up her speed......... I check the braking brake and it's full on, pressed down as far as it will go. It's a Saturday, no mechanic on duty, I explained what happened to her, released the parking brake and tell her to wait 20 - 30 minutes for the brakes to cool down and to drive home slowly. I also tell her she should not use the car until the rear brakes have been checked ASAP as they are probably ruined. She looks uncertain about this and says her husband will be very angry. I suspect the car got parked and nothing was said, who knows.
I'd be checking the brakes in general for a seized caliper or piston. I'd also be checking the parking brake mechanism as it might have stuck in the on position for a time before releasing.
Back in the 70's I worked in a gas station as a pump jockey, oil change, tire change general labor type of guy. Lady pulls in with smoke pouring off the rear wheels, terrible burning smell. She tells me something is wrong, she's been on the highway for 10 - 15 minutes since leaving home, car seems to be bogged down and she has to press hard on the gas to keep up her speed......... I check the braking brake and it's full on, pressed down as far as it will go. It's a Saturday, no mechanic on duty, I explained what happened to her, released the parking brake and tell her to wait 20 - 30 minutes for the brakes to cool down and to drive home slowly. I also tell her she should not use the car until the rear brakes have been checked ASAP as they are probably ruined. She looks uncertain about this and says her husband will be very angry. I suspect the car got parked and nothing was said, who knows.
Relax
Well-known member
Alignment should definitely be checked regularly, but even if it was wildly off (like after taking damage) uneven tire wear would be all the way around, not just localized.
Good point, but regardless of whether it's alignment or seized caliper or whatnot, it would be good to know for certain what caused it before slapping on another tire so it doesn't happen again.
We're just looking at a picture of a tire trying to guess the root cause, when the problem might be on car side, not the wheel side.
Relax
Well-known member
I still remember the first time I went on an out of town training course and had to rent a car. I think it was some econobox. Meanwhile one of the other students had a rental Miata and another a minivan, all automatics. One night after calss, we were all in the parking lot about to leave when the Miata guy does a brake stand. Wanting in on the action, I pulled my handbrake and floored the accelerator but all I got was the engine revving and the car standing still. Then the minivan guy puts his parking brake on and floors it and tires start screeching. Except is was from the rear wheels getting dragged wihle locked up by the parking brake. Funniest thing I had seen at that point.
So the idea is get the wheel off the ground and see if I can spin it?
Someone asked what car I have. This is a Lexus IS250. It has AWD.
Relax
Well-known member
To rule out a completely seized caliper, you should be able to just look at the wheel while some else drives up/down your driveway to make sure its spinning.
