Replacing tyres due to sidewall cut

  • Thread starter Thread starter JKD
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JKD

JKD

JKD

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Hi all.

Noticed the sidewall damage to my tyres as I rotated the front to rears last week. I've done 23k on this set of tyres, but there's still a couple of mm on this set before I hit the markers.

It's not a big cut, but there's also a couple of smaller cuts surrounding it (bet I've hit a pothole when the tyres were on the front). I can also stick my keys in maybe 3mm to the cut, so it's reasonably deep.

I'm having them replaced tomorrow because of this cut, just for peace of mind. I'm off with a fully loaded car and my kids down to Chamonix in a fortnight. Have I wasted my money having them replaced do you think?


Sidewall damage by steelfish, on Flickr
 
JKD said:
Hi all.
I've done 23k on this set of tyres,

I'm off with a fully loaded car and my kids down to Chamonix in a fortnight. Have I wasted my money having them replaced do you think?
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Considering the above I don't think you've wasted your money at all.
 
I probably would've been ok to leave it, but with family in the car there's no question you've made the right choice, no-one could ever say for definite if it'd cause a problem or not at some point.
 
I suppose the 200 quid it's cost me is better than having it at the back of my mind for the 1000 mile round trip.

Thanks for the sanity check!
 
Besides that, many places would recommend you replace before you actually reach the tread depth limits, so no harm in having done it a bit early anyway.
 
I would say that cut is perfectly fine. I have a larger cut in one of my tyres and even a franchised dealer recommended not replacing it.

The cut would be far less of a risk to your family than, say, driving around on crappy tyres in an old car with horrific crash protection.
 
It's one of those things where it's probably been like it for ages and has been fine but once you're aware of it you become convinced that it's going to fail the next time you drive it.
 
kaiowas said:
It's one of those things where it's probably been like it for ages and has been fine but once you're aware of it you become convinced that it's going to fail the next time you drive it.
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That happens a lot. I saw a chunk of sidewall missing from mine and was like 'OH MY GOD!!!'. In the daylight, it appears the tyre was kerbed a bit over-zealously, but it was just the very surface of the thick sidewall of my xl tyres.

Would it be wrong to assume no chords showing= should be fine?
 
Safety first and the fact you have had 23k out of them, you was right to replace them.
 
Absolutely the right thing to do. I only ever wear mine down to 1mm above the marker anyways. 23k is great, I get about 12k out of a set on mine!
 
Thanks all, I'm feeling better about the unexpected expenditure now. Yes I was surprised I got 23k out of them as we'll. Then again it's all motorway miles. Before my present job when my commute was only 9 miles to work, I'd only get 12k.
 
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