So my wife hit a curb so hard that it cut the rubber on the sidewall of her tire. The cut is about 1 to 1.5 inches long. I can peel it back a little and see the sidewall ply underneath the rubber. The ply seems fine and the car drives fine. It is not losing air. How soon do we need to get the tire replaced?

FWIW, the wheel looks and feels fine except for a black rubber mark where the wheel must have pinched the tire against the curb.

 

My car guy said he'd replace it ASAP. Not panic mode, but soon. He would just not be comfortable. Other opinions may vary.

Hey Bill! Come to cars and coffee tomorrow. Are you on the Cape or home?

We'll be in Taunton. We'd love to see you, and Barbara.

 

While it looks OK, it's hard to tell how much damage was inflicted on the sidewall cord.
I wouldn't dilly-dally with it. Good wives are hard to replace.

 

I'd replace it today, or if today isn't possible, tomorrow. The last thing you want you or your wife to do is to ride around on damaged tires.

You're going to replace it anyway, why wait?

 

Three things that are essential safety items on a car - brakes, tires, and steering. A few years ago I replaced 4 brand-new-never-driven-on-the-road-tires because their born-on date was over 7 years old. The resortoration took longer than the prior owner expected when he bought them. Don't screw around with a weak sidewall.

 

I agree, absolutely.

 

How much do you care for your wife? (Just kidding)

It is possible to destroy threads without much visible damage on the sidewall.
There is one theory that max. 3 threads can be cut (corresponds to 3-5 mm of circumference) before you get a really big problem - accident.
The threads can fail later, if they suffered a bit of damage and it develops further.

You should measure the cut and see if the cords are indeed intact. I would take it to a good shop or two to be sure.
Some tire shops can fix sidewalls. It is a tricky procedure and the wheel has to be taken off of the car first. This is to check for any hidden damages inside.

Repairing the sidewall is a two-part process as the tire has two surfaces that need to be taken care of. To keep the air inside you need to patch the inner surface of the tire. Then, to keep the sidewall from incurring any more damage, you also need to fill in the gash from the outside. Doing just one is not sufficient to repair your sidewall. Be careful when having your sidewalls fixed though; improperly repaired sidewall damage may collapse when too much pressure is applied to it. This can lead to even more trouble.

Apparently only two spot repairs can be done on any tire. Holes that are wider than 1 inch and longer than 4 inches are usually given a . In cases like this, you need to replace the tire.

If it checks out okay, I might keep that baby on the rear just in case. Little more control that way.

 

I replaced a tire last year for a very similar cut - about 1 inch cut next to the bead from being curbed. Have them look closely for a bent wheel. That should show up when they try to balance it.

 

I would be concerned, too, about the affect of the impact on the alignment, but I don't have any suggestion about the tire. Last winter, both of my kids slid into a curb because of ice and broke an aluminum wheel. The wheels were replaced, the tires were not affected, but the alignment was in both cases.

 

Thanks Lainey. We would love to meet up with you guys today, but we are down the Cape. That's why I posted the question. We are trying to figure out if Barbara can drive home today or if we should stay down here till Monday to replace the tire.