Damage to built up area of sidewall/stock tire.
 

Long story short, biffed a curb in Lemoyne, PA and caused this

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9413/img02571e.jpg

Dealer looked at it and said both the rim and the tire should be fine. Been driving on it for almost a week, did a 100mph blast on it, and no issues so far. The worst damage on the tire is to the built up area just on the lip. No cord showing and tire pressure is holding fine. I was planning on putting them on a set of 17x7.5 rims. Just wanted to get the second opinion if they're ok and if putting them on the new, slightly stretched rims would be fine.

I'd rather not have to spring for a new tire this early, as I also plan on getting a set of winters to put on the oem rims. Thanks

ouch it's really hard to tell from pictures but I wouldn't feel safe going too fast on that. I'd say it would be better to change it, I would pay $100 any day for pieace of mind specially if you are having too much fun on the car.

lets just say that side wall won't like going sideways for long!

Yeah, I'd just invest in a new tire. They aren't that expensive...

Well, ran into a snag. Absolutely no tire shops in the area have the Primacy HP's. The dealer, when I went initially, also said they don't deal in Michelins. Tire Rack has them, but they're almost $200 for 1 tire. While I know tires aren't insanely expensive, they still cost quite a bit.

It's too early to spring for putting winters on the car, and I should be getting my new DR-34s soon. I've also taken a bunch of sharp turns on backroads at 60+ mph. Any advice? Also, anyone recommend a tire for a 17x7.5 rim? Will a 225/45R17 tire work on a 17x7.5?

Just went to a tire shop in Camp Hill. For them to install just 1 tire would be $230 after balancing, e.t.c. Brought the guy out to look at the damage, he said it should be perfectly fine. The damage is to the built up "curb guard"(see how well that worked) area and no real damage to the actual sidewall. The integrity of the actual sidewall isn't compromised as the built up rubber on the tire is there to actually get scrubbed to prevent damage to the wheel.

The best way to imagine it is if you pull in next to a curb, the built up area will scrape before the wheels and actual sidewall will.

If you can't see any cords or deep tears then it should be fine!

Yeah, in theory it protects the rims. In practice, it doesn't do squat. I've already curbed one of my ribs and it's not like I tore into the curb with force - just rubbed up against it. If you think about it, there's not really alot that can protect the curb from hitting the rim as long as the rim is lower than the curb. All the weight of the car will just push any curb protection scheme in place until you have rim on concrete.

Anyway, yeah I wouldn't worry about that tire, you're fine. Just replace it when you get winters.

as long as you dont see the steel belt from the cut on the sidewall the tire is fine. look like its just cosmetic damage. but with the look of the rim, you might tweaked your alignment a bit.

It will probably be fine, but hitting triple digits to test it out seems...a bit darwin'ish...

Didn't do it to test it out at the time. It was a straight section of 322 between Harrisburg and Hershey, just after the last light just East of the Wal-Mar, if anyone is familiar with the PA area. Straight downhill section at 2 a.m. with high-beams on.

When it initially happened, I didn't see cord so I thought it might be ok, wasn't 100% certain at the time.

You drove 100mph on a suspected bad tire to see if it might blow? And if the tire had blown, then you would have known the tire was bad. What could happen in a tire blow out at 100mph? Youtube link:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeTjXRbBHeA&feature=related"]Car goes airborne 100 mph crash hits bridge caught on dash cam Firebird in Ohio with SlowMo replays - YouTube[/ame]

Did a burnout on my motorcycle till the chords were showing all around it, then went 150mph and didnt die....

Id say your safe!

Idiot, giving out idiot advices......:sigh:



Not sure how anyone can rash their rims that bad but since you replaced them stay away from crubs. It's not that hard to park. Sorry not trying to sound like a huge D-bag, but I've had many, many cars and have never curbed any rims/steelies on them :thumbup:

Read please, I wasn't parking. I went around a turn, the curb for the turn sticks out a more inches so you almost have to Semi-style swing it around the turn.