Sidewall repairable or not

Benwhite911

V6'ing & Dealing With It
S197 Team Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2016
Posts
183
Reaction score
8
Location
Cape Coral, FL
So I must have been identifying as a woman yesterday when I was backing into a spot on the street. I rubbed the curb ever so slightly, as I've done before with 16 inch rims and tires. Well, this time was a little different. As you can see by the attached images, I put a gash in the sidewall of the tire. It held air like it did before and I drove it home with no issues. Got the wheel off, cleaned it up to see it up close.

Now I know that the rational and logical thing to do is replace the tire, which is most likely the direction I'll be going in. What I want to know is has anyone had an experience like this before and repaired it? I know sidewalls are a tricky thing to gamble with, I just want to know if there are any other options before I drop the cash for another tire... or two.
 

Attachments

  • tire 1.jpg
    tire 1.jpg
    536.9 KB · Views: 14
  • tire 2.jpg
    tire 2.jpg
    545 KB · Views: 11

46addict

13726548
Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Posts
1,832
Reaction score
56
Location
Lawrenceville, GA
Not repairable. Tire repairs only apply to the tread area and even that is voided when the damage is on the shoulders of the tread surface.
 

OX1

forum member
Joined
Sep 20, 2015
Posts
528
Reaction score
185
Location
Jackson, NJ
Never repair a sidewall

Never repair a passenger car tire sidewall, especially if running at high speed.
I've had a couple 42" dia IROK's (bias ply) vulcanized in the sidewall (they are over $500 each new).
But that is a primarily trailer-ed rig, sees a couple miles
max on road occasionally getting to a trail, and that is 40 MPH or less.
Places that do it are the same place that recaps (re-treads) tractor
trailer tires.
 

Racer47

Doesn't have much to say
S197 Team Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Posts
1,065
Reaction score
324
Location
SE Wis
You are down near the strongest part of the sidewall so it may be ok. Lower would be better and higher would be worse. Carefully cut off that flap of rubber then look at the cords. Are they cut through or did the gash not make it that deep? If there is still rubber over the cords and none are cut, its probably ok. The outside sidewall rubber there only protects the cords. It does nothing structurally.

If the gash is deeper and the cords are cut, then depending on just exactly how bad it is, that would be proportional to how fast I would replace it.

Cut the rubber off, clean any crap out, post a picture, type out what the tire says on it for construction and i'll give you a more definitive answer.

I'm not up for arguing about this with the posters above and I'm not going through my resume again. Check my other tire posts if you think you should listen to me or not.
 

Benwhite911

V6'ing & Dealing With It
S197 Team Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2016
Posts
183
Reaction score
8
Location
Cape Coral, FL
Ok Racer47, here is the best I could get. I attempted to cut off the rubber flap, however, I'm not as good at cutting tires with a razor as I thought. So I got it all cleaned up to the best of my ability and got the camera in as close a possible to get the most detail. I hope this helps.
 

Attachments

  • tire info1.jpg
    tire info1.jpg
    532.7 KB · Views: 10
  • tire info2.jpg
    tire info2.jpg
    366.7 KB · Views: 10
  • tire info3.jpg
    tire info3.jpg
    435.2 KB · Views: 8

Racer47

Doesn't have much to say
S197 Team Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Posts
1,065
Reaction score
324
Location
SE Wis
I don't see any cord material on the rubber flap. The exposed cords don't look like they are cut. Also having 2 sidewall plies is more durable than 1. It should be ok

Get some 3M black weatherstrip adhesive. Glue the flap down and run it. Just check it once in a while. If it starts bulging its time to replace it.
 

Benwhite911

V6'ing & Dealing With It
S197 Team Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2016
Posts
183
Reaction score
8
Location
Cape Coral, FL
Excellent, Thanks for the info. I hate having to throw out a tire with good tread on it, if it can be saved. I'll glue it back down, monitor it and only use it for normal driving conditions.
 

Support us!

Support Us - Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Sponsor Links

Banner image
Back
Top