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Tore two holes in my sidewall

Lean L

Lean L

Diamond Member
Long story short, I did something stupid and now I have two somewhat superficial holes in my sidewall. I can see the threads in both holes but only three strands have been torn. The rest is intact. The way I understand it, the rubber on the sidewall just protects the innards so having superficial holes shouldn't be a risk. It doesn't look like there is any damage to the structural integrity of the tire. For now, I am moving it to a non-drive wheel and filling in the holes with rubber adhesive so that the threads are not exposed to the elements.

Any comments? Should I replace or is it fine?
 
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Should be alright. If the tire was losing air or if you could see the steel belts I'd replace it. Other than that, filling them is probably fine.
 
If you tore it down to the threads I would replace. A blow out at high speed the next time you hit a pot hole could cost you more than a $100 tire.
 
A tire is quite a bit cheaper than a high speed accident when it lets loose. Even if you were able to control it and safely come to a stop you'll probably kill your rim.
 
I am confused by your terminology. It sounds like you have a 'gouge' (tire holds air) and not a 'hole' (tire doesn't hold air), but either way once the cords are damaged the best thing to do is the same: replace the tire.

If the tire is in otherwise good shape and you have the room, make it into a full sized spare (steel rims from the junkyard usually cost less then $20). When they put the tire on the junkyard rim make sure that they install it with the gouge facing the inside of the car. That would lessen the chance of you rubbing it up against the curb, etc... and causing further damage. Most sidewall ply's are synthetic and won't deteriorate when exposed to air / moisture. But you could always cover the exposed cords with some black silicone.

-Ken
 
AMCRambler said:
Should be alright. If the tire was losing air or if you could see the steel belts I'd replace it. Other than that, filling them is probably fine.
Click to expand...


There are no steel belts in the sidewalls of tires. Usually, only one or two plys of nylon/polyester/rayon/whatever fabric the manufacturer chose...but no steel.
 
iamanidiot said:
Update: tire is losing air slowly. The adhesive I put on it keeps getting bubbled up. Hm...
Click to expand...
Then the holes were not so superficial, were they? Which means that what I thought may have been overly cautious recommendations above this post were dead-on. You can't repair damage to the sidewall, so now you need a new tire.
 
iamanidiot said:
Long story short, I did something stupid and now I have two somewhat superficial holes in my sidewall. I can see the threads in both holes but only three strands have been torn. The rest is intact. The way I understand it, the rubber on the sidewall just protects the innards so having superficial holes shouldn't be a risk. It doesn't look like there is any damage to the structural integrity of the tire. For now, I am moving it to a non-drive wheel and filling in the holes with rubber adhesive so that the threads are not exposed to the elements.

Any comments? Should I replace or is it fine?
Click to expand...

iamanidiot said:
Update: tire is losing air slowly. The adhesive I put on it keeps getting bubbled up. Hm...
Click to expand...

Your username is correct.

Replace the damn tyre.
 
Haven't driven it with that tire for more than 5 miles. Got back home, swapped the rear tire in for the drive wheel, then put a donut on. Got the tire replaced at Costco for a small fraction of a new tire. Sweet.

You guys with the whole username thing are lemmings.
 
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