Weird dimples in my tires.

[roman.lysiak]

 

Drove out to Cape Breton after my trip to 0fest in Pittsburgh and noticed these dimples in 2 of my 4 tires. Is this a slipped belt? Can I run these guys for the other 2000km back home.

 

 

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[adawil2002]

Broken steel belts. Best to replace them soon. < I stand corrected by subsequent posts. 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2018 by adawil2002

[esty]

https://www.continental-tires.com/car/technology/tire-knowledge/lex-1-4

 

A common byproduct of radial tire construction, sidewall indentations/undulations are more noticeable in tires with taller sidewalls or operate at higher inflation pressures. Fortunately sidewall indentations are a cosmetic condition that does not affect the performance of the tires

 

The sidewall of a tire is not always completely even; there are sometimes bumps, and indentations, which may require a more detailed inspection to decide the cause. Indentations are harmless and are not detrimental either to safety or to driving characteristics. They are only a visual condition.

[wegweiser]

Caused by nylon strapping used during shipping, primarily. If this is the worst of it, you're absolutely OK. I bet it's on all four and probably symmetrical (2 or 4 indents per tire)

[esty]

43 minutes ago, wegweiser said:

Caused by nylon strapping used during shipping, primarily. If this is the worst of it, you're absolutely OK. I bet it's on all four and probably symmetrical (2 or 4 indents per tire)

 

Sidewall undulations will not compromise the performance of your tire. They are only a cosmetic tire characteristic.

 

Sidewall undulation occurs naturally on radial tires because of the way they are constructed. Just inside the outer walls of your radial tire, it is wrapped with sturdy fabric cords to reinforce its strength. The more strength needed for your particular tire, the more layers there will be of the fabric cords (or ply) .

Those cords are generally wrapped directly up and down vertically over the sidewall, not across it at an angle. Because of that construction, you can sometimes see the sidewall ripples where the rubber compound presses tightly against the thin vertical spaces between the tightly wrapped ply cords.

 

[Mike Self]

Don't think it's failing steel belts.  They're located under the tread, not the sidewalls.  If you had impending belt failure/separation, there would be a noticeable bulge under the tread in a certain area of the tire's circumference.   As the separation got worse, you'd hear a distinctive, speed-dependent thump--every time the separating belt section hit the pavement, there'd be a thump.  

 

A flaw (like an air bubble) in sidewall construction would be a noticeable bulge.

 

My '73 came with a set of Semperit steel belted radials (replacement tires) when I bought it in 1978.  Within 12k or so, three of the four failed due to belt separation, and Semperit finally bought the fourth back before it failed.  More recently I had a fairly sudden (within 15-20 miles from initial thump to boom) catastrophic belt failure of a Dunlop tire on my Nissan D21 truck (at 70 mph!) 

 

I think you're OK...

 

mike

[Son of Marty]

Yes your good to go for some reason Goodyear seem to show these indentations more than most brands but your fine as Mike noted a broken belt will make a thump and they also tent to squiggle a bit with every rotation and it's a serious problem that needs attention right away. 

[biltwok2]

Most likely due to a splice in the tire construction. Double thickness of fabric or sidewall rubber, etc. Not to worry.

[jimk]

In the 70s when the US mfrs tried their hand at producing radial tires, these tight wraps were all over the place.  European mfrs were way ahead at making radials.

[PaulTWinterton]

Good to get that information.  I have a cheap set of 165x70x13s on my stock rims with that feature.  I just chalked it up to cheap tires.  Now I  know better.  Thanks. 

[Dudeland]

We always called that a belt shift. This is when the supporting structure moves, most likely caused by under inflation when hitting a pot hole, or plainly cheap tires .


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[esty]

15 hours ago, Dudeland said:

We always called that a belt shift. This is when the supporting structure moves, most likely caused by under inflation when hitting a pot hole, or plainly cheap tires .

it has nothing to do with inflation, pot holes or cheap

 

Sidewall undulation occurs naturally on radial tires because of the way they are constructed. Just inside the outer walls of your radial tire, it is wrapped with sturdy fabric cords to reinforce its strength. The more strength needed for your particular tire, the more layers there will be of the fabric cords (or ply) .

 

Those cords are generally wrapped directly up and down vertically over the sidewall, not across it at an angle. Because of that construction, you can sometimes see the sidewall ripples where the rubber compound presses tightly against the thin vertical spaces between the tightly wrapped ply cords.

[Conserv]

Although the OP’s example is particularly well defined — maybe the raking light highlights it — am I the only forum member that has seen hundreds of these dimples, on new/old/expensive/cheap tires? I’ve simply assumed, for about 40 years, that small sidewall dimples occur in the ordinary course of tire manufacturing. This assumption was not based on any particular knowledge of tire construction; it was based solely on the frequency of seeing such dimples!

 

I certainly hope esty is correct, as I’m not about to start worrying about these things now... ?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited July 24, 2018 by Conserv

[Hans]

Had teh same on Continentals. Dealer said no prob. Looks wierd.

[TobyB]

Pretty common in my fleet, too.  It's the ones that have that bulge circumferentially that you're supposed to worry about, I guess.

 

That said,

 

"DIMPLES"  are back!

 

Think they can infect your cowl panel, too???

 

hee

 

t