I am really hoping someone can assist me with this. Today a neighbor of mine informed me that there were these what appear to be scratches in the tire. When I look at it in person (I don’t know if the picture does it justice) it looks like it might be areas where metal is showing through the tire But I’m not really sure what I’m looking at to be honest. I am not tire savvy so any help/ advice would be great. Thanks in advance and have a great day!!! Replace or repair.
The tire is so worn out, that the steel belt is being exposed.
If one tire looks like this, the others are probably in the same condition.
And by the way, don’t rub your hand/fingers over that part of the tire.
Tester
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That tire is as bald as Kojak
You’ve more than gotten your money’s worth
Replace it, and if the others look the same, replace them, as well
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This tire is way past dangerous. I would only roll it to the tire shop and get a replacement.
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Can not be repaired. Replace the tires if they are all like that and get an alignment.
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These tires are dangerous. You need new tires, you probably need an alignment at the same time, and you need to be sure you’re keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure in the future.
Your neighbor probably saved you from a blowout and a possible crash, so make sure to thank him or her.
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I really hope you follow the previous posters’ advice. They are trying to save your life and the lives of anyone that rides with you or is on the road with you.
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Just to clear up a technical point:
What is being exposed is the nylon (likely) cap ply (or strips), not the steel belt. The steel belt would be at about a 20° angle to the circumference. Cap plies (or strips) would be very close to circumferential. Plus they are white, not metallic.
But that does not change the advice that was given. Those tires are well past the point of worn out. They need to be replaced immediately and it looks like an alignment is needed.
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Based on my analysis, you can easily go another five or six miles before the tire comes apart. Should be safe to drive to the tire shop if you take te most direct route.
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This tire is so worn out that it can’t even be recapped. The steel belts are worn. It’s way past dangerous. It’s shot.
I urge you to begin to monitor your tires’ condition with an occasional visual look-see, perhaps monthly. Your tires are the only connection your thousands-of-pounds vehicle has with the road. When they’re this worn you’re risking your life and the lives of others.
“Worn out” legally means that the grooves have worn out to the point where they’re equal to the “wear bars” that run across the tread. In reality, they become questionable above the 42nd parallel when the tread gets to about 60% of its total legal wear. Beyond that its ability to flush water away and prevent hydroplaning becomes compromised, and its “bite” into snow becomes difficult.
You really need to pay more attention to your tires.
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I’m only going to add to the above. When steel belts get exposed, they can fray and actually puncture the tire. This is very dangerous, that cannot be over emphasized.
If both sides of the tire are worn down like this, then I’d say you have been driving on seriously under inflated tires. If you can’t monitor your tire pressure, then consider an after market TPMS so this doesn’t happen again. At the very least, there are valve caps that can indicate when a tire is under inflated, but you periodically have to walk around the car and look down at the caps. You could do this while waiting for the gas tank to fill.
If this is only on one side, then you need a front end alignment. Find a good shop and get it aligned right. You want a shop that specializes in front end suspension repair. Tire selling places are not necessarily very good because their tire changers aren’t often properly trained on the equipment. A dealer may be your best choice. A $100+ spent for a good alignment can greatly increase the life span of your tires and is a good investment, IF you need one.
The only thing I’ll add to the good advice from all is to buy your neighbor a BIG thank you gift. They may have saved your life! Even if this tire hadn’t blown out, it’s worn out, and would be a problem in the rain.
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Ditto above…
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Short version: buy a new tire.
Long version: buy a new tire now.
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Go for a Darwin award!: rent a track, see how fast you can go; try the Bonneville Salt Flats. Have your next-of-kin tell us about it.
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Concur w/ @CapriRacer above, the concentric thin white lines at the outside edge of the tread area look more like the the plies showing through rather than the steel belts. Little matter, the tire needs to be replaced in any event due to the amount of tread wear. I expect the OP already knows that, and is just curious about those white lines. The Tire Rack website has some good info on how a car owner can assess tire wear.
Yep. Ten character minimum.
I will suggest that when you go to get new tires you go to someplace close, hold the speed down, and stay off the freeways.
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Of course I’m just going to reaffirm what other posters have said, the tires is junk…period. What I haven’t noticed anyone say anything about is alignment. You pretty much CAN’T get that much wear on one edge of the tire, especially if only one of the front tires is that worn without an alignment issue. What commonly happens when one tire is that worn is that something got bumped and the alignment is thrown off. For example bumping a curb in a turn or hitting a parking block HARD, will do that. If both front tires are that bad you also have an alignment issue but if they’re both equally warn it’s more likely steering/suspension component wear. The previous is also commonly caused by excessive component wear but more often than not the “wear” was caused by bumping something. I only mention this because here’s the deal, if that tire was on the front and you don’t repair what’s wrong and get an alignment, your new tire will not last more than a couple of months, likely less if you drive a lot. I fix cars for a living and can assure you, something caused that tire to wear ONLY on that one edge and did not occur by normal driving conditions.
Best of luck,
Wayne
I can’t see the other edge of the tire well enough to say it is not warn across the entire width. In fact, my first impression was that, it’s warn out all the way across.
But bottom line, replace this tire, plus any others that show significant wear, and get an alignment.