Chunk out of van tyre…is this safe?

We think from a pothole, a tear/chunk out of sidewall of T5 tyre. No sign of cords. Is this ok to drive? We’re erring on better safe than sorry tho!

Looks more like a kerb to me.

Can you see cords? If not then on one hand it’s legal….

On the other hand Looks pretty horrible to be fair but tires are thicker in that area for exactly this reason….but it still looks pretty bad…

No cords, but does look nasty. New tyre too!!

Do you think that this will pass an MOT?

New tyre time.

Legal or not, I wouldn’t want to drive that.

New tyre. I wouldn’t drive that.

Personally i would pass that with a message to the customer about it. If it was my own… Dab of superglue and cover it back over. No cords – no worries

We had a chunk out of a car tyre very similar. FIL knows a bloke who owns a tyre place who was confident it could be fixed from a description. Took one look at it – new tyre.

@danmac – how could you know that the carcass wasn’t damaged below the rubber outer?

If the damage was any further down, you would have canvas or wire bead showing through.

Might be safe, might not be. Ask yourself the same question when you are travelling at 85mph on the motorway?

Driven with similar sidewalls before for 1000’s of miles and no nuns/kittens were harmed. Upto you though TBH

Do you think that this will pass an MOT?

There’s the rub
… No cords so yes yes it will.

My attitudes similar to Halifax Pete however I would not advise others on the same for obvious reasons.

Normally I’d be cautious and replace, but it appears to be mainly in the anti kerbing ridge. If you took a similar tyre that doesn’t have that bead of protective rubber, how deep would it be?

PS check the inside of the wheel too… And also this is where the wheel will normally bend from pothole damage.

Might be safe, might not be. Ask yourself the same question when you are travelling at 85mph on the motorway?

This – a couple of hundred quid for 2 new, if you changed the whole axle, is painful but I suspect that wouldn’t be your concern if it went bang as you were driving past a school and lost control……

“I’m sorry I killed your daughter, but it was only a small chunk out of the structural bit of the tyre, and you know, £200”

If you have ever taken car tyres off the bead (I have my own machine here and do it frequently) then you would see that that part that forms a lip over the rim of the wheel is massively thich and strong. There is probably 15mm of thickness at that very point, maybe more. It is designed to protect your alloys to a certain extent. Me, knowing the construction of a tyre, I would whip it off with knife and forget about it. Other views are available. Just remember, rubber doesn’t grow on trees!

You could also apply the rule for cuts where there is no braid showing; if the cut is more than 25mm in length, or 10% of the section width (so a 225 tyre would be 22.5mm, a 250 would be 25mm) then it’s illegal.

Also, those are rediculously low profile for somthing with the GVW of a van.

was only a small chunk out of the structural bit

Non-structural. It’s the rubber embedded with cords that are structural.

It does raise the point though, for such a low profile tyre, would a damaged sidewall even show up as a bulge?

You could also apply the rule for cuts where there is no braid showing; if the cut is more than 25mm in length, or 10% of the section width (so a 225 tyre would be 22.5mm, a 250 would be 25mm) then it’s illegal.

That’s not a direct quote though is it?
That’s paraphrased and missing a key piece of information

@trailrat. It says in excess. But then again it doesn’t really make sense as a cut less than this that shows the cords would also be illegal. Confused 🙂

Tyre Cuts. A cut in excess of 25mm or 10% of the section width of the tyre , whichever is greater, measured in any direction on the outside of the tyre and deep enough to reach the ply or cord, would make the tyre illegal.

Also, those are rediculously low profile for somthing with the GVW of a van.

Be interesting to know what the load rating is.

Main thing though, it looks really cool, am I right?

Had a similar gash in a sidewall on my old T5 with factory fitted 17″ steels.

Van didn’t pass the German mot equivalent.

What would worry me is the apparent crack in the sidewall just inside the hatched section outside the writing. It looks like it radiates circumferentially from the point of impact for quite a few centimetres either side. That part is structural and has made the tyre look age cracked.
If it were me I’d change it, but than I am very cautious about tyres.

Had similar to a newish Michelin Cross Climate on MrsRNP V70 – she didn’t die. Will cut it deeper next time…..

Tyre Cuts. A cut in excess of 25mm or 10% of the section width of the tyre , whichever is greater, measured in any direction on the outside of the tyre and deep enough to reach the ply or cord, would make the tyre illegal.

The difference between what’s written in the testers hand book and that quote is that the 25mm/10% rule doesn’t need the cords exposed but they have to be able to be felt. With the caveat in the notes that to fail you must be sure that it’s the cords and not other debris……

When you read the testers hand book it’s worrying how lax the minimum standards on most things are and yet a worryingly high % fail first time mostly on the basics.

And more so just because it should pass an mot doesn’t make it safe. There are lots of things that are not tested in mot because to do so would involve dismantling….. Your tire sidewall being one of them

Looks ok to me, but my OCD would probably insist I change it sooner rather than later, poss immediately if it was more than half worn. But then I’d also want to get those rims powder coated too…😉

I’ve had that happen numerous times on my cars. Every time I’ve taken it to various garages and have always been told it’s fine if no braid showing. Looks to me it’s mainly the rubber that is there to protect your alloys

If it was me and I was particularly worried about it I’d probably swap it to one on back (if it was on the front), out of an abundance of caution, then forget about it.

Take it to a garage for an opinion rather than asking randoms in the internet would be the best advice however!

Nothing wrong with this. I have had similar on nearly new tyre and done 20k miles and passed two mot tests since.

Thanks all. I had been planning on going back to standard wheels as probably more practical for country lanes and fields, so this has prompted me to get on with that.

eBay came up with a local set, just fitted. Kinda miss the big bad wheel look!

+1 for superglue and crack on with it