Hi,i bought a 2004 3g TL, the previous owner lowered it on H&R springs and put Aspec Wheels on it wrapped in 225/45/18s with a decent 80% tread life left (NO SIDEWALL wear)

The first time the tire blew out, it was in the rear passenger side and forced the car to spin out and run into the jersey wall on the highway. The whole inner side wall of that tire was completely cut out somehow. When the wheel well was inspected we didnt find any rubbing sections at all. The inspector said it could have been from lack of alignment but it doesnt look like it needs a camber kit since the drop isnt drastic enough to need one. The vehicle was recently fixed and an alignment was given close to stock specs from my understanding (this was a good month and some change ago)

anywho last week i had a tire blow out for the SECOND time (luckily didnt crash this time) on my front passenger side. I noticed that the inside inner sidewall was cutout on this again but not as bad as the first time

I dont really want to shell out money for new tires if it MIGHT keep happening and prefer to get the right parts in order to fix this random wear issue. People suggested for me to get front control arms and rear camber kit, but i just want to make sure thats the issue before i spend all this money on the wrong part

What do you guys think? Has anyone had an issue like this in the past and what ended up fixing it?

before the accident, to show how low it was




The damage

 

just from the pics, those tires look pretty worn down. the edges look feathered and rough. how many miles are on them now, and how often do you drive?

get your alignment checked. camber/toe, etc. get your axles checked for leaks, and control arms. anything to do with suspension.

 

What brand of tires are those?

1. you need to pay more attention to your tires, I'm sure they were visibly worn way before they blew
2. you need to avoid the pot holes and keep your air pressure, from my experience that type of damage could be caused by a broken belt in the tire.

3. Just curious, how damn fast were you going to spin out and hit the wall? were you filming days of thunder 2?

 

A pix of the face ( tread) of the tire would have helped .. to see the rear .. I bet the inner was worn bad and it blew ... looks like it was run flat or low for a while too and the heat did it in.

 

thats the thing they werent worn down about a month and some change ago. I did my alignment before driving the car again and before the alignment they had a good amount of tread left wasnt bad at all. I only drive it on a 15 minute/10 mile commute 5 days a week is all. barely drive it if its not work related.

when inspected everything looked fine but im not a suspension expert so i could have missed something.

my friend was going about 75-80 when she spun out

yea im afraid that may have caused it too..its on theoppsite side of the car so barely check that side out.. ill post more pics

 

 

wow i never seen anything like this. grad u ok bro.

 

i think its just the tires man. they look beat. replace them with some fresh ones.

 

this^^

 

i hope.. i also went ahead and bought ingalls rear camber kit.. so hopefully this helps some. i will also be purchasing xxr 530 with tires come springtime.. i just didnt want the new tires that i buy to end up like this within a couple of months.. its only h&r springs

 

^nah i understand your concern. those tires just look old, rotted, dried up, prone to cracking and splitting.

as long as your camber/toe are in check you should have no issues with the new tires.

 

Too much camber.

 

Actually the tread seems fine. Looks as though the tires ran for a little bit until it stopped causing the uneven wear.

Broken inner belt can cause this. Seems like your friend hit a serious pothole which caused the belt to snap and split the sidewall.

The image below shows the sidewall having a "bubble" which is where the initial impact may have occurred.

 

yup ^...

this tire was not wearing even, which is a sign of under inflation and neglect.

 

lower edge of this tire has significantly more wear than the upper edge...

 

not only that but the tire has some signs of underinflation which SEVERELY weakens the sidewall.

If you look at the picture that shows the sidewall, you'll see a chalkly looking line that's about 1/4-1/2 inch wide on the sidewall. That's from it overheating due to under-inflation and the rubber flaking apat on the inside and outside.

 

even tho its not a good thing to have the tires without air, it just makes me a little happier to know that my suspension may still be good (minus the camber)

how much air should i be keeping in there?

im also going to be purchasing new tires.. should i stick with the same 225/45/18 size or is it too stretched for me?

 

^those are fine.

use whatever pressure is on the side of your door jamb. i keep mine at 37front and 36 rear.

 

You should also take note of the dark lines and the damage to the sipes in that area. I appears that there may be a bit of rubbing going on here. The tires are worn, were underinflated and the alignment was off. Combine that with the physical damage (bubble) and the rubbing and you only have one outcome.

You need to find a proper alignment shop and get this fixed. It'll cost money to put this right.

 

Why 225's? If you're not super slammed I would stay with 235/40/18's which is stock size. More comfortable.

 

Make sure you look at the manufacturing date of the tire, sometime a tire can have good tread but it's old so it's weakened

 

Every tire has the manufacturing date stamped on it

 

Keep an eye on the load and speed rating (most the load rating) of the tire you are getting next. The "bubble" impact break can be more common on vehicles with the incorrect load and speed ratings.

By looking at your pictures of the blown tire, I was suspect an impact break to be the cause of the blow out. The tread is deff getting down there, but I don't see too much secondary rubber showing. Which would make me lean bad alignment specs.

If anything, try buying tires with a little high load rating. The speed rating will effect how the car responses and sometimes the "flex" of the sidewall. Higher load rating equals more weight capacity which equals are stronger tire.

 

Completely correct! As long as you are going to a good name tire store, you should not see any tire over 3 years or 4 years MAX. A lot of tire stores (Goodyear, Firestone, NTB, etc.) will not sell a tire over 4 years old

 

Bingo!!!

 

is ur roof plasti dipped?

 

Remember to check the load index of the new tires. If the load index of the new tires is less than the OEM ones, you should inflate them slightly more compared to the OEM tires to support the weight of the car.

 

Never go off of the MAX load number tho. MAX load means MAX amount of air the tire handle under normal driving conditions. Always look at the Tire Plaque located on the driver door jam for recommend P.S.I.

 

same thing happend to me in my audi a couple years ago.
Driving on 78. Tire blows, car tries to go left but, im able to pull it to the shoulder.

Those tires I had on were good. No bubbles, wearing evenly, plenty of tread.
I must have developed a slow leak after being punctured by something. Eventually, since its a low profile tire. The rim began to ride on the edge / under inflated sides, and it just sliced them open.