Damaged tyre safe to pump up?

[Eddie25]

Ive got this damaged front tyre. currently running at 2.4 bar (35psi). will it be safe to pump up to 3.2 bar (46psi). max sidewall is 3.5 bar. want to start a 3.2. the tyre had a valve failure and ran flat without the wife noticing for about 10 miles. you can see the wear on the sidewall. its not a lot but you can see the tyre brand name (FALKEN) with half the text worn away. 2nd there is a small gash in the sidewall. donno how it got there bought the car like that. it is fairly deep but doesn't cut down to the canvas or steel belts. 3rd the tyre has a plug in it from a puncture about a year back. all issues on this 1 tyre all other tyres are 100%. will this be safe at higher pressure?

[Frank Lee]

The scuff looks only cosmetic- no problem. If the cut is as shallow as you say it probably won't be a problem- at least in the short term- but eventually it could hasten the decomposition of the cords. I've never tried it but I've thought of gooping silicone caulk into such cuts and cracks. The real problem is what we don't see but you have said- the tire being driven flat for ten miles. I would expect internal damage from that. Make sure the spare is good and inflated.

Tires are an expensive up-front purchase but when you think of them in terms of cents/mile, it can pay to simply get good ones vs messing around with junk... and this is from someone who does in fact run junkyard tires and extract the very last mile out of them. It depends on how willing you are to mount the spare at roadside and otherwise deal with them.

If you are going to run a structurally compromised tire I think it's best to put it on the rear- especially with fwd cars- and not inflate above sidewall max pressure, or maybe even the automaker's recommended pressure. The rear is more lightly loaded from static and dynamic forces and if it has balance and smoothness issues they are less annoying out back.

[redpoint5]

Most will tell you not to risk it. I'd say it's safe as long as the rim never rode on the sidewall or tread while it was low on air.

I've got a tire with a plug and a sidewall tear like the one pictured, and it has been running fine at 44 psi for years.

Run it up a little over sidewall max, and if it doesn't blow, it should safely run at pressures lower than that.

[CapriRacer]

If you've got marks on the sidewall because the tire was in contact with the road surface, then you have a tire that is structurally unsound. What you can not see is the inside where the inside of the tire was rubbing on itself and was in the process of destroying itself.

The question now becomes how much risk are you willing to take. The tire is going to fail and the only question is how long it will take to do so. The inflation pressure really isn't an issue. The durability of the tire is and that part of the tire where the durability has been compromised is not affected by inflation pressure.

[Iexpedite]

I'm I little leery of testing my luck with damaged tires. When I lived in Germany I knew of a person that had a flat, pulled the tire off their car and caught a ride to a nearby gas station. On the ride home with the tire sitting in floor of a good Samaritans car...the tire exploded killing the person holding it. At my old job they always used tire cages in case newly mounted/repaired tires were to explode (big truck tires). I may be overly cautious, but there is real danger there.

[samwichse]

My wife had one just like that blow out Sunday week. The damage happened a while ago, but the exposed underply didn't seem to handle the UV/salt exposure (maybe grit working itself between the plies where the flap was?) and ruptured after about 6 months. Luckily it was small, so it just kind of went flat over about 15 seconds while driving.

In the future, I'll be replacing any tire with sidewall damage like that.

[Fat Charlie]

I've done it. I've towed the camper with it like that. But I don't recommend it.

[RedDevil]

I've seen tires with a bulge ready to blow at any time.
They usually have some damage like your tire.

My mopeds had several flats and I often kept riding it to the shop. Even though the tires were repaired 'professionally' they often failed soon after; in one case exploding at full speed.

Once you've been driving on the sidewall they are not safe anymore.
It damages the internal bracing, and once that rips it is a balloon.

[Eddie25]

the tyre has been running like that at 2.4 bar for a year and a half now. it never rode completely flat where the rim touches the ground. it ran about half deflated. when the wife called me from work I drove the car like that to the closest tyre repair centre. it was about as deflated as 4x4s tyres are on beach sand. say about still half of the tyre wall was between the rim and the road.

[Frank Lee]

Oh NOW you tell us. I'd say it's good to go.