Toby

Got my 993 going again this afternoon, ( thanks again for advice guys ), and went for a long blast in the sun

Anyhow, after an hour or so, on the way back, I suddenly started to feel a vibration from the rear passenger side of the car.

Pulled over to see what was wrong, and couldnt really see anything, except that the tyre looked a little low, and the sidewall was all scuffed where the writing is, and that it looked strange but couldnt put my finger on it.

Decided it all looked ok, so drove on a bit more, but still worried, stopped a a few more times, tyre didnt seem to be getting any worse, but the vibration was still there..In the end decided to put some air in the tyre to make it the same hardness as the other side, ( I'd only got the factory compressor with me ), and limped home for further investigation.

Took the wheel off, and found that the whole tyre has lifted and stretched about an inch to the outside edge of the wheel !! Worse tho, there are 3 big bulges in the tyre on the inside edge and on the tread !
No wonder it was vibrating..

I've had a good look a the wheel, and I could see a nail well imbedded in it, but dont know if thats what caused the tyre damage, or if that has been in there ages.. Equally, I'm not sure how long the bulges have been there..
I've had the car 3 weeks, 800 miles, and I have at times thought the bank end a bit, well weird, but put that down to being me not use to RWD after an audi tt for 4 years..

Happily, my guardian angel was looking after me today and it didnt blow out or give up when I was driving faster earlier ! I think I've been very very lucky !

Anyone any ideas as to whether the bulges where caused by the nail, or maybe the tyre went a little flat and moved, causing them, or is it a manufacturing default.... ?
pictures linked below







[/IMG]http://www.nimbus.org.uk/images/993/640_bulge_5.jpg [/IMG]

chris walrod

Wow! Glad you made it home without it coming apart! Looks as though some of the sidewall belts have let go. Bummer!

This had happened on one or our Volvo tires, although not as extreme. I replaced all four tires as a matter of precaution. Sad part was they were only half worn..

geolab

with some luck, I had kept the receipt of my purchase, and when I had the same
thing happen to my rear michelin N1, I called Michelin, sent them the tyre and they sent me a new
one for free. Do you have the receipt?

pcar964

that's ugly!! I think Continental will replace the tire for free (or at least they should) becuase that looks like an obvious defect is the only possible cause.

Edward

Wow, that's ugly. I've had bad sidewalls in the past but nothing that ever even came close to that. I don't think even impact can make a tire look that grotesque ...my bet is on manufacturing defect as well. Glad you made it back w/o incident!

Edward

Toby

Well, not sure if I'll get anywhere with the manufacturer, as I didnt buy the tyre originally, tho I have a receipt of sorts... although I cant tell what branch of fitter it was done at...
Also, the car has had its numberplate changed twice since then, so I'm not hopefull..

I'm very glad it didnt give out, now a bit worried about damage to the alloy.. there is definate scuffing on the inside edge of the rim, not 'bad', at least I wouldnt be bothered on a normal car, but I'm wondering whether its more important on a 993 rim..

There doesnt seem to be any on the inside edge or top where the tyre touches, so it could have been curbed at some point, what do you guys think ?

an issue or not ?

heres the picture that show it best...

jimq

I think it would be hard to curb the inside of a rim. Possible I guess but very hard to do without messing up something else.

Chrisw_05

If you Buy a second-hand car.....993 for example.....regardless of how many owners it has had you can still claim for defects on the car / re-calls.

Why would it be any different for tyres...it may be worth an email or call to the manufacturer asking if there was any recalls for your tyres as you have had a potential catastrophic failure which could of resulted in a major accident.....I would.....This is NOT wear and tear....This could of been fatal......They may want it back for testing.

Chris W.

Garth S

The good news is that the tire still holds air - and provided a (slim) margin of safety.
The failure appears to be the type typical of delamination of the innermost tread belt: the resulting belt twist has severely pulled the immediate underlying radial ply fabric, causing the sidewall deformation: it is the steel bead that provided the strength to keep the pressure envelope intact.

I would contact Conti on this issue, offering to forward pics: do not release the tire until the dialogue swings to your favour.

ceboyd

Let us know how it goes when you work with continental to get a replacment.

It does, however, appear that you wore the tire tread out on that inside edge as well so I'm not sure Continental will be as willing to give you a new tire or any tire


If I were Continental Tire, I would give you a new tire just on 'good will' because I can't imagine anything but a defect causing a problem. Put it this way, if you did have a blow out and total the car, I think you would have had a strong case against Continental Tire for selling a defective tire!

Paul M

Low profile tyres are very susceptible to sidewall damage. When running with low pressure, the rim digs in and can destroy the sidewall in just a few revolutions. There isn't as much foregiveness as there would be with a higher sidewall.

When you dismount the tyre, you'll no doubt find that it is full of black rubber powder.

If it's any consolation, I think you'll still get it through your next MOT...

ceboyd

The bottom line is to be thankful you and the car is safe.. I can only imagine how bad of an accident you could have had if that tire blew out at speed!!!

ZombiePorsche44

Just be thankful it didn't let go in a 100mph sweeper turn causing you more than tire grief...................Good Luck

ZP44

nile13

Continentals have notoriously soft sidewalls, in my experience.

The bulge was most likely caused by hitting a pothole. Which might or might not mean a bent rim in addition to teh tire bulge.

Toby

cheers for the advice guys

I've spoken to the local tyre people today, and they are sourcing me a new tyre for later in the week. So I'll be back on the road for the weekend

Also, spoken to them about the damage, to the tyre and my rim...

We are going to have it apart tomorrow, check the rim, and see whats inside..
If it does look like a plain failure and not just a flat, and then my running on it, then I'll definately be keeping hold of the tyre and seeing what Continental have to say. I'm going to contact them anyway, although I havent found a website or similiar yet !

I have a feeling now, that it looks like I got a nail, ( there is one in it ), in the tyre in a layby I stopped in, ( It was a one way one, and once I drove into it, it was rough, broken concrete ! had to go at tickover...), I then drove maybe 2 miles before getting the vibration that made me pull over and check the wheels out.

At that time, the tyre wall must have moved, as I could see the scuffing on the outside of the tyrewall, but nothing clicked, and it didnt look 'flat' just slightly deflated.. I would have said by say 5psi... Having seen nothing conclusive I drove another maybe 5 miles, before using the car compressor to put extra air into the tyre, and limping the 15 miles home at 30mph...
From the outside there really was no clue there was something wrong, but it sure was obvious when I took the tyre off !

So, I'm guessing if it wasnt a straight failure, the damage to the rim was done in those 5 miles, and when I put the extra air in, it just made the bulges appear where the rim weakend the tyrewall..

Apart from the layby, ( and I did crawl thro it ), all the roads that day were excellent, no potholes, so I dont think it could be that.

Anyhow, as many of you have said, and its definately crossed my mind more than once.. I'm just glad it didnt give out earlier in the day when I'd been having a good thrash on our nice twisty country roads..

Let you all know how I get on, fngers crossed I havent damaged the alloy too !