Strange Tyre Damage/Wear

G

Garvin

Member
 Cambridgeshire
The Z4 went in for a service and MoT - 29k miles and will be 3 years old in early July. Service manager rings up to say that both front tyres have the cords showing on the inside shoulders and need to be changed else it would fail the MOT! Tyres have plenty of tread (~6mm), even wear across the tyre width and pressures have been regularly checked - service manager confirmed pressures were OK. It's a lease car and he went on to say that the lease company had authorised new front tyres to be fitted. He also said that the 'damage' was not visible unless the inside tyre walls were viewed (both tyres) and can only be caused by driving over "something sharp",

In my rather extensive driving career I have never come across this before and am left wondering how both front tyres could suffer similar damage and all within the last 12 months since the rear tyres were replaced and the fronts fully checked over! Anyone else experienced this as I just can't fathom out how this can have happened. And, no, the old damaged tyres were not available to view when I picked the car up!
 
The good news, I suppose, is that if it doesn't happen again, it isn't car-related, so it doesn't matter anymore. :)

If it does happen, then the obvious questions are geometry and rubbing. Is the car on 19" wheels and over-size tyres? :?
 
I had a similar problem on a Honda some years back, the tracking was checked was not the cause. I put it down to speed bumps in my area, the type that don't span the full width of the road but sit in the middle of each carriageway.

Since then I always drive over such bumps with the wheels on one side of the car in the centre of the bump, I'm convinced that driving over them centrally causes that damage to the inner walls if the width between wheels an the bump width coincide.
 
It's not the tracking. The tyre wear was completely even across the tyre. The damage was described as if the tyre had been cut just below the shoulder on the inner tyre wall . . . . . on both! Very strange.

I did hit the mother of all potholes on the M1 about six weeks ago whilst changing lanes - huge crashing jolt. I was half expecting an MoT fail due to cracked wheel(s) but wheels are fine!

Speed bumps - maybe, perhaps a 'rogue' damaged one, seems the only plausible if unlikely answer!

BTW, with 6mm tread left after 29k miles it does suggest the front tyres would have gone ~90k miles before needing replacement (rears needed replacing at 19k miles) :-o
 
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