BF Goodrich TRACTION T/A Tires - Strange sidewall dent

[sad-lumina-owner]

Here is a picture of the dent(s). There is one on this tire, and two on the drivers side front tire. These tires have good reviews, but the odd shape here disturbs me.

The effect has been exaggerated, by the way I have lit up the tire to show the dent. In daytime its barely visible, unless you're looking for it. You can feel it to touch.

Is this a normal manufacturing defect? Would these tires be 'seconds', or is this more serious? I don't know enough about tires and typical problems to have a good grip on this.



I found some reviews of this tire, (seems to be good)
http://www.1010tires.com/tirereviews...e_reviews.html

The tire is rated at 97T A (traction) B (temp) 620 (wear, which is a high rating).

['97ventureowner]

I had those areas on some of my tires over the years and one tire place told me that was 'normal' due to the manufacturing process. Something having to do with the way the belts are overlapped or something along those lines. I never had any issues with those tires so I'm inclined to believe what they told me. (Same thing was also told to me by an associate who worked at a dealership.) One tire on a new truck that I bought about 14 years ago had a distinct crease you could locate by sliding your hand along the tire's sidewall. I agree it looks worse than it actually turns out to be.

[inafogg]

hello,i agree but it is in fact a defect. if this bothers you they can be exchanged under warranty using the prorated system.Good Luck

[shorod]

I'm not sure you'll get very far with the defect/warranty approach. If the the area were convex (bulge) rather than concave that would indicate you probably had a separated belt(s) in the tire. However, I've always been told by the tire shops that we worked with years ago that these concave areas were due to the manufacturing process. We never had one that caused a vibration, uneven tread wear, or balancing issues. We have however experienced those issues with bulges due to separated belts.

-Rod

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by shorod

However, I've always been told by the tire shops that we worked with years ago that these concave areas were due to the manufacturing process.
-Rod

Yep, the same wording I got when I brought up what I thought was a defect. They went on to describe how a tire was made and how those "areas' show up as a result of the process.

[sad-lumina-owner]

Fair enough.

I'm only concerned about any safety issues, e.g. danger of a blowout.

But I'd like to hear from any and all with similar experiences so that we get a real independant idea of the significance of these 'defects'.

If there is a danger, it should show up in people's experiences, and thats what I want to be sure about.

I bought the tires used, so I probably can't say much about any warrantees.

But used or new, I am interested in reliability and safety first.

[goongrinch]

thats normal, that where the peice is glued together at. strongest part of the tire.

[jonathanwang]

The major influence for the safe of the tires are the pressure and the temperature.The pressure too hight or too law are both easy damage the tire and can make accident.The temprature too high also make the tires old easily .The tend on tire l had seen ,but not so big as the tend on your car.L driver the car with the tend on it work well very,the reliability and safety is out of question.But the tend may influence you temper ,and you can't absorb it .You had better change the tire early.

[2.2 Straight six]

It's where the plies in the sidewall meet. Some tyres don't show this, ususally when you can see them there are two and they are opposite to each other.

I used to run a tyre shop, saw these plenty of times daily, nothing to worry about.

[curtis73]

Good luck getting any tire replaced under warranty with a sidewall defect. They always blame them on the driver for hitting something.

Anyway, don't worry about it. Its normal. Almost ever tire I've ever owned had some sort of "defect" but its just in the appearance. Drive it.