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I rubbed a curb last night pretty good. Left a small gash in the sidewall of my rear passenger tire. I can't see any of the steel cords in the tire, but not sure if it warrants a new tire. I understand that sidewall damage is the worst kind of damage... I do tow and am about to head out on a 1000+ mile trip. 2018 F-250 6.2l 4x4. Thanks for the input!
I have driven on worse, BUT if it troubles you I would say go ahead and replace it. That's deeper than I'd feel absolutely safe with. Like if I had no other choice I'd use it, but if there were an option to NOT use it, I absolutely wouldn't.
I think any tire expert would tell you its not worth the risk and they would recommend replacing the tire ...rather applying arm chair internet knowledge like heating up the tire with a hair dryer and applying hot black hot glue on it
The tires on any vehicle are the foundation. Without tires it is yard art. Your life is more valuable than a $300 to $500 tire any day. Blown tires can pull you into a head on or ditch collision let alone pulling a trailer with your family. A lot of people complain about the price of tires but they are simply cheap insurance.
Thanks for the feedback guys. My gut was telling me to replace as well, I just won’t be comfortable on the road knowing that damage is there. At the tire shop now.
I will say that another shop I stopped at to inquire about said it was fine and to not worry about it… I was kinda surprised at that answer. Needless to say I might not use that shop anymore.
I don't think there's an in-between. If it's good enough to use as a spare it's good enough to run on the ground. And that one looks good enough to me. The OP said the plies aren't exposed and I figure he'd say if it was losing air. That isn't a structural part of the tire.
I don't think there's an in-between. If it's good enough to use as a spare it's good enough to run on the ground. And that one looks good enough to me. The OP said the plies aren't exposed and I figure he'd say if it was losing air. That isn't a structural part of the tire.
I think that looks like one that I would feel pretty comfortable running around town unloaded with, but the OP is talking about taking it on a 1k+ mile trip. He mentions towing, but not whether he would be towing on this trip.
*My* luck would be that I would hook up my 5th wheel, hit the interstate, and it would be fine until I was the largest distance that I could get from a tire shop....then I would hit a pothole on that EXACT spot and blow out the sidewall. But that's just my luck.
Perfectly fine to run that as is, doesn't meet DOT damage required for replacement as it's just a small nick in the rubber and no casing is exposed. Use it as the spare?
I don't think there's an in-between. If it's good enough to use as a spare it's good enough to run on the ground. And that one looks good enough to me. The OP said the plies aren't exposed and I figure he'd say if it was losing air. That isn't a structural part of the tire.
Ah no... It's NOT the same... Not in my book anyways. A spare tire is a tire, to get you to a place where you can get your flat tire fixed, Now some people do use the spare tire in a regular rotation, but normally most spare tires, especially lately are emergency use only... Not so much in 1 tons but, after years and years, even un-used "new" tires it can deteriorate to the point where it is not reliable... JMO...
Ah no... It's NOT the same... Not in my book anyways. A spare tire is a tire, to get you to a place where you can get your flat tire fixed, Now some people do use the spare tire in a regular rotation, but normally most spare tires, especially lately are emergency use only... Not so much in 1 tons but, after years and years, even un-used "new" tires it can deteriorate to the point where it is not reliable... JMO...
Right. But tire stores, the ones I shop at anyway, aren’t open 24/7 so that spare might have to last all day on the freeway some +100° Sunday. My spare has to be able to do anything the other four can. The only difference is it’s on a steel wheel and doesn’t look as nice.
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A spare tire is a tire, to get you to a place where you can get your flat tire fixed, Now some people do use the spare tire in a regular rotation, but normally most spare tires, especially lately are emergency use only... Not so much in 1 tons but, after years and years, even un-used "new" tires it can deteriorate to the point where it is not reliable... JMO... 
