"Iron wires" showing through sidewall

Question

I purchased my Suzuki Alto K10 car in 2011. In 2017, I fitted the stepney (AKA "spare tyre") and have driven almost 15000km.

Recently I have observed some iron wires came from side wall of this tyre, which I have taken out.

Is this tyre dangerous? Should it be replaced?

Answer 1

The "wires" you mention are likely the tire cords - essentially bands of steel wire that are major structural elements of the tire's construction. If they are exposed this is an indicator of imminent failure and the tire is dangerous to be used.

If the cords are showing through the sidewall:

• DO NOT drive the vehicle with that tire on!
• DO Get the tire replaced ASAP!
• DO NOT attempt to "remove" the cords!

Answer 2

Sidewall damage is almost unrepairable. If it is indeed damage to the steel belts, the tire will fail violently (instantly) soon in the future.

That's a good reason not to be trying to change it on the car, because that involves a lot of direct handling of the tire. Tires can blow from handling/maintenance, and do hurt people handling them; that's why you may see your tire shop inflate tires inside a very tough cage. If he's afraid of a new tire, do the math.. But it's pretty safe in your wheelwell. So with a structurally damaged tire, ask yourself "is this handling necessary?"

Of course it's much more dangerous to drive the car normally at-speed and have a blowout cause a loss of control or vehice rollover.

But don't let the chicken littles fool you, you can limp the car to the tire shop. It's vital to keep speed down to a speed where you won't lose control when the tire violently fails, 20 mph (30 kph) will be absolutely fine. If you go much faster, energy in speed is a square function, so you have a wildly increasing chance of loss of control, rollover, colliding with other cars, hurting yourself and others, and wrecking the car of course.

Also, very important: don't just get on the main road at any speed. Don't let yourself into a situation wher you say "I am going fast because I have to", avoid those roads. Work your way through side/back streets; a longer route is fine. Choose roads where you will be able to stop immediately without disrupting traffic too badly, and once the tire is blown, you can safely handle it without fear (except of sharp edges) and put on the spare on. This will not be a normal soft tire, if you press onward for even 0.1mi (0.2km) you will quickly destroy the wheel. Road conditions won't care; I've been in places where you had to drive another 2km to get to a safe place to change a tire, and just had to let the wheel be wrecked. Don't select roads like that.

Answer 3

To reiterate what Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 said in the comment, such side-wall damage is not supposed to happen under normal conditions. You should try to discover what the problem was before fitting new tyres, otherwise you risk ruining those as well:

• check the production date of your current tyres. Were they produced in 2016/2017, or much earlier? Could be the case if you got them second-hand.
• check the camber angle. Excessive camber (which can be easily seen) may contribute to sidewall damage
• check the load index and speed rating of your tires. With a 1.2 ton car, your tires should be at least 75S.
• check the inflation pressure. Driving with under-inflated tyres could ruin then quite quickly.

And yeah, once the steel cord breaks, the tyres are beyond repair and quite dangerous to drive on. On turn you take there's a risk that the cord will puncture the tyre, sending your car off the road.

Answer 4

You can not pull the steel tire belts out; You might be able to cut them with good wire cutters. Could you have picked up nails somewhere? I have pulled nails out of tread but never a side wall. In the tread, the heads have worn away so it becomes a "wire".