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Small cracks in tire sidewall cause for concern? (archive)
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Posted by Matt in NY on March 12, 2000 at 22:21:15:

While cleaning off my "summer" wheels & tires in preparation for reinstalling them on my 99 E46, I found three small cracks on the inner sidewall of my right front tire. They follow the circumference of the tire, just above where the sidewall lettering, and about 1cm below the tread; each is about 0.5 to 1 cm long. Just the right size for sticking in a fingernail. Two are close together, one is about 1/4 of the way around the tire. It looks like they follow a hidden seam where the tread is molded to the rest of the tire. The outer sidewall looks fine, as do the other three tires. I see no evidence of physical abuse/scrapes/... and the tires look otherwise fine, no bubbles. The tire is a Continental ContiTouring Contact (hence the quotes around summer), 205/55 R 16. When I pulled the tires off in December, they had 11,000 miles on them.

My inclination is to just put them back on… but while I don't autocross or really push the car, I do toss it about a fair bit, and tire failure is always a Bad Thing.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Any opinions on whether I should replace the tire?

Thanks,

Matt


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