Starting the Garage Blog - Tire Separation

Hello everyone, Starting the garage blog. Going to be posting all the exciting events and common occurrences that we see on vehicles when they come into the shop as well as posting some of those cool cars that come in as well.


I wanted to start this blog off with a very common issue that we get in at the shop everyday, called "tire separation" which occurs when the belts in a tire fail. The customer's usual complaint is either noise, shaking and/or ride disturbance. Traditionally this can be seen in a tire by noticing a section of the tire has worn itself off more than other sections of the tire. The section can vary from a shoulder wear to a complete tread width section. Here is a picture to illustrate:

The section of tread that has separated is visible inside the marked area. This section of tread was causing the steering wheel to shake and create a rotational noise.

If the tire is continued to be driven on, the separated section will wear into the steel chords and create a leak or blow out.

The fix for this issue is to put on a new or used tire.

All tire manufactures have these problems due to the rush to get tires made quickly, cheaply and to the consumer faster. Some manufactures will address it swiftly and easily while others will blame the premature tire failure due to road conditions, worn steering and suspension components, alignment, etc. and not offer any help in getting a new tire.

---