Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General What tires did my tour come with?

I took my car in this morning to get the brakes fixed and found out that my right rear tire's steel belt had separated!
The other rear tire was close to being as bad as the other. Almost bald on one area!
I took it to a few shops and they all said that the tread is worn like that due to the steel belt separating.
So, I bought two BFGoodrich Control TA's

The car is still in the shop, so I can't tell you right now what tires are on it.

I feel very lucky that the tire did not come apart on me while doing the max speed that the tour would let me! :rolleyes:

So, what tires did my tour come with at the dealer when it was new?

Stephen

Your car came from the factory with Firestones. At least, I'm 95% sure it did. I have BFG Control T/As on my wife's Plymouth Breeze. They are great, long wearing tires that handle well.

Looking to find out how they could tell the belt was broken? You said because of the unusual wear..... any other ways? (special tools)? I ask because I might've broken a belt a little while ago.

More importantly:
Is this kind of thing usually covered under warranty? FYI they're my second set of BFG KDWs (not KDWS), first stock, then from tirerack. thx.

The tires on my wife's van had a belt break. The only way we knew was there was a small dimple about 1/2" wide on the sidewall.

If it is a belt in the sidewall, there will be a knot on the sidewall, if it is on the tread, you can look across the tire and see it, there will be a section of the tread that is raised higher than the rest, normally in the center 3 tread.

Funny how those tires did not last long! My tour only has 90,000km on it and it has gone through the Firestones and now a set of General-Ameri G4S's!
Most tires that I've known have at least a 100,000km tread wear guarantee!
I guess I'm out of luck to try and get some sort of warranty on the General tires with the belt separating like that.

Stephen

My rear tires were practicaly bald on one area only and in that area you could feel the uneven surface (cupped).
As for other ways of knowing, sorry, best to ask a tire retailer about what other signs there are for separated steel belts on a tire.
I thought I just needed an alignment because of the shake/vibration at 120kph! It turned out to be the rear tires wobbling!
I asked the same question about the warranty and the mechanic told me that I may not have much of a chance there due to the life left in the rest of those tire's tread! So, to answer your warranty question, it will depend on how much tread there is left when the belt separated. Most places use tread wear measuring tools to determine how much is left in your waranty of the tires. Say you have 100,000km waranty tires and something goes wrong with the tire. The store will look up your tires and see what the depth of your tire's tread was when new and then compare that with the depth of the tread now. They use the comparison to determing how much life is left in comparison to the warant of the tire.
Oh, and when waranty work is done it is usually just a lesser cost to you based solely on what tread is left on your tires.

Stephen

No, in my experience with tires, if you get the cheaper ones they come with a noticeable dimple on the sidewall. I have been told that that is the seam of the steel belt. This has caused me some concern too but it is ok as long as it is not bulging out. If it is a dip inwards that is ok but bulging out is a cause for concern!

Stephen

That is correct. The inward dimple in the sidewall is know as a splice.

About the tire wear pattern. If it was on the inside portion of the tread that wore first, it is likely due to an alignment problem. If the toe is too far toed out it will generate that kind of a wear pattern, especially if the camber is negative (which is normal as long as it in spec). In any event, if you have not had an alignment in a while, it should be done with a new set of tires anyway.

Originally posted by Big Jim:

Stephen

Quote:

That is correct. The inward dimple in the sidewall is know as a splice.

About the tire wear pattern. If it was on the inside portion of the tread that wore first, it is likely due to an alignment problem. If the toe is too far toed out it will generate that kind of a wear pattern, especially if the camber is negative (which is normal as long as it in spec). In any event, if you have not had an alignment in a while, it should be done with a new set of tires anyway.

I had an alignment done and the "before" test results showed that the alignment was within spec.

The tire was almost bald, in an uneven egg shape,in an area approximately 4 inches wide!

Stephen