Ever heard of a Separated Belt?

Last week I got an alignment done at a mom and pop type shop here in town (trying to support the small businesses) and the told me that my right front tire has a separated belt. So I go over to discount they say its fine, balance all four, check air pressure, and rotate the right side. And nothing changes, alignment is still off. Go back to the alignment shop they re-align and they still insist that the tire is still bad (they don't know that its the tire from the back). I then tell them I switched the front to back and they STILL insist on its another bad tire.
The guy he see bad tires 5-10 times a week!
What a bunch os shit. But at least they finally gave up on it and actually aligned it.

So has anyone ever heard of this (for real)?

 

Yes we did a cross country trip in '05 and the tread separated on the two rear tires and the car was hopping in back. Car was still under bumper to bumper warranty so after being told by the local dealer that he couldn’t balance our tires and do a 4 wheel alignment because our “wheels were out of round” we called corporate and told them what the dealer told us. We not only got 4 new tires but told them we refused to have Firestones put back on. So we got the price of replacing the Firestones applied to some Michelins. $106 for $625 worth of tires.

 

Ya, I can see that. But the guy told me you can't see a separated belt.

The place I went to was Jack's Alignment and need less to say I will NEVER go back there again.

 

This wasn't like the semi recap pieces you see on the road. The tires were intact but there were intermitent bumps in the tread where it came loose.

 

My girlfriend's car had something that I can only describe as a separated belt but the tire was undrivable. It completely deformed so I doubt the belt in the tires is broken or separated. You'd know it when driving.

 

Exactly, my tires are not deformed or out of round at all.

 

Yes separated tires happen all the time. It does sound to me that the guy was just trying to sell you a tire. U can tell if ur tire is separated.