Tear in sidewall....safe to drive?

Just noticed this today on my rear left stock Rugged Trail tire. The white part is showing. Is this ok to drive for a while? I have no idea how it happened, the shape of that rectangular section is odd.

Was hoping to wait a few more months to upgrade my tires but I may have to earlier if this poses a problem.,.

 

If the picture accurately represents the damage. I would not be concerned and completely dismiss the damage.

 

That is nothing to worry about, and is completely safe to drive. The reason mostly being, is that that's not a tear, that is surface-damage from a curb or something of the sort.

PS, you don't recall how it happened because those tires are wearing out and from the looks of them, wouldn't take much contact at all to do that.

 

Perfect, thank you both. That picture accurately shows the damage.

Tires have 47k on them, was planning on upgrading them in July/August after my truck payments are finished. The tread itself looks fine.

 

Why not be safe at least put it on the back tires if you have a blow out due this this potential problem? How can the curb actually rub that high part of the tire? I'm no tire expert, but if I was in your shoes...I wouldn't put a tire like that up front if you want to risk going longer. I don't want to get into debate whether the tire is good or not...just saying plan for worse case scenario and if the tire goes.... rear blow out would be better than front.

 

those tires suck, I took a chunk off the sidewall of my stockers nudging a smooth granite rock that I often hit with [my 4runner and michelins] with nary a scuff

those also look like early dry rot or car wash chemical damage

seek replacement as soon as permissible

 

Would change them before too many miles.

 

It actually is a rear tire. Rear passenger side. I may look into replacing them soon. These tires do suck, and I have gotten good mileage out of them. May as well upgrade

 

Reviving an old thread. I'm in the same boat. I've got Michelin M/S 2's cracking on the sidewall. Although I can't see any white and the cracking isn't severe ore even all the way around the tire I'm replacing them this weekend because I'm taking a 2000 mile trip at 75 mph in May and don't want to take the chance. Would they last through my trip and until until the end of the summer which is when I wanted to replace them? Most probably, but a blowout at 75mph in a 2004 RC 4X4 isn't a horror I want to even remotely take a chance with. There would be no way there could ever be a good ending to that story. I might survive a rear but now way a front.

 

You see that white part in the picture; People use to grind down their sidewalls to make their own White wall tires because behind that black rubber is that white rubber part; pretty cool actually. If it's like the picture above, it should be okay.

I recommend you replace them before taking the trip though. Those sidewalls are really thin when you think about it; I had a stick that puncture my front right winter tire this winter in the sidewall. It sucked so bad because those tires were fairly new and only had 1 season on them. No one wants to repair a small sidewall puncture so I'm left with having to replace a basically new tire. That's just how thin they are or maybe its just my bad luck.

Sidewall cracks are not as bad if they are not deep. I've had small surface cracks on previous tires on other vehicles that I drove on for thousands of miles and was fine. However if the cracks are deep I wouldn't trust it to hold together well. For a 2000 mile trip; I wouldn't ever drive on bad tires especially at highway speeds. You're going to replace them anyways eventually so you might as well do it now for a piece of mind. It'll keep your mind focus on the fun of the trip and not worry about how your tires are holding up. Much more enjoyable.

 

Well, I did just replace them. Hated to see the MS/2's go since they were an incredible tire (better off road than many realize and stick like gum on road wet or dry. Not bad on ice and snow either but they aren't as good as I want but come next winter I need something with a little more bite in the snow and ice.
I just put a new set of Cooper ATW's in 245/75R16 on my Taco. They are P rated and weigh 4lbs less and are 1" narrower than the stock 265/70R16's that were on it. I noticed an immediate difference in acceleration and steering when I left the parking lot at Big "O". Steering was much lighter, easier. Handling off road was different also. They seem to "squirm" when driving in "off camber" situations where the MS/2's never did. They are real smooth with zero road noise but I'm hard of hearing so who knows. They took less weight to balance since the weights are far smaller and there is "less tire"on the rims. Far less. The MS/2's had more than one weight on them and they were bigger. I've got only one small weight on each rim now. I haven't checked the back side though. The ATW's seem "tippier" in off camber situations so they will take some getting use to but I bought them for the snow and ice we deal with 8 months out of the year. It's April and we have snow coming next week.

When I say the Cooper ATW's are squirmy what I mean is that I was driving on an off camber hillside on loose rock, sand and shale and it "felt" like the rear end was going to slide down the hill but it never did. It was a weird feeling. It never slid at all. Lucky for me since sliding off of the trail would have been VERY painful and totaled my Taco. The tires stay planted but it "feels" like they aren't. I suspect "flexier" sidewalls than the MS/2's. I have felt no difference on road at all but I don't take corners at high speeds and I don't brake heavy into corners. I'll give that a try and see what happens. My off-road driving is fairly mild and everything I've done so far with the ATW's the MS/2's did as well or better. So far. I've only gotten about 20 miles on them and 15 of that was a dirt trail and some climbs.

I'll see what happens this winter because that's why I bought them and it will be interesting to see how the ATW's handle a 2000 mile trip in May where the surface temp of the road at 80 mph will come into play. Hopefully it won't get too hot from Wyoming to Nevada but in May we never know. I know they aren't a "hot climate" tire.