I ran over a curb bad enough to bend and put a hairline crack in two of my wheels. I am obviously replacing the wheels, but what about the tires? They look ok to me but should I be concerned about damage to the cord or anything?
I ran over a curb bad enough to bend and put a hairline crack in two of my wheels. I am obviously replacing the wheels, but what about the tires? They look ok to me but should I be concerned about damage to the cord or anything?
Yeah you should be concerned about it. If there's no visible damage you could try driving on them and see if they feel OK, but they most likely have structural damage.
In reply to fiesta54: You won't know until the tire is dismounted and you can see the inside, which is where the damage almost always is. My son hit a curb once, and while the tire looked OK from the outside, there was obvious damage on the inside and it needed to be replaced. It comes down to calculating how much the damage will be when the tire blows out at speed, versus the cost of replacing a pair of tires (as you really need to replace them at least in pairs).
It depends on how fragile the wheels were, how far the tires squished on impact, etc. They might be damaged and develop a vibration or a bubble, or they might be fine. I'd probably replace them just to be safe.
When I crashed my Miata and shattered a wheel (yes, shatter), I reused the tire and had no issues for a year's worth of autocrossing. The tire guys thoroughly checked the inside of the tire before using it and inflated it in a cage. YMMV.
Expect sidewall tumors.
Perfect excuse for a wheel and tire upgrade!
WildScotsRacing wrote: Perfect excuse for a wheel and tire upgrade!
Unfortunately I just had my wheel and tire upgrade 
. Sounds like I need to go ahead and get two new tires. I don't want to be wondering if my tires are going to let go down the road.
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