So in the past 2 days I've gone thru 2 tires (one being the Nokian I just put on the right rear last week). Not sure why but they keep shredding the outer sidewall. They don't seem to be rubbing the wheel well, not sure whats causing it. The new tire I had put on this morning to replace the blown Nokian was flat when I got home, 65 miles of drive time on the tire. Sidewall has a groove in it like its rubbing the lip of the wheel well, but theres no sign of damage to the wheel liner.

Would brake problems on the rear wheel cause the tire to do this? The only thing that's changed recently is that I rebuilt the brakes last week. Outside of that, I did run over a duck on my drive home the night before last and heard that tire hit. But there's nothing in the wheel well to indicate any issues from that either...

 

Pics?

 

There is no way that the brakes can grove the outer sidewall. In fact, there's no way anything can grove the outer sidewall in an area that is not covered by the body. There's nothing there but air. If it really is the outer sidewall, drive past a friend and have them look at it.


There are lots of things that can groove or destroy the inner sidewall. Consider that when you're driving, things can move around due to the wind and other forces too. However, if the tire was rubbing on something that was part of the car, you could find that part by looking. It'll have all the dirt rubbed off it. I know you know all this.

 

I would think if something was putting a groove in the sidewall enough to flatten the tire, you would smell the hot rubber or hear the rubbing sound.......especially after 65 miles of driving. Pictures would help us understand better.

 

I'd pull the wheel off and look around checking the body work. Not much there unless somebody popped in the end of the bumper and its retaining bolt is hitting the tire.

 

I'm not hearing any rubbing. When the Nokian went out and shredded the sidewall, I didn't notice it until I started to smell burning rubber and the car wasn't picking up any speed (started vibrating and felt like the transmission went out). Pulled over and there was smoke coming out of that tire.

The new tire and the wheel, as well as the brakes felt hot to touch when I pulled in yesterday. But again no rubbing sound and no burning rubber smell until I got home and parked it. Thats when I noticed it was flat.

I took the car to the gas station last night and put air in the tire. It has a pretty major leak at the bead about 1" long, parallel to the valve stem. Took my tire marker and marked the area. The best I can tell is that maybe its not seated on the bead there, but that still doesn't explain why its getting hot and has a groove in the sidewall around the outer edge of the tire.

Going to try pulling the wheel today and see if I can take it to have it reseated. Also going to see if they have any issues getting the tire to balance out to rule out a bent wheel. I'll poke around in the wheel well to see if theres anything stuck in there.

Kind of wondering if maybe the koni shock on that side has collapsed or if something isn't right and the alignment got knocked off when I hit the duck the other night...last thought is maybe a bad wheel bearing causing everything to get too hot and all that heat is transferring to the wheel and tire. But I would expect to hear groaning/grinding from the bearings, which isn't happening

 

Well, driving on flat tires severely damages the sidewall. That's probably the Occam's razor explanation.

 

Took the wheel off...I don't see anything rubbing, and I don't see any issues with suspension parts. This has me stumped.

The only thing I can see is the section of the bead that was leaking doesn't seem to have seated properly. Whether this was due to them not cleaning the bead properly before mounting the tire or if its secondary to the tire going out and causing the bead to separate from heat, I don't know. It does look like there is a chunk of old rubber sitting on the bead, but if thats from the old tire or the new one melting the bead is unknown.

Tried calling the shop at work here in town, waiting on them to call back...We'll see if they decide to replace the tire or not. If not, I'm pretty screwed at that point. Had to call in a favor with one of the guys at the other store to get this one on the car in the first place so I wasn't stranded 80 miles from home for the next week sleeping in the volvo on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere.

 

New tire installed today. We'll see how well it holds up. From what they said it looks like the shop that did it on Thursday morning tried mounting the tires from the front of the wheel and that these Volvo wheels are reverse mount. They said it looks like they didn't get the bead seated properly and tore a small section of it and thats why the tire got hot/blew out.

Kind of makes me wonder if they did the same thing with the Nokian they put on last week and if thats why it went out. Also makes me wonder if Jack Williams Tire did the same thing for the second Nokian I had put on last weekend. I'll have to keep an eye on that tire too it looks like, possibly have them dismount and remount it at work to be on the safe side.

So far it seems to be holding up well. Tire isn't getting hot like it was and I still don't hear any rubbing. Although there is a clicking noise coming from that rear wheel occasionally, but I suspect that is the brake pads (does it on a quick roll forward and backwards while wheel is off the ground). I may want to inspect and replace the wheel bearings on that wheel too in the near future, as well as the dreaded delta link :joy: :/

The wanderwagen shenanigans never end...

 

I went through at least 4 side wall blow outs on my 850 over the years. The only way I learned to prevent the blowouts was to run 36-39 PSI. In the chance you have a damaged rim (ie pitting on the rim's mounting surface), I'd monitor the pressure closely over the next week or two. Which rims are you using - ie Cetus 15s, steelies etc? I've never heard of reverse mount - only that some tires are directional so you can only rotate front to rear (sidewalls will show an arrow for rotation).

 

"reverse mount tires" They were pulling your leg.

 

Dunno...I'll keep an eye on the pressure and see what happens. Running on stock 16" Columbia's...I'm familiar with directional tires, but reverse mounting tires is new to me...Google may be my friend on this one...from what the tech was explaining, it has to do with the lip on the wheel and how the rim clamp pulls up on the tire. Something to do with a chance to damage the bead with the machine the way the wheel is designed. We'll see if there's any truth to that if/when the sidewall blows out again...

They cleaned the bead up nice and shiny and slapped some bead sealer on the wheel...We'll see what happens. The wheel itself isn't damaged from what they can tell. No cracks, flat spots in the bead/lip, balances out well (only took an ounce of weight to balance it)...I'd still like to get a spare set of 15's though for winter...eyeing up a set of Argo's if I can get them for a decent price (seller wants $200 for set of 4...Bit high IMO seeing as I can pull them with good tires at the junkyard for $25 a wheel..but he also has a 55k mile auto tranny from a 94 turbo, so maybe I can work a package deal )

This is what I came up with on reverse mounting tires: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=314

 

Given you are using OEM rims and new tires I doubt there's any issue with how the tire is pulled onto the rim. usually the problems are due to older rims having dirt or corrosion on the rim surface and the bead sealer should address that. There's a lot of Cetus wheels out there - you can search car-parts.com for a yard near you for either the Argos or Cetus rims.

 

I have got lots of 15" wheels that I need to get rid of. You should be able to find a set locally for $100. Lots of them in the junkyards here too.

 

How far are you from Eagleville and Franklin TN? I have a cousin down there that's making a trip up this way soon, if you want to part with a set of 5 of those 15" wheels I may be able to convince her to pick them up and bring them along with for me, lighten your load a bit lol

 

I'm not close to Franklin, but I'm on the way. I live along I-81.