Tire dent = need to replace tire?
 

Ok, so shitty parking skillz caused me to scrape the curb with the front right wheel. A not so bad scratch on the alloy wheel, oh well, but then I noticed a tire dent like this:

Tire dent picture one, tire dent picture two.

From a cursory overview, the dent on the side of the tire is like 1-2 mms.

Is it safe to drive with a tire like this? Should I have it replaced ASAP?

I have to drive to work tomorrow, but I'm gonna take a non-highway route and not exceed 50-55mph.

P.S.: Looks like I need some mudflaps!

That is not good for the tire. There is the possibility of the tire blowing out when driven hard. Yours looks deep from the angle you have it in your pic. My girlfriend does this all the time to her tires. She has been through three in the past 3 years on her past two cars. She had one similar to yours that she drove on for 6 months before she got it replaced. Sorry to hear that you did this.......gets to be expensive after doing it numerous times (my GF).

-R

it isn't GOOD, but its not that bad either....I wouldn't race on it...but I would certainly drive on it.......

So you saying that 70mph on the highway and driving without hard braking or hard turning should be OK?

That's good then, I'll put another 1K on the car and then get the tire replaced when I do my 3K oil change.

Is it worth replacing the tire at the dealer? How much more expensive is it than doing it at a random shop or by oneself?

My experiences at at the dealer requires me to leave the car there for a whole day just because they're so busy. So i'd have the tire replaced at a good tire shop and the costs may be the same and may be cheaper. But since you're bringing it in for an oil change anyways, that might not be a problem for you. But i'd check the prices first.

I would also check to see if they even HAVE a tire...I bet they don't....

you can find the tires that come on our cars all day long at decent tire suppliers for about $90....so keep that in mind when you ask the dealer how much for the tire....if its close...and your car is there anyway? go for it.....as long as they don't want an arm and a leg to install it and ballance it too.

Yesterday, back from work, I stopped by at National Tire & Battery and then a few miles down, by a Bridgestone/Firestone tire shop. I asked techs from both of the places to look at my tire and they both said that it was OK.

Basically, looks like the rubber sidewall is specifically for that kind of protection. The actual tire "rigidness" comes from the multiple-ply wire "structure" or whatever inside. So if it was dented such that the wire was showing, then, one of the tech said, it would be a problem and the tire could blow.

But I do think that I should avoid autocrossing or anything like that on this tire :)

So I'm gonna bet the farm on the techs being right and resume my normal hard turns and fast acceleration driving :)

Nice.......thats good for your sake.

-R