Story: On the freeway this morning heading to the offramp. The offramp has two designated lanes that the left splits to 2 left designated turns at the signal and the right splits to one straight and one designated right at the signal. I was in the right lane to go straight and some lady in the left decided she doesnt want to make a left turn at the light, so she scoots over about a foot in front of me. Since this is still the beginning of the offramp, I am still going 60 or 65.

She then notices that she cut me off and panics (this is in the course of 1-2 seconds from when she initially moved). She then hesitates and stomps on her brakes out of reaction and tries to move to the right where the lane will eventually split. Needless to say, it didn't do any good, all she ended up doing was slowing down literally 3 feet in front of me which causes me to stomp on my brakes. I am still going 50 and since i don't have ABS my tires lockup causing to slide 30 feet and barely missing her by 4 inches. So i preceed to go straight through the light and i noticed the ride is bumpy.

Problem: I think that i might have blew out a tire or something doing that, but no what happened is i rubbed off about a centimeter of tread for about 7 or 8 inches on the circumference of the tire. So basically my tire is close enough to a half circle. The bumping feeling is the tire running on it's flat side.

Solution: Will they eventually even out enough to not feel it? Can the tire shop do something to rebalance them to relieve the problem? What is the answer?

thanks

 

sounds like you have a nice bald spot ont he tire. that part of the tire will wear at the same rate as the rest of the tire, so it's not like the rest of the tire will "catch up" to the same amount of wear.

some tire shops will be nice and replace the tire for you (you may still have to pay some), but that's the best you can do.

a rebalance may help some, but you'll still have the bald spot

 

You could shave the rest of the tire.
But best route is to replace the pair

 

Coming from a tire guys perspective, you'll need to replace your tire, the tire will not even out, but more likely mess up your suspension, alignment, make your other tire wear out unevenly, and turn your ride into a bumpy mess!! I would suggest getting it done quickly, because there is also a possibility that the tire could fail and blow up, because there is a weak spot in the tire. So for your safety and everyone else on the roads safety, i would replace it!!! just my two cents!!

 

Yeah i went to Big O, where I originally bought the tires and the guy that originally sold them to me earlier this month took a look at them. Luckily for me only the fronts have flat spots. He told me basically the same thing you guys are and said that if he was to send them back to the manufacturer they would straight up reject them and send them back with a panic notice within 3 business days. He said :quote: These are the worst i've ever seen :unquote:

However, since he did realize that these were pretty much brand new, not even 30 days old, he offered the price of a new pair of tires at the cost he gets them plus free alignment and balance. My tires originally costed 110 a piece, and he's offering 150 for a pair. Saves me about 70 dollars and since this is my only option i'm taking it. What a great way to start off new tires and wheels. Thanks for all the info in my state of panic.

 

At least they cut you a deal.

 

Glad to see you managed to solve everything!

 

Another way to look at it is that you're lucky you had new tires, or you may not have stopped with 4" to spare.