Forum Discussion

thewayweroll's avatar
thewayweroll
Explorer
Dec 23, 2020

Tire Deformation

Hello Folks,

I took my F-350 down to the tire shop to have a rotate & balance done. One of the fellows took me to the back & while the Front tire was on the wheel balancer machine spinning around, in a normal motion, I could clearly see a huge "Hump" on one section of the tire.

This is NOT a side tire "bulge". This "Hump" spanned the width of the tire treads. He said it was junk & I ended up getting 2 new geolanders G056's up front.

Does anyone know what this "Hump" defect is called? If you don't understand I'll try to explain. I've had issues with side bulges but not this type. The tires were 03/2016 & I got the truck early this year but they didn't "look" like they were in bad shape.

The best guess I have is possibly hitting a potthole or underinflation + a potthole ha ha
  • Good you did catch it prior to deflation or explosion either way. I had one similar on my boat trailer, looked like a chicken mysteriously laid an egg under the middle of the tread. I just caught it by luck, I store the trailer with tires off the ground and give them a spin a couple times during the winter.
  • Fisherman wrote:
    Carcass and belt delamination for lack of better words. Most likely caused by driving through potholes or a rock you ran over. I pay attention to the road surface.


    Thanks! I pay attention too but wide 13,000lbs truck can't exactly always swerve around a pot hole that pops up real quick if you know what I mean. I'm not driving a corvette HA! I took the kids on a 1500 mi trip earlier this year & I think I remember hitting a bad spot in one the roads...

    Thermoguy wrote:
    yep - belt delamination. Had to replace my trailer tires this year with the same look. Also had a Michelin tire on a car do that. I thought I had a brake rotor or something out of round, but it was the tire. Older tires will do that regardless of mileage.


    This was a FS Transforce All Terain & 5 out of 6 were still good after 4 years so maybe that's doing good? I got 5.5 years & 45K out of my cooper A/T on my last truck. Although they didn't look exactly spectacular & were showing age.

    bukhrn wrote:
    Broken Belt, Im sure you noticed a thump, or vibration in the steering wheel.


    I had them look to see if the tire was patched & it was not. They didn't see any patch work. He just said it was "junk" lol After I seen the huge lump I had no aguments about that.

    However, I did start to notice an odd vibration & that's partially what prompted my intention of rotate/balance. After getting the rears balanced/rotated with the new shoes up front the drive home was much smoother no doubt about it.

    Thanks, I suppose it's broken belts that will, perhaps, eventually blow out a tire.. Glad they caught it before our trip down south.
  • Belt is not continuous. They have a termination. It can be broken by a bad impact. Off road racing tires are made different to help prevent it.
  • bukhrn's avatar
    bukhrn
    Explorer III
    Broken Belt, Im sure you noticed a thump, or vibration in the steering wheel.
  • yep - belt delamination. Had to replace my trailer tires this year with the same look. Also had a Michelin tire on a car do that. I thought I had a brake rotor or something out of round, but it was the tire. Older tires will do that regardless of mileage.
  • Carcass and belt delamination for lack of better words. Most likely caused by driving through potholes or a rock you ran over. I pay attention to the road surface.

About Technical Issues

Having RV issues? Connect with others who have been in your shoes.24,189 PostsLatest Activity: Jan 21, 2025