Inner Tyre Wall Cracking - MOT Failure
Discussion
Car: Fiesta ST 2016
Mileage: 32k
I had my car fail its MOT today on the grounds that the inner tyre wall had cracks exceeding the safe limits. There was a full video walk around of the tyres from the Ford tech so I've no query on the extent of the damage it looked awful. Some of the cracks were very long. The damage had occured on both front tyres. The inner and outer edges of the tyres were worn. The main tread was consistent across the middle of the tyres at 4mm on both fronts.
tbh I'm embarrassed my tyres were in that bad a state, and also concerned that I was driving around on such bad rubber without noticing. I did give the car a cursory once over before it went in and the outside wall and tread depth were sound (confirmed by the MOT test at over 4mm on both front tyres, 5mm on rears). The tyres have probably only had around 10-15k miles on them so perhaps I was complacent on my checks.
New fronts have now been fitted. Nexen tyres. I've no idea if these are any good but I wasn't going to drive away on what I had on there so went with it. At £90/tyre I'd hope they aren't complete s
te but I will replace them if they are. A wheel alignment was carried out. I have the read outs but don't know how to interpret it so any advice would be appreciated. I assume misalignment may have been part of the issue.
My question is this. What could have caused this? My driving? Potholes? The wheel misalignment? The previous tyres were Falken.
A side issue was pitting on the rear discs. This was an advisory as there's still plenty of disc and pad left. I'm going to take them off and have a proper inspection at the weekend so any advice on this issue and at what point I should be looking to replace the discs would also be appreciated.
TIA
Mileage: 32k
I had my car fail its MOT today on the grounds that the inner tyre wall had cracks exceeding the safe limits. There was a full video walk around of the tyres from the Ford tech so I've no query on the extent of the damage it looked awful. Some of the cracks were very long. The damage had occured on both front tyres. The inner and outer edges of the tyres were worn. The main tread was consistent across the middle of the tyres at 4mm on both fronts.
tbh I'm embarrassed my tyres were in that bad a state, and also concerned that I was driving around on such bad rubber without noticing. I did give the car a cursory once over before it went in and the outside wall and tread depth were sound (confirmed by the MOT test at over 4mm on both front tyres, 5mm on rears). The tyres have probably only had around 10-15k miles on them so perhaps I was complacent on my checks.
New fronts have now been fitted. Nexen tyres. I've no idea if these are any good but I wasn't going to drive away on what I had on there so went with it. At £90/tyre I'd hope they aren't complete s
te but I will replace them if they are. A wheel alignment was carried out. I have the read outs but don't know how to interpret it so any advice would be appreciated. I assume misalignment may have been part of the issue.My question is this. What could have caused this? My driving? Potholes? The wheel misalignment? The previous tyres were Falken.
A side issue was pitting on the rear discs. This was an advisory as there's still plenty of disc and pad left. I'm going to take them off and have a proper inspection at the weekend so any advice on this issue and at what point I should be looking to replace the discs would also be appreciated.
TIA
Thank you for all your replies. It seems you've confirmed what I had suspected, that I've been fleeced for the tyres 
I did think it was steep but didn't want to drive away with the damaged tyres and they didn't have much else on offer. I'll just have to take the hit and move on I think. I certainly won't be going back for any other work/service.
Regarding where it's parked the car is parked in a garage in a block and over the last year has only been out once or twice a week, usually in the evening so it hasn't had much sun in the last year.
I tried screen grabbing the tyre cracks but the footage is pretty grainy. I'll post photos of the discs at the weekend once I've got the wheels off.
I did think it was steep but didn't want to drive away with the damaged tyres and they didn't have much else on offer. I'll just have to take the hit and move on I think. I certainly won't be going back for any other work/service.
Regarding where it's parked the car is parked in a garage in a block and over the last year has only been out once or twice a week, usually in the evening so it hasn't had much sun in the last year.
I tried screen grabbing the tyre cracks but the footage is pretty grainy. I'll post photos of the discs at the weekend once I've got the wheels off.
dhutch said:
A) how old are they tyres, they all have date codes on them.
B) what size are they, presumably low profile on an at, ms titanium diesal is bad enough!
C) can't believe how his hasn't been mentioned yet, but have you been straddling the square type speed bumps?
Daniel
On C yes although there aren't many around here. I have been driving into London recently and they're everywhere. B) what size are they, presumably low profile on an at, ms titanium diesal is bad enough!
C) can't believe how his hasn't been mentioned yet, but have you been straddling the square type speed bumps?
Daniel
AlphaDelta said:
A side issue was pitting on the rear discs. This was an advisory as there's still plenty of disc and pad left. I'm going to take them off and have a proper inspection at the weekend so any advice on this issue and at what point I should be looking to replace the discs would also be appreciated.
I took advantage of a nice bank holiday Saturday in the sun and fitted new rear discs & pads. The rear caliper slider pins were immobile and after some work and lubrication I got the pins out. There was alot of rust so the entire caliper was cleaned, re-greased and put back together with the new discs/pads. I suspect the state of the slider pins was part of why the pads were not making full contact with the disc. One to remember for next time. Smint said:
Isn't an emergency purchase both expensive and annoying, don't know why they do this, once you find out you've had you pants pulled down that's the last time they'll ever see you, if they looked after you (as the garage we use in the centre of our town does, nothing too much trouble) when you needed them you'll become a loyal customer and tell others about them, stupid short sighted business practice to take advantage in the heat of the moment.
It does drive me nuts. I won't be back to that dealership for a MOT/service again any time soon.Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff