Question Regarding Broken Bead

[llll1l1ll]

This is kinda dumb, but I'm assuming the bead on this tire is broken, right? Tire Rack won't honor the manufacturer's warranty if the bead is broken. Makes me mad since the tire blew and they are brand new (less than 1,000 miles).

[brettbimmer]

From your photos, it looks like the bead is broken on this tire. This link may be helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_bead

Hope that no one, nor the ZHP were injured with this blowout.

[LivesNearCostco]

While the sidewall is shredded, whether the bead is broken depends whether "bead" means just the sidewalls or specifically the wire circle that seats into the inner edge of the rims under pressure. My last set of Bridgestones had a failure that looked like that and I think it was because the tire lost air and I kept driving on it flat, shredding the inner sidewall. But since I'd worn them beyond the wear bars, I assumed there was no warranty left so I just bought replacement tires.

I'd definitely raise the warranty (or road hazard protection plan, if you have it) issue with Tire Rack, especially if the wire bead is still intact all the way around. (Note I'm not familiar with the Tire Rack or Continental warranties at all.)

BTW, the inner rim looks like it might have a hairline crack in the lower right part of the photo. Could just be streak of dirt, but when my two rims cracked, it looked sort of like that. I had one professionally welded up and for the other I just sawed out the crack and filled it with epoxy from inside.

[llll1l1ll]

Which photo are you talking about? I'd like to go take a better look at it outside.

I'm confused why they said bead. I sent them pictures and they tell me if the bead isn't broken they'll honor it. Their techs checked out the pictures and that was their response. You would think they'd be able to give a better answer than that.

Nobody was injured but my fiancée and I were an hour late to work. Lame. Also won't be able to fix it by Monday I don't think so I may not be able to go to my parents' for Christmas. Also lame.

[ELCID86]

I think he is talking about this spot.

11351

11352

[ELCID86]

Oh, and I get the Tire Rack add in the corner :-/

[danewilson77]

Mmm... That really sucks. Having TireRack clarify what bead they are referring to would be helpful. You need to be sure, because at 1000 miles, that's some bullshit.

Brand of tire?

It's not a toy, it's a Droid > Sent from my S4 > Mason, OH

[LivesNearCostco]

Yeah ElCid86 circled the spot I thought might be cracked. One one of my wheels the crack leaked air requiring me to top off the tire ever 2 days or so. That's the one I had welded. The 2nd time the crack was finer (thinner) and didn't leak any air that I could tell, but I cut it out and filled it to reduce the chance it would propagate.

I honestly don't know whether "bead" means only the wire or any part of the sidewall that's near the rim inner or outer lip. If it means the sidewall, then clearly yours is destroyed. If it means the wire loop, then it might be broken or it might still be in there, just separated from the sidewall in several areas--can't tell for sure from the photo. What you can do is feel around the inner lip of the rim wherever you have those holes or tears in the sidewall and see if there's still a rubber-coated wire in there. But that won't help if Tire Rack defined broken sidewall as a broken bead. Or if they want to deny your claim they could say you drove with the tire deflated (the question is did it get deflated before it failed).


Which photo are you talking about? I'd like to go take a better look at it outside.

I'm confused why they said bead. I sent them pictures and they tell me if the bead isn't broken they'll honor it. Their techs checked out the pictures and that was their response. You would think they'd be able to give a better answer than that.

Nobody was injured but my fiancée and I were an hour late to work. Lame. Also won't be able to fix it by Monday I don't think so I may not be able to go to my parents' for Christmas. Also lame.

[ELCID86]

I'd go with the "liberal" definition and if the wire is there --unbroken--tell them the bead is not broken. I don't think they will want the tire back will they?

[llll1l1ll]

Well they gave me the standard definition of tire bead. Doesn't matter, anyway. The bead was busted. So I gotta buy a new tire. I'm running Continental Extreme Contact DWS. I really like them.

Now, I should prrroooooobably mention that I do think the tire was somewhat deflated when I left the morning it blew. I did not notice it until I was miles from home. Why it was deflated, I haven't the foggiest. I cleaned off the area where the supposed crack is and it looks clean. I can't feel anything with my nail. Rim doesn't seem out of round. I'm guessing a random debris got caught in the tire from our long trip to NY, and it must have been in the sidewall because I didn't see anything on the tire itself. Then I guess it just deflated overnight when it was really cold.

Man, what a bummer. Tires are stupid. I hate this. Haha

[danewilson77]

Sorry to hear. Flat tires are stupid. Full tires are smart.

[llll1l1ll]

Thanks for your advice, guys. I feel kinda stupid after it's all said and done. On the bright side, I got $100 off my new tire!

[brettbimmer]

Glad you were able to get it replaced. Not sure it is the same here, but I've seen plenty of boat trailer tires fail due to low pressure - used twice a year and few people think to check the pressure before setting off. When running at speed over a longer distance, the low pressure causes increased friction/drag. The tire gets hot and the sidewall then fails first, as it is the least reinforced/thick section of the tire construction (as the heavier construction are on areas of the tire making contact with the road). Results look similar to your photos.

Regardless, glad you and the car are ok as tires can be replaced!

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[llll1l1ll]

That's pretty much exactly what happened! In the future, I'm going to be a little more vigilant about monitoring my tire pressures.

Thanks for everyone for being happy I'm still alive, too!