Dodgy Michelin's

[sheriff]

The steering wheel on my car recently started oscillating while driving. At first I thought that maybe it had thrown a wheel balance weight, so off I trotted to my local tyre fitters for a quick re-balance, or so I thought....Turns out that I needed 4 new tyres !! I'd noticed cracks on the sidewalls but didn't think much of it, that was until he showed me that they'd also started to deform, causing the steering wheel to shimmy. I know that tyres perish, but my cars only 3 1/2 years old with 24,000 miles or so, and there was at least 6-7 mm of tread left on them Anyhow, they only had two (Avon's, not buying that French cr4p again), so had them fitted for the grand total of £129.59. Steerings spot on now. Just checked on MyTyres, and ordered the other two for £61.60, with their affiliated fitting network, it'll only cost me £80.40 all in...
Must be a Michelin thing because I've just sold a 2000 plate Saxo, and they were also cracking on that.

 

[television]

Hang on,you cant have been 25k miles and still have 7mm left they only come with 8 from new.
Tyres do fail with the side wall splitting after a few years,thats normal it is also a sign of running under inflated.

I forgot to say the MB fit MO tyres from new and they have a much softer compound

malcolm

 

[Blobcat]

The cracks are caused by ozone, too much down here and not enough up there. Although you have only had them for 3.5 yrs you don't know how old they were before they were fitted.

 

[sheriff]

Honestly Malc, I tell no lies !! The rears I'm guessing are original, at that mileage, I would expect the fronts to have been fairly recently replaced, which makes the cracks on the sidewalls even more baffling, unless, as you say, they've been run under inflated ? I'll snap a photo of the rears when they come off, so you can see I'm not telling porkies

 

[sheriff]

The cracks are caused by ozone, too much down here and not enough up there. Although you have only had them for 3.5 yrs you don't know how old they were before they were fitted.

True, still, I don't think I'll be buying Michelins again though..

 

[television]

Honestly Malc, I tell no lies !! The rears I'm guessing are original, at that mileage, I would expect the fronts to have been fairly recently replaced, which makes the cracks on the sidewalls even more baffling, unless, as you say, they've been run under inflated ? I'll snap a photo of the rears when they come off, so you can see I'm not telling porkies

I added on my last thread that the originals would be known as MO that is they are of a softer compound. You could well find that the new ones give a harder ride.

malcolm

 

[sheriff]

I added on my last thread that the originals would be known as MO that is they are of a softer compound. You could well find that the new ones give a harder ride.

Malcolm

I prefer to call it a more "sporty" ride !! I think that I can put up with that, rather than having tyres crack and deform. I recently did two 350 mile motorway trips, with my wife and two sons in the car, which coincidentally is when I first noticed the shaking. I'd rather not think of the consequences of a tyre failure at those speeds.

 

[television]

I prefer to call it a more "sporty" ride !! I think that I can put up with that, rather than having tyres crack and deform. I recently did two 350 mile motorway trips, with my wife and two sons in the car, which coincidentally is when I first noticed the shaking. I'd rather not think of the consequences of a tyre failure at those speeds.

Sadly the tyres are the things often looked at last, or not at all. as you say it does not feel good when you think of what might have happened. the tyres are reinforced with nylon,, looks and drives worse.

malcolm

 

[D3Less]

This warning was posted on another forum site that I go on, something else to think about!

Research conducted by German motoring watch-dog DEKRA found that aiming the spray directly at the sidewall can cause tiny, barely detectable holes to appear on the rubber. And according to experts at the UK's leading tyre safety organisation, TyreSafe, with the sidewall weakened, the chance of a blow-out is hugely increased.

The group also warned against using strong detergents. When combined with a high-pressure blast of water, they can remove important protective chemicals from the compound. This damage, which could show up as a brown watermark, reduces both durability and grip.

With more than 80 per cent of drivers apparently unaware of the perils, TyreSafe has issued some potentially life-saving guidelines. Avoiding machines which run at pressures of more than 110 bar is top of the list, but the body also recom*mends using the widest spray pattern.

In addition, it advises owners to keep the washer nozzle at least 20cm from the surface of the tyre when cleaning, and not to aim the jet directly at the join between the tyre and rim.