Almost bought it today !!!

[dan_b]

Kerbing can kill a tyre - you should see the pinching/bending/twisting forces that get put through the sidewall if you do that. Nasty.

You can literally break the sidewall plies and put holes in the rubber from a kerb incident, then god knows what might happen once you're on the move.

The black stuff that tyres are made out of chemically degrades over time.
The usual things are the culprits - UV light, salt/oil/other nasty fluids, and extremes of temperature.

The stuff basically loses flexibility, hardens, drys up and cracks. The metal plies may oxidise/corrode too. It then can't tolerate the loads, flexing and heat put through it, and neither does it chemically or mechanically grip as well as it should. If it looks old and cruddy, it probably is. Bin it!

Inspect your tyres regularly for nails, and sidewall irregularities such as lumps, kinks or bits missing, look for unusual wear patterns (which might tell you something about your suspension) and of course don't forget pressures.

Sermon over!

[Stick Insect]

Thanks Vicar,...... more tea?

[dan_b]

A nice beer wouldn't go amiss

[cossykiller]

I NEVER EVER take the piss with tyres ANYMORE!!!!
in my old car the 'cossy' i had the diff lock up on me at speedo speed of 139mph
the car vibrated a bit but in no time at all i was doing 80mph!!!!!!!
err speedo still working you may be thinking)

well at 80mph the car started to go sideways a bit then the other way then the other but id say it was 50% skill and 50% luck but i held the car and ended up straight again.
then all of a sudden we were ONLY doing 45mph and the tyre blew.
well that was it, it didnt matter how hard i tried, how BRILLANT a driver i thought i was (and belive me before that day i thought i was the worlds best driver!)
the car just went full on sideways and then started to go further into over 90 degrees and for one second i really did think that was it all over but as more luck would have it the car bumped up th ekerb and we came to a stand still about 45 degrees to the road.
well we got out of the car both me and me mate ,KNEES WOBBLING and looked back to see a 100foot wall of tyre smoke!!!
i was ok me mate was ok but the car wasnt!
now it realy scared me to think that i held the car sideways at 80mph but there was nothing at all i could do to hold the car at 45mph!!!!!!
bloody hell ive done handbrake turns at 50mph!!!!!
but i suppose the tyre blowing didnt help?
well what happened was........
i built the diff:wacked:
i DIDNT PEEN THE CROSS PIN BAR OVER TO STOP IT FROM COMING LOOSE AT EXTREME SPEED
so yep.the cross pin found the time at 139mph to come out from hiding and smash its way through the diff casing covering everything in smelly diff oil, and into the boot floor and luckly made a large dent in the petrol tank rather than go through it!
as only one wheel locked up thats why the speedo was still reading

well the moral of this story?
i had brand new, well 1000milse old goodyear F1's on the car
215/40/16
and because they were new i had more thread on them than normal, this and the extra small profile all helped to keep the car stable at 80mph.
because of the extra thread the tyre blew at 45 rather than at say 45up
had it been the 50 profile from factory or a 2mm tyre who knows what may have happened?
well ive got 18's on the s4 at the mo but if the 20's fit ill be getting them on and getting the best tyres FULL STOP that there is not just the best i can afford as i STRONGLY belive after that day there is NO BEST YOU CAN AFFORD BECAUSE YOU CANT EVER PUT A PRICE ON YOUR LIFE
so if th e20's fit i will be selling GENUINE RS4 wheels 8.5 X 18 off set 20mm (i think thats a bit much for s2's) 112mm x 5 pcd with scuffed rims and all part worn BUT GOOD tyres.
anyone want them???????
i want around £500 NO OFFERS i paid £625 for them but have scuffed them a bit they stick out to far but they do look rather fat:nana: