00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Good points 02CamaroSSLE.. But it is doubtful (possible but doubtful) it is seperated if it is running vibration free now, demonpixel if a tire is seperated it basically looks egg shaped, it will have a high spot where the tread ply's are seperating and it will shake the car to death and it will come apart. Normally this happens when the tires are pretty old. If it is on the front it will make the steering wheel rock back and forth at like 5mph. It will make the rear end wiggle but it has to be a bad sepo like stated. Also you can spot a small seperation by a section of tread of the tire (section as in 180 degrees or less around the tire) has less tread depth than the rest of the tire, this would also indicate seperation, if it is 360 degrees of wear then it is alignment etc.. That is a basic rundown, tires can get far more complex.

Check your build dates on the tires before you go on that long trip!

When you see those long pieces of tread of a tire on the highway with steel belts in them, they started as seperation then the tread ply's came off the tire.

demonpixel

iTrader: (19)

Wow, good to know, thanks for all the info.

I will definitely get my tires checked for the long haul out west.

technicalninja

iTrader: (1)

Here's another thing to think about if you have plenty of tread left.
Have your tires "trued". They put it on what looks like a modified balancer and do the lathe trick to the tread surface. It removes a small amount of rubber.
I didn't really believe in this till one of my customers got a new set of tires on his Z. He brought it by my shop before trueing. Felt fine. I told him it would be a waste of money.....
He drove it for 1k miles (set the rubber) and had them trued then brought it back. The difference was UNBELIEVABLE. It was like it was on lazers or something. He also said it was usually worth 5-10 K more tread life due to the more even wearing on the tread surface.
Made a believer out of me.....

demonpixel

iTrader: (19)

That's pretty cool, ninja. Where did he go to get that done?

After all the stuff that can go wrong with tires, I'm thinking about doing the Flintstone stone wheel mod