how screwed am I here....

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So i went ahead and put a set of 235/40/18 18x8 Enkei EKM3 wheels on my car, which is a bit wider from the stock 205/50/17 17x7" wheels that it came with. Not realizing that the cut down bump stops per the directions from eibach on my first set of lowering springs would cause me any issues, I proceeded to mount these wheels and drive on them with 3 people in the car, only to hit a bump and have the entire back of the car bottom out to the point where the tire tucked all the way up under the fender. I have since then replaced the bump stops with brand new ones, but discovered this tonight hanging off my tire....and the subsequent damage.

How dangerous is this? At its maxed its just under 1/8th of an inch thick/deep.

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Well it does take away some of the tires "beef". As you can see in the photo, where the tire has been stripped is actually lower than what the actual "bald" level would be at so if it were me and my car, I would take them to a TRUSTWORHTY mechanic and have him/her inspect them. IMHO, I would not risk driving much on those until you get a mechanics word.
 
Originally Posted By: lawman1909
Well it does take away some of the tires "beef". As you can see in the photo, where the tire has been stripped is actually lower than what the actual "bald" level would be at so if it were me and my car, I would take them to a TRUSTWORHTY mechanic and have him/her inspect them. IMHO, I would not risk driving much on those until you get a mechanics word.


sounds good, ill run up the street to the local tire shop and ask

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
ouch! did you purchase a road hazard warranty?


negative, i should have though
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got the tires off ebay through delticon/tires-easy for 93 a piece, i was in a bit of a bind for cash at the time. Wanted to get the wheels on before the winter.
 
Originally Posted By: Hollow
I'd replace that tire.


ugh, killin me here lol alright guess ill have to get it replaced next paycheck
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Tires are inexpensive, safety first especially at highway speeds.



I know, which is why i was adamant about getting onto some REAL tires rather than the [censored] nexen CP641's from walmart the car came with. Not like the tire is going to just explode either though, right? lol
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
they are not into the cord are they? we used to use a baseball bat and roll that lip so that the tires clear


Not even close to the cord, what you see in the pic is as far as it went. It was higher up on the sidewall closer to where the tread meets the sidewall so its probably a bit thicker on that portion.
 
it was a bump stop issue that i had overlooked with the wider tires, my first set of springs instructed to cut the stops.



replaced them this morning right after this incident with new stops

 
I would put that tire on the back, so when it does blow out you won't loose steering control.

...and the last picture....

That wire(ABS?) route needs changed, the sheath is going UNDER the spring bracket. You can see it's already chewed up, this is a poor design, it would be better to route it anywhere other than the lowest point on the front suspension!!
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
I would put that tire on the back, so when it does blow out you won't loose steering control.

...and the last picture....

That wire(ABS?) route needs changed, the sheath is going UNDER the spring bracket. You can see it's already chewed up, this is a poor design, it would be better to route it anywhere other than the lowest point on the front suspension!!


this is the rear suspension, ABS wire routing is factory lol ill have to take a look at it next time im under there and throw some new loom on it. Here's a pic of how the car sits on the lowering springs.

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Yikes, that's a tough call! I'd be inclined to say that it's OK, but it would be nice if CapriRacer offered an opinion.
 
Eep. Replace it as soon as it's feasible. Or have a AAA card and charged cell phone handy in case something happens.

SS/SC or SS/TC?
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
Eep. Replace it as soon as it's feasible. Or have a AAA card and charged cell phone handy in case something happens.

SS/SC or SS/TC?


have both of those
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and SS/NA, just rebuilt the motor bout a month ago.
 
The failure that you're going to experience will be a blowout as compared to small puncture that leaves the carcass of the tire on. This will be a much higher potential for expensive rim damage.

So not just from a safety and hassle perspective, but from a pure financial perspective, you should get this sorted out
 
Originally Posted By: raytseng
The failure that you're going to experience will be a blowout as compared to small puncture that leaves the carcass of the tire on. This will be a much higher potential for expensive rim damage.

So not just from a safety and hassle perspective, but from a pure financial perspective, you should get this sorted out


Im just curious, but why do you presume im immediately going to have a blowout?
 
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