Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

Okay, so I've been getting a strong vibration in the steering wheel, I figured one of my wheels needed to be balanced or a weight may have fallen off. A friend of mine has a shop, so I take the car over, and it turns out I have three bent wheels and the two rear tires are chopped.

He told me that this would have been due to impact, but I've never been in an impact, I'm assuming it's just because the roads are so bad around here. A few questions, first can someone explain to me what exactly the chopped tires means? Can I continue driving on these wheels until I can afford to get them replaced? Would driving on these wheels cause any damage to anything else on the car? Would it further damage the wheels as well, I imagine it will be bad for the tires themselves, but to what extent, and how long will they last?

Definitely not good news, but I'd appreciate any help.

Re: Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

Anyone?

Re: Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

I think a chopped tire means that there is a certian patch of the tire that is worn more then anywhere else on the tire. If it was out of alignment or vibrations from the wheels will cause it. You can drive on the tires if you want to. It'll just cause accelerated wear. So you'll have to get new tires sooner or later. If the tread is really bad and you see metal sticking out, I would scrap em if you can. That could cause a slow leak and a flat in the future. It's happened to me before. I couldn't tell you how long they would last without seeing them, and even then it would just be a guesstimate.

Re: Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

Maybe this is a chopped tire? (upper left part of the tire)
http://images21.fotki.com/v843/photo...3230568-vi.jpg

Yes, that's mine. It happened when my car dropped off into a rut on the side of the road. My guess is that the edge of the road shaved off the edge of the tire. :hithead:

Re: Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

Okay, well the tires are no big deal, I'll get them all replaced at some point soon regardless. My biggest concern was any potential damage that could be caused to anything else on the car.

Am I at least safe in that regard?

Thanks.

Re: Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

ok chopped tires means that they have uneven wear, in other words, there are flat spots on the rears im assuming, its probably caused by lack of rotation or bad roads and lots of bouncing and bumping. r u dropped at all??? if so this could accelerate it, rotate ur tires more often in the future. pictures would help, i deal with tires daily, and see this frequently....


u can drive on them, but it will shake badly, and bent rims are not a big deal really, they will just have to be balanced well to keep from shaking

Re: Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

Yeah, I do have a slight drop, I'm pretty certain it's just the terrible roads around here that caused this, since I've never been in an impact. Thanks for the help!

Re: Questions regarding my tires and alloy wheels...
 

as far as an impact, hes not talking about a crash, he means an impact with something on the road, such as a pothole or curb or chunk of asphalt, which can cause this, do u have any pics of the tires that are on the back??? id be able to tell u more if u did, if not i can tell u what to look for