Kuhmo's overheated - dealer recommends 4 tire replacement after 600 miles

[dkarg]

Hi all,

I'm curious if this has happened to anybody before. I brought in my '16 ACR that I'm still breaking in to have some warranty work done (evap system leak) and they just told me:

"All 4 tires have been over heated and the left rear tire is unable to be repaired".

The left rear lost 5 psi the only time I dropped the clutch on my driveway and left a 3 foot streak of rubber. I filled it up but it kept losing air since then.

My questions are:
- Are these tires so sensitive? What does "overheated" mean?
- I could see how the mini burnout could have damaged the rear tires (although I'd be extremely surprised), but how would it affect the front?

Thanks for any input,

Dominique

[VENOM V]

Lol, no way your tires are overheated, whatever that means. These Kumhos are good and grippy all the way to cord, as long as you have tread they are still good. The heat that you can put into them on the street is nothing like the abuse they see on the road course. In fact, the heat that is generated during very hard tracking can wear the fronts out faster, but they don't heat-cycle out like most other tires I've used.

As far as why it's leaking, I don't see how the burnout had anything to do with it. I suppose you could cause delamination if the tire was cold and was shocked by the high temp of a burnout, but seems unlikely. If you need a professional opinion on that tire, take it to Custom Alignment in Mountain View. They set up a lot of track cars and are the NorCal go-to for Vipers.

Which dealership?

[bluesrt]

do they still have tread?

[XSnake]

find another dealer

[mjorgensen]

Hi all,

I'm curious if this has happened to anybody before. I brought in my '16 ACR that I'm still breaking in to have some warranty work done (evap system leak) and they just told me:

"All 4 tires have been over heated and the left rear tire is unable to be repaired".

The left rear lost 5 psi the only time I dropped the clutch on my driveway and left a 3 foot streak of rubber. I filled it up but it kept losing air since then.

My questions are:
- Are these tires so sensitive? What does "overheated" mean?
- I could see how the mini burnout could have damaged the rear tires (although I'd be extremely surprised), but how would it affect the front?

Thanks for any input,

Dominique

Just have them rotated and call it good.

[Dman]

You admitted you did a burnout so your warranty is voided. lol

I can't imagine what they mean by overheated. You can damage these R compounds with cold temps that can sometimes cause cracks in the sidewalks and the tire is history, even if brand new. But overheated? You should check with a performance tire shop like suggested above. Do you have any tire issues you're experiencing or was this just offered up out of nowhere from the dealer?

[kverges]

The dealer network is an Achilles heel. They don't seem to know the old adage that pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered. The tires are sensitive to hard trackwork, but as long as they have tread, they are good to go. A loss of tire pressure indicates a puncture of some kind, which might affect the carcass, but should be checked first. But "overheated," WTF?

[bluesrt]

Just have them rotated and call it good.

I actually have seen this in person where someone put the back on front and front on back one drivers side and was scratching his head at the race track complaining the car was really hard to steering and drove terrible. true story...lol he will never live it down

[fuggles]

As Venom said, no way you can overheat a front tire on the street. Possibly the rear with the burnout. Anyway, the rear isn't holding air so it is toast. You could probably get away with just replacing that one tire since you only have 600 miles on the others.

Or inspect, if no visible damage have it remounted and see if it holds air.

[dkarg]

They said the tires looked tracked. Hard. I barely finished breaking it in, it had 5 miles when it got to my place, the fastest I've driven it is 65mph +-15mph. CDJR in Fremont.
They're replacing one that "had a hole in it" and are ringing up kumho for replacement on the other 3.
I think I'll take it to mountain view out of curiosity. Thanks for all the responses.

[dkarg]

do they still have tread?

they looked brand new top the eye to me, def no wires or wear. I'm going to post macro shots once I get them back.

- - - Updated - - -

As Venom said, no way you can overheat a front tire on the street. Possibly the rear with the burnout. Anyway, the rear isn't holding air so it is toast. You could probably get away with just replacing that one tire since you only have 600 miles on the others.

Or inspect, if no visible damage have it remounted and see if it holds air.

Exactly what I'm doing, thanks for the advice.

[Dfunk]

Post images of them. I want to see what over heated tires look like.

[dkarg]

No burnout, tire slip that left a bit of rubber in a burnout like fashion. I'd never do that, sensitive clutch, could happen to anyone ;-).

This happened at 5pm on a sunny day, tires would probably have been 70-100 F.

I was losing pressure on the left rear but no other tire problems.

[ACR PWR]

I actually have seen this in person where someone put the back on front and front on back one drivers side and was scratching his head at the race track complaining the car was really hard to steering and drove terrible. true story...lol he will never live it down

LOL.... really..

You don't need to own a car like this if they did that....haha

[Policy Limits]

Possible to replace air with nitrogen?

[FSTENUF]

I have just under 3000 miles on mine 1250 was the road trip home. Just about every other mile is either going to the track, running on the track or driving home from the track. I still have enough tread for at least one more track event or a long fall club cruise through the 2 lanes of Western Pa. I have had my tire temps jump 8 psi from cold to race temps and they show the heat cycle after every session. I will say this as soft as these tires are your 3 foot burn out may have put a small stone into the tread and that is why you are loosing air. Take the entire wheel and tire off the car and place it in a tank filled with water/dish soap. I bet you will find a trail of bubbles leading you to the main issue.

[ACR Steve]

Check valve stem . Spray soapy water on valve see if its leaking there . If not spray it all over ,where ever its bubbling is the leak. (If you have a pool just submerge the whole thing

[TrackAire]

Check valve stem . Spray soapy water on valve see if its leaking there . If not spray it all over ,where ever its bubbling is the leak. (If you have a pool just submerge the whole thing

I agree with ACR Steve.

Best leak detector is plain old Windex (the stuff you clean your windows with). Also, remove the valve cap and spray Windex into the valve stem, sometimes the valve core will not be tightened down all the way and it can slowly leak air out. The plus with Windex is that it evaporates to almost nothing leaving behind very little residue but foams up like shave cream with the smallest of leaks. Soapy water can be trickier due to the concentration of soap, how hard your water is, etc. You can also spray it along the bead of the tire where the wheel flange meets the rubber, any leaks will show up instantly. You can then rinse off the entire wheel and tire with water for final cleanup if you'd like.

Do not waste your time or money doing nitrogen....it has been proven that it will not stop leaks if you have a hole in the tire or a faulty valve stem. Plain old air is 78% nitrogen....22% more isn't going to do squat.

[GTS Dean]

They said the tires looked tracked. Hard. I barely finished breaking it in, it had 5 miles when it got to my place, the fastest I've driven it is 65mph +-15mph. CDJR in Fremont.

Those idjits don't even know that the tires were molded with only about 6/32" of tread groove depth brand new. I had the exact same response when I bolted my first set of BFG R-1s on my '93 RT back in 1994 and visited the dealership.

[Darius]

You should be taking it to Normandin in San Jose. Your dealer is jacking you. Find the hole in the tire and patch it. Or send it to me. I'll pay the shipping.

[ACRucrazy]

Those idjits don't even know that the tires were molded with only about 6/32" of tread groove depth brand new. I had the exact same response when I bolted my first set of BFG R-1s on my '93 RT back in 1994 and visited the dealership.

Lol

[bluesrt]

You should be taking it to Normandin in San Jose. Your dealer is jacking you. Find the hole in the tire and patch it. Or send it to me. I'll pay the shipping.

exactly-----------

[Bill Pemberton]

Only thing I would disagree with is if the leak is in the tire due to a foreign object ( nail , screw, metal, glass ) , pitch it do not patch it. Otherwise pretty obvious you are being led down the garden path by the Dealer.

[bluesrt]

unless you are running road America like a mad man, I would run all day long on a patch with a screw in it,been around tires too long, but some shops and most wont patch them due to liability, too much factor and not worth the lawyer yankee doodle fees.lol .... no disrespect there bill

[Bill Pemberton]

Sorry , absolutely foolish!! Racing for 35 years and do not know any reputable track tire service that will patch a high speed tire. It is not just Road America that has high speed corners , as we have two at a nearby track that are between 90-100 mph and a blowout at that speed is somewhat exciting. Lawyer fees aside , the real issue is safety and g forces new cars produce. All it takes is one viewing of a Nascar race and seeing the effects of a blown tire to realize one doesn't fix the fastest production car's tires with a patch!