Tire Flat Spotting

[snagster123]

Anyone with 37s experiencing tire flat spots in the morning. This usually gets worse with colder weather. When I leave in the morning, the tires are very rough riding for the first few miles then they smooth out.

 

[rzr6-4]

It wouldn't happen over one night but if it sat for a few days it would do it back when I had 35x12s. Mine would smooth out in a mile or 2. Your 37s would be even more prone to it.

 

[turkeybird56]

Did U get the rounds ones? (sic). Proper PSI for changing season? (cannot recall ever having a problem like that) (but I also have never run oversize, just wider like 60's, but that was in the early 70's on a 67 SS).

 

[Dean2]

Used to see that all the time on bias ply tires back in the day. If it gets real cold here, and it does often, you see it on radials, but I have never had a tire do that till about -25F. The larger the tire the more they would be prone to that, but those must be some very hard and stiff tires to flat spot when it is above freezing.

 

[Curmudgeon]

Probably because I have always lived in the Mid Atlantic area but the only time I experienced this is 1983 IIRC when we had about a week of temps at -8F.

It was a wild year, they had ice on the roads in Miami that year.

But as has already been suggested, make sure your tire pressure is reasonable. If that is your zip code showing you should not be seeing this unless your tire pressure is insanely low, or perhaps your tires (all 4?) are defective.

Lastly, are you sure it is the tires? One morning go out and jack one off the ground and spin it looking for radial runout to prove the flat spot.

 

[Daw14]

As mentioned I remember it with bias ply tires , and cold temperatures causing that . But I live in the jungle and run stock size tires ,now that I’m old and broken .

 

[gfh77665]

We are always hopeful our tires won't melt.

 

[Dean2]

We are always hopeful our tires won't melt.

As funny as that sounds, Dubai was hot enough this summer that tires actually did melt. They started making many of their roads out of concrete quite a few years ago as asphalt can't standup to 120 to 140 F temperatures.

 

[olyelr]

Has nothing to do with 37’s. What tire? Obviously bias ply tires are terrible with this. But not usually an issue with radials.

I could see a 37” radial in frigid temps with low air pressure do this for the first few miles after sitting a long time anyway.

 

[62Blazer]

What brand and make of tires, and what air pressure are you running? As mentioned above typically not an issue with radials running at halfway normal PSI. I have 37x13.50 at under 40 PSI (which is kind of low) and it can sit for a week or more at a time. Though I will say it rarely gets below about 40F in the shop.

 

[soapy]

Tire dealer for 30 years. Like mentioned the bias ply tires are the worst. What causes this in modern radial tires is the composition of the cap belts. These are designed to prevent the tire from growing under high speed conditions. You see this in a lot of high performance tires on cars with high speed rated tires. The belts in truck tires may be used for increased strength and puncture resistance. Nothing to worry about overall.

 

[Dean2]

Tire dealer for 30 years. Like mentioned the bias ply tires are the worst. What causes this in modern radial tires is the composition of the cap belts. These are designed to prevent the tire from growing under high speed conditions. You see this in a lot of high performance tires on cars with high speed rated tires. The belts in truck tires may be used for increased strength and puncture resistance. Nothing to worry about overall.

Interesting, I did not know that about radials. Learn something new every day, especially on here. Thanks.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Tire dealer for 30 years. Like mentioned the bias ply tires are the worst. What causes this in modern radial tires is the composition of the cap belts. These are designed to prevent the tire from growing under high speed conditions. You see this in a lot of high performance tires on cars with high speed rated tires. The belts in truck tires may be used for increased strength and puncture resistance. Nothing to worry about overall.

That's interesting. The Indy 500 Firestones on my Camaro flat spot pretty quickly, so that explanation makes sense as to why.