Tire causes pulling,safe to use?

Are the tire pressures the same in both tires? If one is lower than the other it will pull to that side.

Oh,yeah. I checked em for that. I saw in some old posts I resaearched a month or so ago that this is something to do with the tires' belts or sidewalls or something.

Is there any chance of the tire coming apart or having a blow out is what I'm really asking.

Yes, if it is a belt seperation the tire could blow. Do a visual on both tires to see if there is a bulge, indentation or bubble on the tread area. It helps to jack car so wheel can spin freely. On the sidewall there will sometimes be a dip or indentation that is perpindicular to the rotation of the tire, this is ok, usually just indicates where the belts overlap under the outer layer, no bulge allowed on sidewall. While doing visual, look for any wires protruding through rubber, if none, carefully feel around tire to see if you can feel a bulge or indentation. If bulge or indentation in tread area then belts are seperating and dangerous, if bubble then tire is delaminating. Are tires the same size? Is the amount of tread close to the same (if there's a large difference in tread this can cause pull)? HTH, davidj92

I don't think it's anything to worry too much about. Of course, that tire might wear itself out pretty quick so be saving up for a new set soon.

Boo

I recently had a tire pull like you and the tire/alignment shop solved it by putting the offending tire on the rear axle.

What you want to do is run your hand over the tread, all the way around the tire. If you feel a lump in the tread somewhere, you have a broken belt and NEED to replace the tire! NOW!

Also, check the sidewalls for bulging. I am assuming, since you had the trie off the car, you probably didn't see any. But look anyway...

Are there any other 'symptoms'? Do you get a pulsating in the wheel at low speeds? Do you here a tuptuptuptuptup as you're going down the road?

The first is another sign of a broken belt, the tup noise is cupping. Broken belt, replace the tire NOW, cupping, replace the tire when you get around to it.

it is called "radial pull" I think. Not that uncommon tire manufacturing defect. Had the dealer replace a tire last time I bought a set, based on exactly your experience - if switching sides left to right on the front moves the pull, that confirms it. Has to do with "conicity" ie., the tire tread being conical instead of flat. Not a safety concern, just means one sidewall is slightly stiffer than the other so instead of rolling down the road straight ahead, it mimics the behaviour of a styrofoam coffee cup with angled sides, thus the tendency to "pull" at highway speeds.

As mentioned, put the tire on the rear.

If the tire might fail, putting it on the rear might not be the best idea. A blow out on the front can be bad, but one on the rear can be worse depending on when it occurs.

I've had tires that pulls after the first rotation for no apparent reason. I have guessed, assumed, hypothesized that this was because the tires internal construction took a set based on the direction of rotation and then after cross rotating, the set caused that tire to have a higher rolling resistance and this causes a pull. In my experience the cheaper the tire, the more likely this is to occur.

Ed

and this causes a pull. In my experience the >cheaper the tire, the more likely this is to occur.

Ed, I'm glad you shared that. I won't be so suprised if ever happens. Might very well be what I have here.

-Thanks for ALL replies, EXCELLENT advice.

-Harv

While you, of course want to make sure the tire is safe, odds are it is.

The pulling described in fairly common. Putting the (otherwise good) tire on the rear will save you some bucks and should cause no trouble.

id say alignment. i went through the same thing after i put a lift on my chevy. good luck