BRIDGESTONE | SIDECUT REPAIR
SIDECUT REPAIR
Thomas Triller, area manager for REMA TIP TOP, provides a complete overview of the side-cut repair process, as well as the specific steps necessary to take a tyre from damaged and not road worthy through to being safe and fully repaired. This article also contains a six-step repair guide
WHAT IS A SIDECUT? A sidecut is a common form of damage to the sidewall of a tyre. It may either happen because of sharp materials which come into contact with the tyre, or by scuffing along walls or bigger stones with the rolling tyre. The cut may go deep into the rubber and touch or cut the fabric of the casing, or it may be only on the surface, within the rubber material.
WHAT IS THE RISK OF SIDEWALL DAMAGE? If the cut is just in the surface of the tyre, it may grow during the lifetime of the tyre, because of the flexing of the sidewall in operation. If the cut touches the fabric or cord of the casing, some moisture and dirt may penetrate into the cut and lead finally into a blowout of the sidewall with a sudden loss of pressure. Textile cords will break and tear off step by step if the damage is not repaired. Steel cord will start to rust and suddenly break off. If the cut goes through the cord immediately, the tyre will suffer a sudden loss of pressure and the vehicle will have to be brought to a stop.
WHAT KIND OF REPAIR MATERIAL IS RECOMMENDED? The sidewall is a rather thin area of the tyre. Therefore in most cases a repair patch with reinforcing material is needed. If the cut only penetrates into the rubber without any damage to the casing structure, a “rubber only repair” is possible. For a complete repair we need raw MTR (uncured) rubber material and
the black rubber MTR solution to fill the prepared damage, and we need a reinforced patch with the corresponding construction for either a radial tyre casing or a diagonal tyre casing and in addition the blue Special Cement BL.
real QUESTIONS real ANSWERS JUNE 2011 25
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