How To Tell If Your Tire Was Slashed?

When you check the surface of the tire and you see one or more slashes appearing, you know it’s not any possible cause. It’s probably because you are a victim of some vandalism, however, there also can be other reasons but the most important is how to tell if your tire was slashed so you can have suitable methods timely. 

What Are The Reasons Behind The Slashes On Your Tire? 

When you notice visible cuts on the tire surface, many drivers assume that “someone slashed my tires.” It’s an absolutely reasonable reason, there have been a lot of tire-slashing cases happening in many countries. And in the UK, vandals will be subject to a fine of up to £2,500 and 3 penalty points in cases of intentionally vandalizing or cutting someone’s tire. However, just because you see slashes on your tires doesn’t mean that someone has intentionally damaged your tires. There are several other possible causes of these cuts:

• The reason can be that your tire is stuck with a sharp object causing the surface of the tire to be torn or punctured with a diameter of more than 1.5 cm. According to tire experts, with torn pieces, tires for a length of less than 1.5 cm can be completely patched with a patch.
• Due to expired tires: All tires have 4 digits, the first two numbers indicate the week and the next two numbers indicate the year of manufacture. For example, you notice the digit: 3719 on the tire which means it was produced in the 37th week of 2019. And tire experts say that no matter how little or no use it is, we should change the tire every 6 years because after all these years the rubber used to make the tire is made and then it no longer has good elasticity, it may have cracked or slashed, making the tire no longer able to bear the load and it is easy to know when traveling at high speed, especially in hot weather.
• Another reason: Maybe in one of these situations we’ll get bumped into the sidewalk, potholes, holes, pierced by sharp rocks. At this time, the tire surface will appear with slashes or tears.

We can see there are quite a lot of possible reasons that can make your tires appear slashed. It’s important to observe the cuts carefully and identify whether it’s on purpose or natural.

How To Tell If Your Tire Was Slashed?

Tire slashing can destroy your tire completely and it’s very dangerous because it can cause an explosion. You already know the cause of the slashing tires, have you ever been concerned about how to know if your tires were slashed? Don’t worry! In this part, we will go through some symptoms which can help you grasp the problem to have the timely methods:

Visible deflation on the tires

This is the most obvious sign to tell you the tire was slashed especially when you notice the cut on the tire tread. When your tire is hit by a sharp object, depending on what was used to cut the tire it can cause your tire to deflate immediately or will leak air within a few days. If the slash is large, the air in the tire will leak out quickly and may cause your tire to explode immediately. You may wonder What does a slashed tire look like? If your tire is slashed intentionally, you should see a clean, straight cut. The size of the cut will depend on the size of the knife used. Besides, If there is a slash on both sides of the tire with a smooth cut, your tire may have been cut by someone.

Find any sharp objects

If you are unlucky enough to be the victim of tire slashing, there are a few simple methods you can take to determine if the cut was intentional or accidental. You can look around for any sharp objects near the incision. If that happens it could prove to be a deliberate action and you can report the crime to the police. 

Multiple clean slashes on your tire

Normally, if the slashing occurs accidentally while you are driving on the road, the cut will be small and difficult to see and you can see dirt and debris on the cut. If the cut caused by vandalism is usually larger in size that is easily visible or many small cuts in the tire surface.

Strange noise from the tire

If your tire has a small slash, it will not deflate immediately but you can hear strange sounds. Because tires have standard air pressure when the tire has the cut due to the balance of air pressure associated with the slash, it will create a loud noise that attracts attention, the smaller the slash, the louder the sound. 

>> Read more: Can You Patch A Tire Sidewall? Knowing The Truth!

How To Fix Slashed Tires?

Slashed tires can be classified into many different cases. Depending on the case and the extent of the tire tear, you can repair or replace the tire.

When a car tire is slashed at the surface the tire:

If the cut on the tire surface is not too large, it is mild and you can fix it by patching the tire to optimize the cost and performance of the tire. There are many ways to patch car tires today, but you should go to reputable addresses to perform patching quickly, with the correct technique, to ensure a better tire surface. If the tire has a large slashing, it is better to replace it with a new tire to ensure safety. With large tears, if patched, it is easy to tear again and can suddenly explode while driving. Therefore, you should not save money to patch tires with large torn pieces without replacing them, this has a lot of potential for traffic accidents and other consequences.

When a car tire is slashed at the sidewall of the tire:

The car tire is slashed at the sidewall, the sidewall has been subjected to great pressure when moving. When this happens, the car tire has been badly damaged and the best way is to replace it with a new tire to ensure safety during traffic.

>> Related post: Tire Speed Rating: What You Need to Know

How To Prevent Car Tires From Being Slashed?

As we mentioned above, slashing tires can be caused by impacts from the environment, the road surface, or by vandalism. Slashed tires are not a pleasant thing. If it happens once you can assume it’s your bad luck. But if it happens twice then maybe someone has deliberately played badly on you. Therefore, to limit and prevent torn car tires from affecting safety when traveling, you should keep the following notes in mind:

• Parking smartly at secure places: Finding safe parking is very important because it can prevent vandals from cutting your tire. 
• Install the security camera: In case your car is intentionally vandalized you wonder how to prove someone slashed your tires? Using a security camera is a good solution to protect your tire, especially in the nighttime, that will help you detect the vandals as well as have the evidence to submit to the police if necessary.

• Drive safely and avoid going into potholes, or sharp rocks: this is the direct cause of your tires being scratched and quickly torn. Especially when you want to park your car on the sidewalk, you need to pay attention to doing it properly to limit driving on the sidewalk.
• Regularly check and maintain tires, do not let tires wear too much:  we should check and maintain tires periodically to ensure that the tires are always in the best condition. When going for maintenance, the mechanic will help you measure and check the tire condition in the best way such as tire pressure, precision, and tread wear, … and give you the necessary advice.
• Replace the tire when you have gone beyond the specified mileage even though the tire is still in good condition: Experts recommend that drivers should pay attention to changing a new tire every 60,000 – 100,000 miles to ensure maximum safety. However, this number of kilometers also fluctuates depending on the tire brand, car manufacturer, and your usual road conditions. Therefore, regularly check the actual condition of the tires to get the most accurate judgment.