Tyres

[Bazile]

Kerbed my wheel and a bit of the tyre sidewall has been sliced away , about 1-1/2 mm in thickness - in 2 separate locations

How thick are tyre sidewalls ?

Would the above make the tyre unsafe ?

[Bazile]

That should say
1- 1.5mm

[bhg481]

I wouldn't trust it. Only tyres and brakes between you and the undertaker.

[Zacs-Master]

Take it to a tyre specialist. Preferably an independent one where the policy won’t be ‘if anyone asks, tell em they need a new one’.

[IJKLM]

How thick are tyre sidewalls?

Depends on the tyre. Off-road tyres, for example, are a bit thicker than lightweight A-rated pure road tyres.

The sidewall is there to mainly to keep the air in the tyre and make a mechanical connevtion between the tread and the rim.

The rubber in the sidewall has no real function except to protect the reinforcing fibres.

If you can see the fibres underneath the gouge, then few would regard it as safe for anything other than short, low-speed journeys, and then only for a temporary period.

If you can't see the fibres, things are likely to be OK, except that you may have pinched the sidewall and damaged the fibres, and/or the innerliner that holds in the air.

YOu might want to monitor the pressure loss if any over the next couple of weeks. If you lose more than 0.5bar (7psi), then get it checked by a professional. If the pressure loss is minimal, you have probably got away with it.

OK: the official advice, is: get it professionally checked. The above is unofficial, but offered in good faith.

[Hopkirk]

If you whacked it badly you might have affected the wheel alignment.

Keep an eye on it for uneven wear in future.

[Khandro]

//the official advice, is: get it professionally checked. The above is unofficial, but offered in good faith.//

I wouldn't bother, no professional agency is going to risk saying it's OK to drive on. It won't get through an MOT, - though in reality you could drive for several thousand miles without any problem.
My advice would be to replace it, asp.

[Davemano]

Any damage to the tyres body renders them Illegal.

[Davemano]

When tyres become worn or damaged they must be replaced. There must, by law, be at least 1.6mm of tread depth across the centre 3/4 of the width of the tread throughout the entire circumference of the tyre. There must be no damage to the tyre body - sidewalls or tread, no bulges or cuts.

[tonyav]

Tyre sidewall will be 3 to 4 mm 15 to 20 mm at the tread of a new tyre.

[Baldric]

Take no chances with tyres, they keep you alive, if in doubt replace.

[TyreGuru]

As ijklm says if you have exposed the cords on the sidewall, this will show as white string looking then you need to change it, however if its just a small flap or gouge of the rubber then that should be ok but if its deep but does not show any cords it may be worthwhile having it checked just to be on the safe side