Tire bulge or Sissy man

[awthorn]

So while washing my truck today I noticed something on my tires. It has a very definitive pressed in section. I checked my other tires and was able to find another tire with the similar "issue" my worry is that this is the beginning of a tire bulge. These are less than a month old cooper AT3 LT 6plys. It appears to be only in one spot on the tire and between or by lettering. I am worried that if it is a bulge and decides to blow out while on the freeway I and my family could be in a great deal of danger. I know [MENTION=96863]01thunder[/MENTION] has the same tires, do yours do this? Below are some pics. Thanks for the help! :behindsofa:

 

[Konkordmusk]

So while washing my truck today I noticed something on my tires. It has a very definitive pressed in section. I checked my other tires and was able to find another tire with the similar "issue" my worry is that this is the beginning of a tire bulge. These are less than a month old cooper AT3 LT 6plys. It appears to be only in one spot on the tire and between or by lettering. I am worried that if it is a bulge and decides to blow out while on the freeway I and my family could be in a great deal of danger. I know [MENTION=96863]01thunder[/MENTION] has the same tires, do yours do this? Below are some pics. Thanks for the help! :behindsofa:

Nothing to worry about, that is completely normal.
For tires that have more than one layer of sidewall construction, there may be a slight overlap between where the cords are spliced. Since there's an overlap, it is basically a stronger point than the rest of the sidewall, and resists the forces of tire inflation, which is why it appears indented, instead of uniform with the rest of the sidewall.
This is pretty typical of large sidewalled tires.

In fact, if I learned anything from when Michelin had me at one of their NA factories, that little triangle above and a little to the left of the indentation signifies approximately where a new layer of sidewall cord has begun.

 

[chimpy]

X2 on the cord splice

 

[awthorn]

Thanks for the responses and reassurance guys! I did a little more digging and found this too. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=32

 

[02SE]

Nothing to worry about, that is completely normal.
For tires that have more than one layer of sidewall construction, there may be a slight overlap between where the cords are spliced. Since there's an overlap, it is basically a stronger point than the rest of the sidewall, and resists the forces of tire inflation, which is why it appears indented, instead of uniform with the rest of the sidewall.
This is pretty typical of large sidewalled tires.

In fact, if I learned anything from when Michelin had me at one of their NA factories, that little triangle above and a little to the left of the indentation signifies approximately where a new layer of sidewall cord has begun.

Yep, cord splice.

The little triangle is marking the location of a TWI (Tread Wear Indicator) sometimes referred to as a wear bar indicator. These wear indicators run across the face of the tread, and indicate when the tire has reached it's legal wear limit, and needs to be replaced.

Michelin is unique in that they don't use the little triangles to indicate the position of the TWI's. Instead they have little a "Bibendum" Ie: Michelin Man, molded into the tire to indicate the location of the TWI's.