Tires: Low Profile Switchout, low profile tires, snow tires

Question
Good afternoon:

The purpose of this e-mail is to request your expertise in determining what kind of damage
can occur on a low profile high performance tire from demounting it from a large diameter wheel.   

Last Spring I had my low profile Bridgestone snow tires removed from the wheels of my car and
replaced them with my low profile BF Goodrich summer tires.  After the tech replaced the tires I
was told that there was damage to one of the snow tires and that I would have to replace it next
season.  

The specific damage was a circular/oval chunk of tire in the sidewall.  When the tech brought
me into the shop to show me the damage - the chunk was hanging on by a thread.  I thought
to myself that it was queer that I had not noticed the damage before, the rubber between the
inside of the chunk and the inside of the sidewall did not appear weathered (i.e., like it had dust
in the seam from being driven), and if it had happened before I had brought it into the shop, that
the thread holding the chunk in place was NOT significant enough to keep it from flying off while
being driven.  

Do you have any illustrations or pictures of low profile tires damaged from improper mounting/
demounting that you would be willing to forward to me?

thanks

Rick  

Answer
Rick,

This type of damage does not sound like damage from dismounting, but it does sound like damage from being scraped against an object.

A couple of thoughts:  Rubber is surprisingly resilient and even the forces generated during driving may not be enough to dislodge a piece of rubber being held on by a small thread of rubber.

Also, weathering is something that takes heat and / or time, so it will take quite some time for a loose piece of rubber to show weathering.

Sorry, but I don't think the shop was responsible for the damage.  Perhaps a photo of the damage posted somewhere might help me better assess the situation.