Engineered landfills serve as a crucial infrastructure for managing and containing domestic solid waste in an environmentally responsible manner across the globe. Compacted clay liners (CCLs) serve as vital barriers in such landfills, owing to their low hydraulic conductivity and self-healing properties, effectively limiting contaminant transport into the subsurface. However, the formation of desiccation cracks in CCLs poses a significant challenge, as these cracks facilitate leachate percolation, potentially leading to groundwater contamination. Simultaneously, managing the discarded rubber tires has become a pressing environmental concern due to their increasing production, bulky nature, and complex chemical composition. This study explores the dual-purpose solution of incorporating tire-rubber crumbs into expansive clay to enhance the mechanical stability and cracking behavior of CCLs. Expansive clay was mixed with rubber crumbs of two different sizes, compacted at modified Proctor density, and subjected to drying with and without surcharge at two different temperatures. Deformation characteristics, such as linear, lateral, and volumetric changes, were analyzed, and crack morphology was evaluated using ImageJ software. The findings reveal that addition of tire-rubber crumbs greatly enhanced the crack resistance and morphology of expansive clay, with fine rubber crumbs demonstrating the better performance than the coarse size. This study highlights the potential of utilizing tire-rubber waste as a sustainable material for reinforcing expansive clay, thereby enhancing the overall performance of CCLs in engineered landfill applications.