Well, came around a corner today and drilled a huge pothole. Didn't do any rim damage, but it looks like there is a small bulge (maybe 1 inch long) on the sidewall. Car seems to drive fine, tire not doing anything wierd, not leaking or making noise.

Anyone know if there is any actual harm with having this little bulge there (besides looks)? The falkens only have about 10k miles on them and the local dealer is out of stock on the size anyhow, so I'd rather just drive on it if possible. I rotated tires when I got home to put that one on the back so less weight on it......

and before one of you donkeys asks - no, I do not have a road hazard coverage....pretty smart, eh?

 

yes it will *eventually* expand and blow. it could be tomorrow, could be 10k miles from now. depends on how big the bulge and how strong the rubber is.

 

good thing I have one almost-new craptenza sitting in my basement....

 

josh
that sucks.
you need a new tire. the tire is weaker in the buldge area and will aventually blow. dont want that to happen at 80, especially if its a front

 

man, i hate potholes. on my kumhos with my 18s i got a bubble, and let it go about 5k before taking them off for the winter. i also had one on my Proxes on my 3000GT, and let it go the same amount ot time basically. such a pain in the ***, cuz sometimes you can see the pothole, but its more dangerous to swerve than to slam into it

 

i agree, the tire will blow eventually, and no it wont go away just by leaving it alone... its damaged...

 

For reference purposes....how big of a pothole was it, and how fast were you going?

 

I had a pothole in Harrisburg put a bulge in one of my OEM Bridgestone's. Never suspected any rim damage. I got Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's installed last October, and around last January after trying to figure out a balancing issue (shop rotated & balanced wheels, front-end shook like they weren't balanced) it was discovered the rim was damaged. Same rim that had the bulge from last August.

I'm pretty sure the same incident bent the rim as well as the tire. Seeing as the tire shop's mechanics aren't exactly too smart, I wouldn't be surprised if they overlooked it, putting that wheel on the back since it was hard to balance.

Moral of the story: Be extra careful about that rim, next time it's on a balancing machine with a new tire, make sure they make a CLOSE inspection on it (how hard is it to balance, and does it wobble at ALL even when it's close to balanced, etc.)

 

Right on....yeah doesn't feel like it has any wobble...the falkens have a little softer sidewall than the craptenzas, so maybe that had something to do with it. Pothole was out on St.Barnabus Rd. near my work in Md.....didn't really see how big it is, but it felt pretty hard, especially since I was going around a turn and the car's weight was shifted to that side....I was probably going about 50 or so....

For the time being I rotated the tire to the back wheel, so less weight is on it and if it goes I can still control the car.....going to get my leftover "almost brand new" Re92 put on tomorrow and will be sporting the ghetto non-matching tires for the rest of the summer or until I can find a good sale on 2 new falkens (gotta have same tread!) - or the tire fairy drops off 4 Pilot A/s's!!!!

 

yea you have to replace them.
my friend had the same problem, when he went over this small pothole. he called goodyear up because he had road hazard coverage, and he got it replaced right away

 

Yes, i notice there's alot of us DC-area org'ers in this thread. Not surprising, considering how sh1tty the roads are around here, especially by the end of the winter....

 

Wow, the same thing happend to me about 2 hours ago. I was just going to keep driving on it i had no idea that it could cause severe damage like it blowing. Is road hazard part of auto insurance or some warranty with the tires?


thanks
brandon

 

only if you paid extra for road hazard coverage when you bought the tires. Otherwise, you're SOL like me....

Tire warranty is only for "manufacturing defects"

 

irish44j, where did you get the tire from???...@ ~13000 miles I ate my first "BAD" pothole that gave me a bubble....since it was a stocker, I went to a Firestone center and the manger gave me a "new tire" discount....I managed to get the tire for $140....maybe you could tire that at a local Falken distributor/center...

 

Replace tire

 

Wait, so you got a RE92 replacement for $140?


~limsandy

 

Replace them before they below. I had same situation b4.

 

Replace tire
just to be on the safe side. U won't want any mishaps

 

It was that or a set of pilots...with 13000 miles on the other 3 stockers, $140 compared to $700 to $800 for a set of new tires was the way to go...the MSRP for the RE92 was at the time ~$220...I got over a 50% discount...

It was winter anyway, so why risk a set of new tires on the monster holes of NYC...

 

well just put on the RE92 (almost new, was on the car when i bought it so I kept it when I put the falkens on ).....so now I am totally ghetto-fabulous with the non-matching tires.

And now the right rear of the car will be able to hydroplane again!

 

dude, now you can "drift"

 

SWEEEEET!
IBTM - how has it stayed here so long?