We have a 2002 Maxima with 225/50/17 tires. We have owned this car since new or about 9years. It originally came with bridgestones I think they were potenzas re92. In 4 years with these tires I had to replace one for a sidewall bubble failure. I then put Kuhmo's Ecsta which in another 4 years I replace another tire for sidewall failure. I then bought Continental Extreme Contact DWS on it in July 2010 and since then I have hade to replace 2 tires for sidewall failure. One was covered under warranty(Conti's have 1 year free roadhazzard the other not sure yet. Are Continentals more likely to suffer damage from potholes. I am aware of the size of tire 17's and poor roads New Jersey, but in 8 years replacing 2 tires isnt terrible, but 2 in 6 months is a little ridiculous. Did I run into some bad luck or should I switch to Kuhmo's after the free Conti's stopping coming. Also if I put extra air in the tires would that help or hurt the situation. I normally run 32-34 PSI

Anyone on NY metro area having this bad of a problem?

Which brand tires are best to guard against this??


Edited by raaizin (01/04/11 06:23 PM)
Top

 

A tire shouldn't develop air bubbles in the sidewall. A bubble means that the layers of the tire are separating. Unless you are constantly scraping against curbs, the tire has a manufacturing defect. Without the manufacturer owning up, I think 2 tires in 6 months says bad tires. I would switch to another manufacturer myself.

 

this. I'm inclined to think it may be driving technique contributing to the premature failures. My friends use to 'feel' the curbs while parking in Boston. This is just how they learned to park. They were very good drivers, but had learned to use the tires to expedite their parking maneuvers. It's the same reason everyone in densely populated metro areas have license plate bolt stamps in their bumpers. People park by feeling.

Also, potholes can bubble a tire in one encounter. You may try a tire with a greater performance rating because they tend to have more reinforcement in the sidewalls.

 

Have all the tires (except for the originals) been installed at the same shop? Sometimes there can be damage done during the install of the tire onto the wheel.

Trying to determine a good pressure to run tires at is like trying to ask you what size pants I should wear. You need to look at the load rating of the tires at the specified pressure and go from there.

For example, I have 225/50R17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires on my Max. I keep the fronts set around 45 and the rears set around 40. This has proven to be the perfect setting for these tires on my car. The tires are about half worn and have 40k miles on them.

 

not hitting the curb. I cant believe no one in northeast is having problem with potholes and tires. I try to miss them, but sooner or later you are bound to hit one..

 

Toyo.

 

Bubbles with different tires...means it is you, LOL!

 

Does anyone else drive the car, or are you the sole driver? I agree with the above mentioned responses. It's most likely damage caused by curb checking or running over those potholes and other road hazards. As far as tires go, going with a Z speed rated high performance tire should give you stiffer sidewalls, but that's not going to cure your problem completely. I'd also have a good shop check your wheels for rim runout to see if they've become out of round. I've worked with alot of tires in my auto experience at dealerships, and I've seen super stiff Potenza's get sidewall bubbles, and these tires could almost be used for run flats they're so stiff. 9 times out of 10, when our tire mounting machine breaks, it's caused by a Bridgestone Potenza. The only possible answer I could give you besides correcting your driving habits and the driving habits of other people that may drive your car would be to switch over to a 16 inch wheel to give yourself more sidewall flex absorbing and to run a few pounds extra over factory. Or move to an area with better roads!

 

Get a set of smaller rims for the winter/early spring when the roads are worst and keep the lower profile tire/rims for after the potholes get filled.

 

damn 4 years on 1 set of tires?

 

what is your tire pressure? it shouldn't be more then 35 at cold tire temp anymore then that you could have that problem when hitting bumps etc.

 

Yeah, I'm waiting on some DWSs to get here, myself, and have no idea what pressure to run them at. Being W rated tires (? Or is it just based on how the tires were designed?), they handle up to 50 or 55 PSI (!!). My current tires 245/45V generic brand were utter and complete sh!te and wore out the middles when ran at 40 PSI (44 max).

Louisville has some rough roads from salt and temperature swings and I never popped one running at 38 or 40 PSI.

In my scant five years of driving, I've only gotten one sidewall bubble and it was from me clipping a curb. =D

 

Running tire pressures that high causes the tire to bulge out more in the middle of the tread section, which caused your tires to wear more quickly and more pronounced in the middle. I run no more than +4 over the recommended factory psi to keep this from happening.

 

Right. I was asking Padawan how he is running his Michelins at so high a pressure without prematurely wearing them. The tires I have now are miserable in all areas. Blue Streak Stilletos? Uh, the name alone should scare away potential buyers.

^-- Some internet forum

 

We've had two tires develop sidewall bubbles over the time we've owned our Maxima. The first was a Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. We think it developed a bubble thanks to a pothole on I-69. That was about seven years ago or more.

More recently, a bubble showed-up on one of the Discount Tire Arizonan Silver Edition Pluses we currently have on the Max. I have no idea how it developed, but DT replaced it with no questions.

We always keep the inflation at the Nissan-recommended 32 cold psi. The car is an interstate driver about 80% of the time.

 

I have seen this numerous times, how lesser brand tires develop tire bubbles and sidewall irregularities. Most are made in China and have poor quality control during manufacturing. The steel belts tend to separate and the tires become out of round, and become difficult to balance. From what I've seen, it's more pronounced in the higher profile tires. I'd rather buy a high quality name brand used tire than to buy these low quality Chinese lesser brand tires. It's not worth risking my life, IMO...

 

Well, other than the one tire, those Arizonans have been incredible tires on the Maxima. Great in rain and snow, and the wear has been superior to anything we've put on the car. I'd hardly lump them in with the cheap Chinese gumballs that have flooded the market over the past few years.

Unfortunately, we've been told that they are discontinuing the 225/50-17 size. Not enough sales in that size.

 

Good to hear that you're having good luck with them. In most cases the off brand tires are junk!

 

They're made for DT by Kelly-Springfield. Not top-shelf, but not no-name, either.